Points Out Links Between Safety And Procurement

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, has released its 2010 annual report. The panel examines NASA's safety performance during the past year and alerts agency and government leaders to issues and concerns.

Congress established the ASAP in 1968 after the Apollo 1 fire to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters. The panel holds quarterly fact-finding and public meetings and makes one or more visits annually to NASA centers and related sites. This year's report advises NASA on issues that have significant potential to impact human spaceflight.

"The panel's first and foremost concern is the lack of clarity and constancy of purpose among NASA, Congress, and the administration," panel Chairman Joseph W. Dyer said. "We believe this increases the likelihood that essential knowledge and competencies in the contractor or government workforce, such as those involving safety considerations, lessons learned, and past experience will not be present to effectively reduce risk in the future."

Some of the panel's critical safety issues or concerns in the 18-page report include:

• Human spaceflight acquisition strategy and safety approach.
• FAA/NASA relationship.
• Workforce and safety culture.
• International Space Station challenges.

Concerning acquisition, the report states "Acquisition strategy is PROFOUNDLY linked to safety. The principles of design and system robustness, as well as the delicate trades among cost, schedule, performance, and safety, are communicated to the supplier via the request for proposal that is derived from the acquisition strategy. Acquisition strategy articulates the design goals and optimizes placement on a continuum between “cheapest achievable” and “best possible.” Additionally, the strategy lays out the success criteria and reward structure. The safety linkage is intimate and inseparable."

The panel also urges NASA and the FAA to work together to facilitate human spaceflight. "The potential benefits from a strong interagency partnership are evident. NASA has been launching humans into space for almost 50 years. At the same time, the FAA has more than 25 years of experience in regulating commercial space launches and 84 years (with its predecessor organizations) in regulating commercial air travel. The challenge will be for NASA and the FAA to avoid levying conflicting and/or unnecessarily burdensome requirements on the launch operators while still ensuring safe operations.

"The Panel believes that it will be very important for NASA and the FAA to “practice” their new relationship during cargo-delivery and vehicle-development missions over the next several years. For example, it has already been decided that Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions will involve FAA licensing. Advantages of this approach include the capability to use existing processes for insurance, cross-waivers, Government indemnification for third-party excess claims, and the FAA’s ability to take enforcement actions, if necessary, to ensure compliance with safety-related regulations."

The full report is available online.

FMI: http://oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap