In the 1900s, NASA's lunar program lost critical knowledge as a result of downsizing when Saturn 5engineers were encouraged to take early retirement. Commenting on the early retirements, one NASA manager said, "If we want to go to the moon again, we'll be starting from scratch... All of that knowledge hasdisappeared. It would take at least as long and cost at least as much to go back." Now NASA wants toensure that the expertise of other senior engineers isn't lost when they retire.
(a) What kind of knowledge and intellectual capital is NASA losing and what effect does this have onthe organization?
(b) What should NASA do to prevent the loss of knowledge when senior engineers retire? What dothey need to do to ensure that the expertise of other senior engineers isn't lost when they retire?