Growing a training system and culture for the Ares I Upper Stage project

In roughly two years´ time, Marshall Space Flight Center´s (MSFC) Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL) has incubated a personnel training and certification program for about 1000 learners and multiple phases of the Ares I Upper Stage (US) project. Previous MOL-developed training programs focused on about 100 learners with a focus on operations, and had enough full-time training staff to develop courseware and provide training administration. This paper discusses 1) the basics of MOL´s training philosophy, 2) how creation of a broad, structured training program unfolded as feedback from more narrowly defined tasks, 3) how training philosophy, development methods, and administration are being simplified and tailored so that many Upper Stage organizations can ldquogrow their ownrdquo training yet maintain consistency, accountability, and traceability across the project, 4) interfacing with the production contractor´s training system and staff, and 5) reaping training value from existing materials and events.