Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The conflict of interest policy of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi) prohibits the appointment of an individual to a committee authoring a Consensus Study Report if the individual has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the task to be performed.? An exception to this prohibition is permitted if the National Academies determines that the conflict is unavoidable and the conflict is publicly disclosed.? A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

Wanda Sigur has a conflict of interest in relation to their service on the Committee on the Assessment of Technical and Scientific Capabilities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center because she holds stock in a NASA contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The National Academies has concluded that in order for the committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established, its membership must include at least one person who has relevant experience in the aerospace industry who has led the programming of multiple space missions. As described in her biographical summary, Wanda Sigur has extensive sector experience in personnel management, engineering process development, and technology deployment with national space programs relating to human space flight and space science. She has expertise in military space, civil space, commercial space, and classified space projects, including strategic missile defense engineering design, analysis, test, production support, and engineering process deployment.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Ms. Sigur is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established.? The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent experience and expertise who does not have a conflict of interest.?Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable.

The National Academies believes that Wanda Sigur can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.