TIM FURNISS / LONDON
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) has identified the role played by "multi-level bureaucratic and administrative signals" in the loss of Columbia, chairman Hal Gehman testified before Congress last week. One-third of the report that the CAIB will issue in June will comprise recommended changes in NASA's management of safety and reliability, he said.
NASA bureaucracy prevented it accepting an offer from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency to take images of Columbia in orbit to assess whether external-tank foam shed during launch had damaged the wing thermal-protection system, Gehman said.
Whether the images would have altered the outcome of the mission is unknown, but Gehman said the CAIB is "not quite so happy with the [decision-making] process". He added that if engineers had known about the damage to the thermal-protection system, "it is inconceivable that we could have done nothing" to try to save the crew.
Several engineers suspected a problem and discussed it informally but the Shuttle programme management was not notified. NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe admits it was "clearly the wrong judgement". NASA has already agreed that images of Shuttles in orbit will routinely be taken in future.
Images of Columbia may have revealed damage to the left wing, and the crew could have patched the damaged area during an EVA. The orbiter's flight could have been extended by two days and weight shed to lessen the re-entry heat build-up. The re-entry path and angle could also have been altered to reduce the thermal and dynamic conditions. But the crew's survival is still considered unlikely.
Gehman expressed concern about flying craft that are 25 years old, with NASA having no way of determining components' safety. "You cannot fly an orbiter with old equipment that you don't know the condition of," he said. The CAIB has recommended NASA develop non-destructive inspection technology that can ensure the Shuttle's health.
Source: Flight International
