-Caveat Lector- >>>This may be repeat posting but the resaon *why* I'm posting it (again) is for those who witnessed the NASA press conference today (2-3-03), you may have noticed the fellow who is claimed to the the project manager emphasised that there are various means of reporting safety considerations within the Agency, in person or anonymously. Obviously, this may or may not be the case. A<:>E<:>R <<<
>From Capitol Hill Blue http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1689.shtml News NASA fired experts who questioned shuttle safety By CHB Staff and Wire Reports Feb 3, 2003, 05:18 NASA fired seven safety experts last year after they warned the agency the aging space shuttle was headed for trouble. Some of those canned by the agency now say NASA was trying to silence them and cover up the kind of safety problems that may have lead to Saturday's breakup of the shuttle Columbia which killed seven astronauts and scattered debris over a 500 square mile area of Texas and Louisiana. Doug Thompson Photo One panel member, retired three-star admiral, Bernard Kauderer, was so upset at the firings that he quit the group, NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, a group of industry and academic experts charged with monitoring safety at the space agency. NASA claims it changed the charter of the group so that new members, younger and more skilled, could be added. "It had nothing to do with shooting the messenger," said Sonja Alexander, a spokeswoman at NASA headquarters in Washington. However, one of those who found himself pushed off the panel said that was exactly what was going on. "We were telling it like it was and were disagreeing with some of the agency's actions," said Dr. Seymour Himmel, a shuttle expert who served on the panel for two decades. The eight departed panel members and consultants had long experience with the shuttles' systems and their troubles. In interviews on Sunday, some said NASA had developed an institutional myopia about the panel's warnings, advice and observations, however pointed. Members of Congress who heard testimony from the panel last spring said Sunday that they would re-examine whether budget constraints had undermined safety, but several said they doubted it. The Bush administration said it would propose a $470 million increase in NASA spending today, when it presents a federal budget to Congress, and that the increase was planned before the Columbia's destruction. The panel's most recent report, which came out last March and included analyses by the six departed members, warned that work on long-term shuttle safety "had deteriorated." Tight budgets, it said, were forcing an emphasis on short-term planning and adding to a backlog of planned improvements. It called for sweeping change. "I have never been as worried for space shuttle safety as I am right now," Dr. Richard Blomberg, the report's chairman, told Congress in April. "All of my instincts suggest that the current approach is planting the seeds for future danger." Even the director of the private consortium that presently manages half of the space shuttle budget had predicted before the accident that the program was headed for serious trouble. "I am more pessimistic today than I have been in the 17 years I have been doing this," said Michael McCulley, the director of United Space Alliance, at a Senate hearing in September 2001. Referring to the looming challenges of replacing a wide range of aging shuttle components and support equipment, McCulley said, "The ice is getting thinner under our feet as we move toward the middle of this lake." Since he spoke, NASA's space shuttle budget has been increased by more than $100 million. But at the same time, several repairs deemed critical to improving crew safety -- such as a redesign of its internal warning sensors and the replacement of a hazardous internal power unit -- were deferred by the Bush administration because they cost too much. Leading members of congressional committees with oversight of the space program promised Sunday that they would investigate whether the budget policies of the administration and Congress were a factor in the loss of the shuttle. "A large part of our inquiry will be examining what policies contributed to the loss of the Columbia and what policies should follow the tragedy," said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., who heads the House Science Committee. But he said he believed the agency had been adequately funded. "Have we done the right things? he said. "I think the answer is yes." As recently as last week, the General Accounting Office said the space agency was continuing to be challenged by shortages of trained staff. Over the years other panels have issued similar reports. For example, a NASA committee reported in 2000 that more money and staff were needed to support operations critical to shuttle safety. Some lawmakers also contend that the shuttle program has been shortchanged in recent years while the international space station now under construction experienced cost overruns. They said budget problems prevented NASA from initiating safety upgrades in the shuttle. Staff members at the House Science Committee, which delivered the main congressional report on the 1986 Challenger explosion, were researching records of the Challenger inquiry Sunday. They were also trying to assemble comprehensive data on the NASA budget to show precisely the history of funding on the shuttle program and shuttle safety. "We are going to let everything see the light of day," said Boehlert, who said an initial review could find no evidence that Congress ever denied a NASA request for resources pinned to safety. Lawmakers and other space experts on Capitol Hill, however, said it is no secret that NASA has had major difficulties with programs and personnel issues. "NASA has got a lot of problems, there is no question about it," said one senior official. "They have been under a lot of scrutiny because of some high- profile screwups and the enormous cost overruns in the space station." � Copyright 2003 Capitol Hill Blue Forwarded for your information. 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