NASA Says Safety Governs Shuttle's Return

SPACE TRAVEL

file photo of Discovery during processing at KSC

by Frank Sietzen Jr
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 1, 2004
Inside a hangar on the grounds of NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., groups of white-clad technicians swarm over a huge winged aircraft. Much of the machine is cloaked by scaffolds and access ramps, but one can easily make out a black-painted name on its side: Discovery. This is the 20-year-old spacecraft that NASA plans to launch back into space next spring, returning the winged fleet to flights that have been suspended since its sister ship, the Columbia, broke apart in the skies above Texas on the morning of Feb. 1, 2003.

The investigation into the cause of the accident faulted NASA's safety program for the shuttles, and ordered the agency to follow 29 recommendations to reform the shuttle program. Of these, 15 were considered necessary before NASA attempted to resume launches.

For a year, NASA has been attempting to follow those recommendations. Piece by incremental piece, Discovery and its upgraded systems are being readied to fly once again.

Engineers have completed an extensive rewiring of the shuttle. Inside a nearby processing facility, the first elements of the Discovery's huge solid booster rockets have arrived for stacking, assembly and preparation.

At first glance, Discovery looks the same as it was before Columbia disintegrated during atmospheric re-entry, but underneath its white and black exterior of heat-resistant thermal tiles and blankets, NASA has made dozens of changes to the winged ship:

Technicians have installed new systems that will give flight controllers updated information on the health of the shuttle's systems while in flight.
They have embedded a series of 88 new sensors into Discovery's wings to monitor their condition carefully as it races into orbit.
They will place cameras under the belly of the external fuel tank and rockets to give trackers detailed, high-definition, digital images of the exterior of the tank, revealing any areas where foam might have been shed during the launch.
While NASA continues to work on the tank's insulating foam, the area where foam loss was greatest during the Columbia mission - a 2-pound piece of which struck the leading edge of Columbia's left wing - has been completely redesigned for the next flight.

The program's first line of defense was to redesign the external tank so that debris of a critical size never impacts the orbiters again, Bill Parsons, the shuttle's program manager, told a news conference.

All told, NASA has made more than 100 modifications to Discovery since the accident. Even its cockpit has been updated. When the astronauts strap in for launch next spring, they will inhabit a new glass cockpit - a new multi-function electronic display designed to give the crew more information and easier-to-understand data as the ship roars to space.

Surprising, but most of the technicians working on the craft are not NASA employees. They belong to United Space Alliance, a company formed initially as a consortium of the Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin. Michael J. Mike McCulley, USA's president and chief executive officer, said the consortium has grown to include some 12 to 15 companies and encompasses 25 to 30 contracts.

We have become one company, McCulley told UPI.

He should know a thing or two about how the shuttles work and what to do to keep them in flying shape. He piloted Atlantis into orbit in 1989, logging 119 hours and 41 minutes in space.

McCulley said USA is focused on getting Discovery airborne next year, working under NASA's close supervision with safety the watchword.

Three different programs come to mind, when it comes to shuttle safety, McCulley explained.

There is a program called RATS - which stands for Risk Associated Trouble Spots. RATS could address a variety of issues.

It could be a safety risk, an 'ops' risk, or a schedule risk or a financial risk, McCulley said.

RATS allows USA employees who spot a RATS - something as simple as a tripping hazard or as complicated as a procedural error in the launch countdown - to submit it to senior management, who attempt to determine whether it is a valid concern.

There are three levels of RATS - bronze, silver or gold, McCulley said, depending on the level of potential risk to the shuttle. The company has established a series of prizes that go with RATS. McCulley said he personally tracks the progress of RATS issues, from submission right through to closeout.

Once each quarter, all the RATS filer's names are thrown into a hat, McCulley said, and he awards $250, $500 and $1,000 checks to those selected.

This has been a very successful program for us, he added.

Another program underway to enhance safety is called Time Out.

Especially in Florida, the hands-on employees wear a badge that says on it 'Time Out,' and there is a picture of the shuttle on it, McCulley explained. It says on it every employee has the right to call a time out.

The time-outs are described as a safe and temporary halting of work to clarify and resolve an individual or team concern. Anybody who is uncomfortable with something they see can use that.

One former vice-president used that about five or six months ago, he said, because one weekend he thought we were pushing too hard. So the manager called a time-out for the employees that weekend.

There are no penalties to anyone who calls a time-out, McCulley said.

USA also has a hot line in its ethics and legal offices.

Folks who aren't comfortable bringing up issues with their managers can use this method to raise concerns, he continued.

McCulley also has instituted an open-door - an open e-mail - policy to encourage employees to bring their issues and worries directly to him.

You'll get a note from somebody that says, 'Hey Mike, I'm seeing this and I don't like it very much,' and I'll go take a look without advising the person, McCulley said.

He noted that USA's managers stood down the shuttle twice in 2002 for issues they then brought to NASA.

We have celebrated those people that have been responsible for grounding the fleet, he said.

In a sense, NASA has been down this road before. In 1988, following the stand-down caused by the Challenger accident, it was Discovery - as now - that returned the shuttle to flight.

Next Report: Boeing partners with USA and NASA to lower the boom on the shuttle's return.

SPACE TRAVEL

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