Establishing risk matrix standard criteria for use in the continuous risk management process

Over the past 30 years, an extensive knowledge-base in the construction and utilization of risk matrices to score and rank risks has been accumulated. Still, within the domain of the continuous risk manage- ment (CRM) process, key issues associated with risk matrices have produced divergent schools of thought: a utilitarian focus among practitioners, and a more theoretical, and sometimes abstract, focus among the academic community. This research will examine CRM practices in human space flight at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), including many of their aerospace contractors, to assess the key factors in the construction and use of risk matrices. The intent here is to begin to merge the knowledge between these communities in an effort to support a research agenda to improve the construction and use of risk matrices going forward.