It is probably too easy to confound the NASA engineering achievements with just raw intelligence. They have a huge body of standards and methodology on about ev

It is probably too easy to confound the NASA engineering achievements with just raw intelligence. They have a huge body of standards and methodology on about every level of software engineering: time-proven coding standards, systems design guidelines, testing procedures, quality assurance, and the talent to execute on it. I just remembered an old article [1] about the software development process at NASA and how it is not putting reliance on the kind of rockstar-programmer-genius culture that is so common in other parts of the industry. [1]: http://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff http://www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff