Mon, Jul 14, 2003
CAIB Recommends Shuttle Be Designated "Investigative
Vehicle"
It appears more than
likely that the Columbia Accident Investigation Board will
force NASA to declare space shuttles as "test vehicles." The space
plane, designed to carry astronauts, cargo and experiments into
orbit like a rocket-powered truck, was supposed to make space
flight routine. But Reuters reports the CAIB believes the shuttles
are not proven operational vehicles whose performance can be
predicted from one mission to the next.
"The fact that we've allowed cameras and range instrumentation
and on-board instrumentation ... to kind of gracefully atrophy over
the years leads me to bring this issue up, that there are some
signs that it's been considered an operational vehicle rather than
an investigative vehicle," said board chairman, Adm. Harold Gehman
(USN, ret.) at a briefing on Friday. In essence, members of the
investigative board believe NASA is playing too fast and loose with
the shuttle program.
"You need to treat the launch as the first launch, each orbit as
the first orbit, and each re-entry as the first re-entry," said
Brig. Gen. Duane Deal, another member of the investigation
board.
"The fact that this piece of foam (on Columbia's final
mission) ... was much much larger than NASA's previous experience
is of course important because it gets into the question of why
didn't that alarm the engineers in the program," Gehman said.
Perhaps more than anything else, that comment is an indication of
how deep the CAIB believes NASA's management problems go.
More News
From 2023 (YouTube Version): Legacy of a Titan Robert (Bob) Anderson Hoover was a fighter pilot, test pilot, flight instructor, and air show superstar. More so, Bob Hoover was an i>[...]
Get The Latest in Aviation News NOW on Instagram Are you on Instagram yet? It's been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody's new obsession >[...]
Aero Linx: B-52H Stratofortress The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic spee>[...]
Altimeter Setting The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter for variations in existing atmospheric pressure or to the standard altimeter setting (29.92).>[...]
"Knowing that we play an active part in bettering people's lives is extremely rewarding. My team and I are very thankful for the opportunity to be here and to help in any way we ca>[...]