Wednesday, August 27, 2003
NASA Responds
This article was emailed to my by someone who actually subscribes to the WSJ. Thank you. The article is here, if you are also a subscriber. I believe I have reprinted it in whole below. [Updated August 27, 2003, Copyright 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved]COMMENTARY Back on Earth By SEAN O'KEEFE [Administrator of NASA] In the seven months since the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its heroic crew, much has been revealed about our nation's space flight program. In spite of NASA's impressive record of historic accomplishments and scientific breakthroughs, we now face the painful realities of our shortcomings in safety, communications, flight operations and management. * * * The work of Admiral Hal Gehman and the members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board have recorded these breakdowns as fact. As an agency, we accept them and are prepared to comply with each of their recommendations and move forward. All of us at NASA are indebted to Adm. Gehman and the board's members for their selfless public service in constructing its comprehensive final report. Their dedication to answering the painful questions that have arisen since the morning of Feb. 1 is a great service to the Columbia families and to all who want America's journey in space to continue. The men and women of NASA are prepared for the challenges that come with restoring American confidence in our exploration efforts on behalf of all Americans. As a result of the Columbia tragedy that confidence, and those abilities, have been challenged. In renewing our aspirations and abilities to explore, we must first re-establish those capacities while rebuilding the confidence of those who make our journeys possible. In this assignment, failure is not an option. To continue as the explorers of the challenging frontiers before us, every NASA team member, from astronaut to accountant, program manager to engineer, is dedicated to the principles that have heralded every NASA success: safety of flight from beginning to end; clear and open communications throughout our mission teams; and a management culture that empowers both dialogue and achievement. We have already begun to take the steps within the Space Shuttle Program and others to ensure these tenets will be the fundamental baseline for every NASA mission from this day forward. To date, we have begun reorganizing the agency's management operations and mission procedures to improve internal communications and safety practices. We have also initiated hardware redesigns to enhance safety without compromising on flight performance. We have reached out to the U.S. Navy submarine service and naval reactors community to benchmark best practices and help us improve our fundamental operating procedures and processes. We have also formed a distinguished panel led by veteran astronauts, General Thomas Stafford and Richard Covey to monitor and assess all our Return to Flight activities. And we have established an engineering and safety center to ensure that an objective, fresh set of eyes are on every NASA mission and program. Each of these are steps toward returning America's space shuttles to orbit. Only achieved milestones will drive and dictate our return to flight. While we undertake these efforts, we will continue to analyze the work of Adm. Gehman and the board and seek ways where we can go beyond their recommendations to make space flight even safer. As a new chapter in our nation's history of human space flight begins, we pledge to fly only when we are fit to do so. It is a promise we offer to those with the courage and zeal to explore and a solemn one that we owe to seven friends and their survivors. We are on the path to returning to safe space flight. We have a long way to go but we will get there and we will make America proud.
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