Original Source
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Top Stories - Reuters
NASA's Culture Targeted in Shuttle Columbia Report
Tue Aug 26, 4:41 PM ET
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By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
NASA (">NASA (
news - ">news -
web sites) needs to change how it monitors
safety if the grounded space shuttle fleet is to fly again, and
cannot fall into the complacency that led to the Columbia
disaster, investigators reported on Tuesday.
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The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, set up after the
Feb. 1 tragedy that killed seven astronauts, said in its final
report that NASA must set up separate safety agencies that will
be able to get the attention of top space officials when things
go wrong.
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Board Chairman Harold Gehman stressed at a briefing that
the space shuttle fleet is not inherently unsafe, and praised
NASA as an "outstanding organization."
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But he said NASA's management and culture have led to
slipping safety standards that doomed Columbia's crew. Budget
and schedule constraints and the quick construction tempo of
the International Space
Station (">Station (
news - ">news -
web sites) added to the pressure, the board
found.
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"There will be so much vigilance and so much zeal and
attention to detail for the next half-dozen flights," Gehman
said. "The natural tendency of all bureaucracies to morph and
migrate away from that diligent attitude is a great concern to
the board, because the history of NASA indicates that they've
done it before."
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NASA chief Sean O'Keefe said the board's report would be "a
blueprint ... a road map" for change at the U.S. space agency.
"It's going to be a long road in that task," he told staff
members at a briefing at NASA Washington headquarters.
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President Bush
(">(
news - web sites)">news - web sites)
said NASA's next steps would be determined
by a close reading of the report.
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"Our journey in space will go on," Bush said in a
statement. "The work of the crew of the Columbia and the heroic
explorers who traveled before them will continue."
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The board said NASA engineers raised questions soon after
Columbia's launch on Jan. 16 about a piece of foam insulation
that was seen falling from the ship's massive external tank
about 81 seconds after liftoff.
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Engineers asked three times during the 16-day mission for
satellite images of Columbia in orbit to see if the foam struck
and damaged the ship, but such images were never obtained.
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The board's report said NASA officials missed eight
opportunities to address concerns about the falling foam, which
was ultimately found to be the accident's immediate cause.
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LACK OF CONCERN AT NASA
"From the beginning, the board witnessed a consistent lack
of concern about the debris strike on Columbia," the report
said. "NASA managers told the board 'there was no
safety-of-flight issue' and 'we couldn't have done anything
about it anyway."'
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The report drew parallels between NASA management problems
now and at the time of the 1986 Challenger disaster, which also
killed seven astronauts.
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Board members agreed early on that the foam hit the
heat-shielding leading edge of the left wing, causing a breach
that allowed superheated gas to invade the ship on re-entry and
led to its disintegration over Texas.
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After seven months of work at a cost of about $20 million,
the 248-page report recommended wholesale changes in how the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration does business,
including the creation of a Technical Engineering Authority
funded directly from NASA headquarters to monitor safety
outside the constraints of individual program pressures.
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The other three shuttles in the U.S. fleet were grounded
after Columbia disintegrated, and NASA chief Sean O'Keefe and
others at the U.S. space agency have estimated that next March
or April is the soonest that the fleet can return to flight.
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No shuttles flew for 32 months after the 1986 shuttle
Challenger disaster, in which seven astronauts died.
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But now, the shuttles are an integral part of the
construction of the International Space Station, an orbiting
outpost involving 16 nations. The Columbia accident led to
reducing the three-person station crews to two, with Russia
providing transport aboard Soyuz space taxis.
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The Columbia board also urged NASA to take high-resolution
pictures of the external fuel tank after it separates from the
shuttle and determine the structural integrity of the
heat-shielding material damaged by the foam strike before
shuttles fly again.