Original Source
..
Tue, Mar 04, 2003

NASA Chief Bridles Over E-Mail on Shuttle Concerns
..
By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's (">( news - "> web sites) chief bridled at criticism of e-mail within the space agency that raised concerns over a possible loss of Columbia's crew, saying on Tuesday that whatever caused the tragedy was not the result of "malice or complacency or indifference."
..
Internal e-mails released last week showed NASA engineers worried about what would happen if super-hot gas got under shuttle Columbia's aluminum skin during reentry, with one memo concluding, "Our recommendation in that case is going to be to set up for a bailout (assuming the wing doesn't burn off before we can get the crew out)."
..
All seven crew members of the Columbia died Feb. 1 when the craft broke up over Texas soon after it reentered the atmosphere. One theory has been that debris from the shuttle's external fuel tank knocked off some of the ship's heat-shielding tiles about 80 seconds after launch, allowing superheated gas to get in during reentry.
..
At NASA headquarters, administrator Sean O'Keefe said e-mail could be more informal and more "emotional" than other communications, and could easily be taken out of context.
..
"Look at your own e-mail commentary in the last week -- just at random, OK? -- and determine whether you think the phrase you used ... today, a week later, looks different to you," O'Keefe said. "If it doesn't, then you're a far better, more disciplined person in writing your commentary than most folks are."
..
NASA has said the voluminous exchange of e-mail during Columbia's voyage was a normal "what-if" discussion that included extreme worst-case scenarios, and that the e-mail concerns raised were determined not to threaten the shuttle or its crew.
..
OVERSIGHT OR MICROMANAGEMENT?

O'Keefe has said he did not see the e-mails until after the disaster, but noted he is not an aeronautics expert and others at the agency are better qualified.
..
"There's fine line between oversight and micromanagement," O'Keefe said.
..
He stressed the independent investigation into the tragedy was proceeding, and that until its conclusion, "we're speculating based on bits, parts and individual pieces of a process."
..
Whatever the Columbia Accident Investigation Board concludes, O'Keefe said, "There wasn't anything that I've seen or that anybody else has hinted at that would suggest malice or complacency or indifference. If anything, this (e-mail) appears to be a spirited exchange that we want to encourage."
..
Bill Readdy, a former shuttle astronaut who now heads spaceflight operations at NASA, said Columbia's crew had been fully trained is such maneuvers as bailing out or a belly landing.
..
Asked why crew-members were not involved in discussions over the e-mail concerns, Readdy replied, "That was not something that you would then have burdened the crew with."
..
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has stressed the independent nature of the investigative panel, known as the Gehman board because it is led by Harold Gehman.
..
But last week, O'Keefe turned down a Feb. 25 request from Gehman to remove NASA shuttle managers from the independent investigation team, saying such a move would be viewed as "prejudging the facts before the investigation is complete."

---

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Copyright © 2003 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.