Gen. Deal Fears Rushed Launch
An investigator of the
Columbia disaster fears more astronauts will die if NASA rushes
ahead with a space shuttle launch this fall without making all the
needed repairs.
"An early launch could create the same conditions which cost us
16 lives," Air Force Brig. Gen. Duane Deal said earlier this week.
He was referring to the crews of the Columbia and Challenger and
two men who died in a helicopter crash while searching for shuttle
debris.
NASA's top spaceflight official insists, however, that the plan
for resuming shuttle flights as early as September or October will
be driven by milestones, not schedule. He stressed Wednesday that
those months are merely planning dates.
"If we don't meet milestones, we don't fly in September or
October. It's that simple," said Bill Readdy, a former shuttle
commander in charge of the spaceflight office.
Readdy said he appreciates that "there are concerns out
there."
"That's normal," he said. "It's part of the open discussions
that we have about all these items, that show that we've learned an
awful lot here in the year since the accident, paid tremendous
attention to the very thoughtful commentary and the recommendations
and observations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board."
Deal, commander of the
21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, has
investigated about a dozen military aircraft and rocket accidents.
He said he stays in touch with shuttle workers who tell him
pressure is building to launch this fall. He said workers also have
confided to him that there is still resistance within NASA to
institutional change.
In their final report last summer, Deal and the other Columbia
investigators blamed the Feb. 1, 2003, accident not only on a piece
of flyaway foam, but also NASA's broken safety culture. The general
wrote a supplemental report citing numerous other safety
infractions that he said could be the next O-ring or piece of
foam.
Deal, said progress is lacking on some of the critical
recommendations made by the investigators, especially regarding the
inspection and repair of damaged shuttle wings in orbit.
A gash in the leading edge of Columbia's left wing, from a piece
of fuel-tank foam insulation at liftoff, let in the searing gases
of re-entry and led to the ship's destruction over Texas.
Deal also worries about
NASA's "definition of what is and isn't critical damage," which
could hinder astronauts' repair capability in orbit.
In an interim status report last month, the task force
overseeing return-to-flight activities noted that NASA's progress
on the recommendations is "uneven" and said it is too soon to
predict when space shuttles might fly again.
NASA has spent more than $200 million so far on its
return-to-flight efforts, and President Bush (news - web sites) is
seeking another $200 million for that in the agency's 2005
budget.
Readdy acknowledges "the future is fuzzy" regarding the shuttle
and international space station, in light of Bush's new space
initiative that puts high priority on returning astronauts to the
moon by 2020.
But the president's 2010 deadline for completing the station and
retiring the shuttle should not be cause for concern among
employees or an impetus for pressure, Readdy said.
"That's still about half a dozen years off," he said. "There's a
tremendous amount of work for us to do, but job one is return to
flight, return to flight safely."