People from many different organizations, including the government and private industry, had different opinions and different approaches. Some two dozen organizations were involved. We had to resolve our differences and work cooperatively as a team. This test program re-confirms lessons that were especially critical to this effort. Even though I developed a detailed model of the integrated system, and used it extensively to design and evaluate scenarios for testing, I had to recognize the limits of what simulation can do.
Nothing focuses the mind of the analyst like real data.
Live missions uncovered major errors in the real systems that were not seen in the simulation. Only the successful handover of a live target can ensure that each element of the integrated system is properly located and aligned. On the other hand, when you do run simulations, run enough simulations to ensure statistical coverage. On this program, a few good people from the contractors and the government identified and mitigated, after long hours, most of the gross errors that would have been show-stoppers. Many lessons from a successful program seem like simple, common-sense things that everyone does.