NASA Procedures and Guidelines
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NPR 7120.10A Eff. Date: February 21, 2017 Cancellation Date:	Technical Standards for NASA Programs and Projects
| TOC | Preface | Chapter1 | Chapter2 | Chapter3 | Chapter4 | AppendixA | AppendixB | AppendixC | ALL |

Preface

P.1 Purpose

a. This directive supports the implementation of the technical standards aspects of the parent directive NPD 7120.4.

b. This directive establishes responsibilities, requirements, and processes for:

(1) Selecting, tailoring, and using technical standards as program and project requirements, encouraging commonality and conformity in use across NASA programs and projects, and mandating use of specific technical standards when warranted.

(2) Developing technical standards, complying with Federal requirements for participating in the development and revision of voluntary consensus standards, and designating NASA-endorsed technical standards.

P.2 Applicability

a. This directive is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers. This directive applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)), other contractors, recipients of grants and cooperative agreements, and parties to other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in applicable contracts, grants, or agreements.

b. Technical standards and this directive are also applicable to programs and projects managed under NPR 7120.5, NPR 7120.7, and NPR 7120.8.

c. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The terms "may" or "can" denote discretionary privilege or permission, "should" denotes a good practice and is recommended but not required, "will" denotes expected outcome, and "are/is" denotes descriptive material or statement of fact.

d. In this directive, "standard or technical standard" is defined in Appendix A and refers to various means used to achieve and maintain the desired levels of compatibility, interchangeability, commonality, or conformity.

e. In this directive, "NASA technical standards" refer to technical standards, specifications, and handbooks developed and approved by NASA Headquarters offices for Agency-wide use, assigned a prefix of "NASA-STD-," "NASA-SPEC-," or "NASA-HDBK-," respectively, to the unique document number.

f. This directive is limited to NASA technical standards sponsored by Headquarters offices and does not apply to development of Center-specific and/or program- and project-specific technical standards.

g. In this directive, all document citations are assumed to be the latest version unless otherwise noted.

P.3 Authority

a. Functions of Secretary and Institute, 15 U.S.C. § 272(b), as amended.

b. OMB Circular No. A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities, as revised January 27, 2016, at Federal Register Vol. 81, No. 17, page 4673, accessible at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/revised_circular_a-119_as_of_1_22.pdf, with the revised Circular text beginning at page 12.

c. NPD 1000.0, NASA Governance and Strategic Management Handbook.

d. NPD 1000.3, The NASA Organization.

e. NPD 1400.1, Documentation and Promulgation of Internal NASA Requirements and Charters.

f. NPD 7120.4, NASA Engineering and Program/Project Management Policy.

P.4 Applicable Documents and Forms

a. NPR 1441.1, NASA Records Management Program Requirements.

b. NPR 7120.5, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements.

c. NPR 7120.7, NASA Information Technology and Institutional Infrastructure Program and Project Management Requirements.

d. NPR 7120.8, NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements.

e. NPR 8715.3, NASA General Safety Program Requirements.

f. NPR 8900.1, NASA Health and Medical Requirements for Human Space Exploration.

g. NASA-STD 8709.20, Management of Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Authority (SMA TA) Requirements.

P.5 Measurement/Verification

Compliance with this directive is verified by submission to responsible NASA officials, as defined in Chapter 2, of the products identified in requirement statements in this directive and by internal and external controls. Internal controls are consistent with processes defined in NPD 1200.1. Internal controls include surveys, audits, and reviews conducted in accordance with NPD 1210.2. External controls may include external surveys, audits, and reporting requirements.

P.6 Cancellation

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