Thursday, August 18, 2005

Task Force Says NASA "Disturbing"

Panel Challenges NASA Over Shuttle Safety

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA skipped some shuttle safety improvements as it tried to meet unrealistic launch dates for the first flight since the Columbia tragedy, some members of an oversight panel said in a scathing critique. Poor leadership also made shuttle Discovery's return to space more complicated, expensive and prolonged than it needed to be, the seven task force members said.

In fact, some of the "disturbing" traits that contributed to the Columbia tragedy - like smug, overbearing managers influencing key decisions - were still present in the months leading up to Discovery's launch in July, the panelists said.

"We expected that NASA leadership would set high standards for post-Columbia work. ... We were, overall disappointed," they wrote.

One outcome of all this, the seven said, was out-of-control costs. "At the end of 2 1/2 years and $1.5 billion or more, it is not clear what has been accomplished," they said.
Griffin, who took over NASA just four months ago, pointed out that both he and Gerstenmaier are new to their jobs and that it is too soon to speculate on any changes that might be necessary in the shuttle program.

One minute. That's as long as it took for me to listen to the former head of NASA, O'Keefe, and make the decision the man was as full of horseshit as any one human being could possibly be. Used-Car-Salesman was what kept running through my head, bad one at that. How anyone in or out of NASA could possibly have been fooled by this man is beyond my ken. The program is past redemption and long overdue for the scrap heap. No vision, no courage, and very little honesty.

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