Oversight Committee Blasts NASA for Reckless Launch Schedule and Behavior

In a stunning departure from the official party line, members of an oversight committee blasted NASA for an overagressive launch schedule and for displaying the same type of behavior which lead to the Columbia and Challenger disasters.

Foam came off the shuttle Discovery as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral several weeks ago. This problem was supposed to have been fixed by NASA as this problem led to the destruction of Columbia upon re-entry two years ago. It was later discovered that a hole had been blown in the left wing after two pounds of foam hit the shuttle and that the hole allowed superhot plasma to enter the shuttle.

In addition, they said that NASA did a poor job of assessing shuttle risks, and "...making the shuttle's return to space more complicated and costly than it needed to be."

Where were these people in the days prior to the launch of the Discovery?

NASA is listening to the oversight committee (for now) and has cancelled all shuttle launches until March 2006.

Today NASA announced they bumped the Atlantis and put the Discovery back onto the schedule, despite the damage done to the shuttle from this last trip. They are evidently preparing the Atlantis for a heavy-lift job to the International Space Station in September of next year. Apparently Atlantis can carry more payload than the Discovery can.

While the reasoning for bumping Atlantis is sound, perhaps they should take their time in fixing Discovery, instead of rushing it back into service. All of the re-usable tanks should be retired since the foam comes tearing off of them during liftoff.

If NASA intends on continuing to fly thirty-year-old airframes into outer space, they should be in great shape and be fully operational. And if something isn't working, the mission should be scrubbed until it does work.

And the "we're going to launch regardless of whether the fuel gauge is working or not" attitude needs to get thrown out the window. That kind of attitude is precisely what the oversight board is criticizing. Hopefully NASA doesn't start sweeping stuff under the carpet again and hope that everything goes well.

They did it with the booster rocket O-rings on Challenger, and they did it on the foam with Columbia. They CAN'T afford to do those kinds of stunts. Their entire program depends on good decisions and bringing those shuttles and crews back to earth safely.

Here's the story. Get it right NASA.