17 SYSTEMS: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PLANNING—A ROADMAP TO GETTING IT ALL DONE CHAPTER 1 space-to-ground channels for more important conversations. Following the conclusion of an increment/expedition, mission planners, through the Lead Ops Planner, work with the ISS Program operations team to reflect overall increment metrics of accomplishments in the Post Increment Evaluation Report. Additionally, the lead increment flight director conducts a lessons-learned meeting to roll up significant topics that need to be either generically addressed for all future increments or unique items that need to be fed into the next increment’s execution team. In many cases, planners provide lessons learned on activity duration estimations (based on crew feedback) as well as lessons learned on activity planning conflict resolution. The aim is to keep the ISS safe for crew operations while continuing to make operations more efficient to support the goal of greater scientific gains. Conclusion Flight planning has been a necessary yet ultimately challenging task since the beginning of the space program. Each mission that NASA performed brought its own unique planning and scheduling challenges, which were met by planners using the latest technology of the day. Planners continue to meet these with a credo of flexibility and a constant eye toward improvement. Unlike other NASA projects, the ISS Program involves a worldwide team working 24/7/365. Plans for every activity that takes place on the ISS start years out and are continuously refined in detail as the actual time approaches. This ensures maximum success and minimal wasted time. Planning was difficult during assembly of the ISS due to constant changes. Some of these changes were necessary to the evolving vehicle, whereas some were induced by the Space Shuttle Columbia accident and concentrated on the vehicle build-up. In 2009, the ISS increased from three permanent crew members to six, and began the shift in focus from assembly to science. Starting in 2018, commercial crew vehicles will add further complexity as the rate of scientific operations increases with a permanent crew of seven.