February 2024 workshop: Breakout Session, Pre-Formulation Process and Partner Engagements¶
Document: 04-2024-architecture-workshop-breakout-session-element-initiation.pdf, 8 slides, 775,139 bytes,
from https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/, fetched 2026-10-01T18:28:02Z (sources/manifest.csv).
Title slide: "Breakout Session: Pre-Formulation Process and Partner Engagements" (slide 1); the file name says
"element initiation". No presenter or date. Footer: "2024 Moon to Mars Architecture Workshops". Listed on the
Architecture Workshops page under "February 2024". Text:
sources/text/docs/2024-02-04-2024-architecture-workshop-breakout-session-element-initiation.txt; images in
sources/raw/slides/2024-02-04-2024-architecture-workshop-breakout-session-element-initiation/.
Rank and method. A briefing, not the architecture of record (SCHEMA, "Workshop slides"), older than Rev B and Rev C. All 8 slides were read in the text layer; the images of slides 2, 5 and 6 were viewed (the text-poor slide 1 is a title card whose text layer gives the title, and wasn't). The text has no "Moon Base", "CUI" or "Pre-Decisional" (searched).
Summary. ESDMD's pre-formulation process for new elements, as briefed a month after it was introduced in the 2023 executive overview. It adds three things to the sources: what element initiation is for and what it is not for ("Not intended for small payloads, utilization, or similar contributions or partnerships"; approval by the ESDMD Associate Administrator at the Directorate Program Management Council), the earliest version of NASA's pre-formulation chart, drawn twice, once for international partners and once for industry, and who leads when: "SAO leads architecture and strategy until acquisition strategy", then "M2MPO leads implementation and mission execution".
Slides¶
| Slide | Title (as printed) | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Breakout Session: Pre-Formulation Process and Partner Engagements" | Title card |
| 2 | "Architecture Products to Action" | The Rev A cover, an arrow into the NASA 7120.5 life-cycle chart with a "PRE-FORMULATION" band, the NPR 7120.5 and Systems Engineering Handbook covers (image). "Historically, human spaceflight pre-formulation transient independent efforts"; "Moon to Mars is multi-decadal; consistent and repeatable pre-formulation needed"; "Moon to Mars Architecture used derive new elements and address gaps ensures coherency and value" (as printed) |
| 3 | "Key ESDMD Process Milestones" | Element initiation and mission concept review |
| 4 | "Element Initiation Purpose" | What it is for |
| 5 | "ESDMD Pre-Formulation Elements" / "For International Partners" | The chart (image) |
| 6 | "ESDMD Pre-Formulation Elements" / "For Industry Partners" | The chart (image) |
| 7 | "Summary" | Who leads |
| 8 | "International Partner Points of Contact" | OIIR contacts |
Slides 2 and 3 also open ESDMD's part of the Mission Directorate Panel (its slides 3 and 4), with "used to derive" and "to ensure" there.
Element initiation (slides 3–4)¶
Slide 3, "Key ESDMD Process Milestones":
- "Element Initiation (EI): ESDMD reviews whether a potential concept provides a solution to needs or gaps identified in the Moon to Mars Architecture. Ensures that NASA invests in effective, sufficiently mature technologies and capabilities"
- "Mission Concept Review (MCR): To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed mission concept(s) and its fulfillment of the Architecture needs and objectives. Ensures NASA program/project readiness and feasibility to acquire systems"
Slide 4, "Element Initiation Purpose":
- "Overt integration point and commitment to formulate element based on identified architecture gap": "ESDMD Associate Administrator approval at Directorate Program Management Council (DPMC)"; "Coordination with partner mission directorates as appropriate".
- "Affirms strategic alignment and coordination of architecture need, priority, and budget/programmatic intent to apply necessary resources for element formulation and includes: Initial architecture use case & functions and a preliminary concept; Potential international partner contribution and scope to next stage of bilateral study commitments; Schedule, planning, and pre-project team to support Mission Concept Review (MCR) product development".
- "Applied to large elements/systems that need to integrate across programs and projects": "Not intended for small payloads, utilization, or similar contributions or partnerships".
The 2023 overview's paragraph on element initiation has slide 3's first sentence nearly word for word (Elements); slide 4 is in no other source the wiki holds ("DPMC" and "Directorate Program Management Council" searched in all source texts: this deck only). Rev C's Section 3.4 keeps element initiation reviews and the Mission Concept Review but names no approving body (p. 82; Elements).
The two charts (slides 5–6)¶
"ESDMD Pre-Formulation Elements", read from the images. Both charts share the NASA lane, the milestones, the captions and the legend; they differ in the partner lane and where the process ends.
Legend: "Document(s)", "NASA Milestone" (a diamond), "ESDMD Strategy & Architecture Office" (purple), "ESDMD Moon to Mars Program" (yellow), "Collaboration Partner" (green).
Milestone captions, above the diamonds:
| Diamond | Caption |
|---|---|
| EI | "Element Initiation: overt decision to proceed with maturation of concept assessed for Arch. priority, budget, and strategy" |
| MCR | "Mission Concept Review: To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed mission concept(s) and its fulfillment of the Architecture needs and objectives." |
| ASM | International: "Acquisition Strategy Meeting: Transition to Moon to Mars Program for implementation, completion of project roles & responsibilities leading to Implementing Arrangement". Industry: the same, ending "leading to contracting process (e.g. RFP)" |
Lanes:
| Lane | Steps, in order |
|---|---|
| NASA (both charts) | document "M2M Obj." → "Arch. Studies" → document "ADD" → ACR → "Gap Analysis/Concept" → EI → "Mission /Concept Trades" → MCR → "Acquisition Plan" (purple shading into yellow) → ASM → "M2M Program Int." (yellow) |
| International partners (slide 5) | "Studies" → document "EI" → "Partner Pre-Phase A/B" → document "MCR"; after ASM, "Partner Integration", with an "IA" document on the program lane |
| Industry partners (slide 6) | "Studies" → document "EI" → "Industry BAA, RFI, etc." → document "MCR"; after ASM, an "RFP" document on the program lane, and no partner lane |
A dashed line marked "Element Definition" runs from MCR back to the ADD. A second dashed line ends at the right end of the program lane, labeled "Collaboration Partner" (slide 5) or "Contracted Solution" (slide 6). Three notes: "Feasibility studies and collaboration identify potential concept"; "Mission refinement to optimize for strategic value and functional achievement" (slide 6 adds ", use of study mechanisms to better inform planning"); "Feedback incorporated into Architecture products as milestones occur".
Against the 2024 white paper's Figure 2 (the wiki's comparison; Figure 2 transcribed on the partnerships paper's page):
- Two charts became one. The paper draws both partner lanes on one chart, and its acquisition caption ends "leading to Implementing Arrangement (IA) or contracting process (e.g., RFP)".
- Industry moved. Here "Industry BAA, RFI, etc." sits after element initiation, in the same place as the partners' "Partner Pre-Phase A/B"; in the paper the industry lane runs "Studies" → "Industry BAA, RFI, etc." → "RFP", with no EI or MCR documents.
- Who hands over. Here the meeting is a "Transition to Moon to Mars Program"; the paper names both offices, "Transition from SAO to M2MPO". The legend's "ESDMD Moon to Mars Program" is the paper's "Moon to Mars Program Office (M2MPO)".
- Captions. "Arch. priority" here, "priority" in the paper; "To evaluate the feasibility of" here, "Evaluates feasibility of" there.
- The February 2026 Rome version has "Partner Pre-Phase A" in the industry lane (RT-1), so the lane's label has changed three times.
Summary and contacts (slides 7–8)¶
Slide 7, "Summary": "Moon to Mars Architecture, as a multi-decadal effort, demands a robust pre-formulation process to address long-term program and project sustainability".
- "SAO leads architecture and strategy until acquisition strategy"
- "M2MPO leads implementation and mission execution"
"ESDMD established product and process controls to support this architectural strategy and definition including:
- Architecture Definition Documentation 2. Element Initiation milestone 3. Document incorporation through formal milestones 4. Repeatable and transparent pre-formulation process", beside "Architecture Website".
Slide 8, "International Partner Points of Contact": the NASA Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR), with one director for each of three groups: "For ESDMD/SOMD", the Director of the Human Exploration and Operations Division; "For SMD", the Director of the Science Division; "For STMD/ARMD/OSTEM", the Director of the Aeronautics and Cross-Agency Support Division (names and addresses as printed on the slide). These are the three contact areas of NASA's International Engagement page, there named "Human Exploration", "Science & Utilization" and "Technology & Education" (RT-1; the wiki's matching).
What changed by Rev C¶
These comparisons are the wiki's.
- Section 3.4 keeps the order (element initiation, Mission Concept Review, then the element in the next ADD revision, then the Program Office) but names no Directorate Program Management Council, no acquisition strategy meeting and no Implementing Arrangement (p. 82; RT-1).
- "Not intended for small payloads" has no counterpart in Rev C, which treats utilization payloads and equipment separately from elements (Section 2.4; Elements).
- The two 2023 initiations (a surface habitat and a cargo lander) entered Rev B as elements a year later (Elements).
Oddities¶
As printed, images checked:
- "Historically, human spaceflight pre-formulation transient independent efforts" and "Moon to Mars Architecture used derive new elements and address gaps ensures coherency and value" (slide 2), missing words; the panel deck's copy has "used to derive" and "to ensure".
- "ESDMD Pre-Formulation Elements" as the title of a process chart (slides 5–6).
Related pages¶
International Partnerships (2024 paper) · RT-1 · RT-2 · Elements · Mission Directorate Panel, February 2024 · Program Office updates, February 2024 · Architecture 101, February 2025