NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation Program 

is located at the Katherine Johnson IV&V Facility in Fairmont, WV.

 System & Software Assurance

 Full lifecycle IV&V and independent assessments for NASA’s highest profile missions. IV&V leads

 to higher quality, reduced risk, greater insight, reduced cost and increased knowledge transfer.

 Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Support

 Common support infrastructure for assuring core Software Assurance functions across the Agency, 

 including support for Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Software Assurance Research Program (SARP).

 Mission Protection Services (MPS) and Engineering Services

 MPS Lifecycle and Integration, Cybersecurity Assessment Team, Threat/Risk Assessment, Vulnerability 

 Assessment, CyberLab, Model Based Mission Assurance (MBMA).

Software Development, Testing, and Research

 Independent Test Capability (ITC), Simulation, Testing, Automation, Virtualization, Digital Twin 

 development. Enabled through IV&V’s Jon McBride Software Testing and Research 

 (JSTAR) Laboratory.

 STEM Engagement

 Educator workshops, equipment loan program, STEM competitions, internships and

 student workshops.

Ensuring Safe, Reliable, Secure Operation of 

Safety Critical & Mission Critical Software

nasa.gov/centers/ivv

IV&V Program Services:
ENABLING 

MISSION

SUCCESS

1

2

4

5

 Project Initiation 

Understand customer needs, 

mission goals, mission profile, system 

and software characteristics.

Risk Assessment 

Identify high risk and critical 

areas of software and target 

Assurance Objectives.

Assurance Design 

Develop strategy for 

accomplishing Assurance 

Objectives, including 

specific technical 

approaches.

Assurance Activities 

Analyze software artifacts, based 

on Assurance Design, to capture 

evidence and identify concerns.

 Communication 

Throughout execution, 

document and 

communicate issues, 

risks, and assurance 

conclusions to 

increase quality 

and confidence. 0100100

1100110 3

 NASA’s IV&V Program was established in 1993 as a direct result of recommendations made 

 by the National Research Council (NRC) and the Report of the Presidential Commission on 

 the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Since its inception, the IV&V Program has been 

 contributing to the safety and success of NASA’s highest-profile missions by assuring the 

 software on those missions performs correctly. The IV&V Program falls administratively under 

 NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) located in Greenbelt, Maryland and operates 

 under functional guidance from the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA).

 The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility, home of 

 NASA’s IV&V Program, is located in the heart of West Virginia’s technology sector in 

 Fairmont, West Virginia. The facility is named in honor of West Virginia native and NASA 

 “hidden figure” Katherine Johnson. Born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in 1918, 

 Katherine’s intense curiosity and brilliance with numbers lead her to a distinguished 

 career with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and NASA. 

NASA’s IV&V Program • 100 University Drive • Fairmont, WV 26554

(304) 367-8200 • ivv-dl-info@mail.nasa.gov

nasa.gov/centers/ivv Find us on social media: @NASAIVV nasaivv NASAIVVProgram

About NASA’s IV&V Program

Left: The maiden launch of space shuttle Challenger, which 

 carried the first TDRS satellite to orbit.

 The IV&V Program 

 is an integral part 

 of NASA’s strategy for 

 providing the highest 

achievable levels of 

safety, security, reliability 

and cost effectiveness in 

critical software systems.

Rev. 2023