Last August, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) published a report with strict recommendations regarding not only technical issues for a safe return to flight, but also issues related to the organization and culture at NASA. All the people at NASA, including astronauts, have accepted the recommendations unreservedly. We have been doing our utmost to solve the problems, one by one, based on CAIB's recommendations.

The Return to Flight Task Force has been supervising NASA from a third-party point of view, in order to ensure that NASA takes all the appropriate measures recommended by CAIB. As part of the process to return to flight, people at NASA's Johnson Space Center have been working on the damage inspection system for the Shuttle's Thermal Protection System (TPS) and the techniques to repair the damage with extra-vehicular activities (EVA). As a representative of the NASA Astronaut Office, I have been involved in the development of the on-orbit TPS inspection boom.

The Columbia accident was caused by a piece of insulating foam which fell off the External Tank and struck the Shuttle's wing, creating a breach in one of the Reinforced Carbon Compound (RCC) panels. During re-entry, this breach allowed superheated air to penetrate the insulation and melt the structure of the wing, causing the Shuttle to break up.

In future flights, the following capabilities will be required: 1) inspection of Shuttle's body while in orbit, 2) checking for damage on the TPS such as RCC panels and tiles, 3) evaluation of the critical nature of any damage found, 4) making repairs of critical damage with EVA and robotics.

Since astronauts will be the ones conducting such repairs, our opinions play an integral part in the discussions, evaluations, and development of these capabilities. More than ten astronauts, including myself, have been participating in this process.

We have been working with many people including those in the Space Shuttle Program Office, engineering departments, and manufacturing contractors for the development of the TPS inspection boom. The 15-meter inspection boom, equipped with a laser device and a camera, will be attached to the end of the Shuttle's robotic arm for TPS inspections. Also, an astronaut can be attached to the end of the boom to conduct a visual inspection during an EVA.

Using my previous experience as a robotic arm operator, I have had an opportunity to make recommendations on issues such as where to attach the cameras so that we can move the boom safely without damaging the Shuttle or the International Space Station (ISS).

Astronauts have been using simulators to evaluate the safety and the operability of the TPS inspection boom. Usually, a group of astronauts participates in these evaluations, and according to the results of the evaluations, we come to a consensus in the Astronaut Office and provide recommendations to the designers.

In addition, we are helping to develop the repair materials and tools for TPS repairs, which will be conducted by EVA. In the development process, we use a variety of facilities including a special water tank whose neutral buoyancy can simulate a weightless environment for an astronaut wearing an EVA suit, a KC-135 aircraft, which in a parabolic flight can create a state of microgravity for approximately 25 seconds, and a chamber which can simulate the thermal and vacuum environment in space.

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi of JAXA, who will conduct EVAs on the return to flight mission, has been playing an important role in the development.

The most important element of human space flight is safety. The Space Shuttle is a highly sophisticated spacecraft capable of performing various functions: delivery of large payloads, extra-vehicular activities, robotic arm operations, rendezvous, and docking. Without the Space Shuttle, the construction of the International Space Station would be impossible.

All the people involved in the Space Shuttle Program at NASA have made every effort for flight safety. The Challenger and Columbia accidents, however, have brought home the fact that it is extremely difficult to fly the Shuttle safely. We must learn from these accidents and continue to do our best to maximize the Shuttle's reliability.

During a Shuttle mission, the management team in charge of mission operations holds a meeting every morning. This team plays a very important role in the execution of a safe mission. Since the Columbia accident, mission-operation managers have been included in new Shuttle-flight simulation training sessions, along with astronauts and mission controllers.

The entire team, including the managers, has to cope with simulations of various kinds of problems, including damage to the Shuttle's body. The management team holds simulated meetings to ensure the safe execution of the mission.

As you can see, NASA has been steadily making progress toward the return to flight of the Space Shuttle.

On January 14, President George W. Bush announced a new vision for the United States human space development program and revealed a plan for human flights to the moon and to Mars. This challenge has re-energized the NASA Astronaut Office, which has had a difficult year since the Columbia accident. The safe restart of Shuttle flights and the completion of the ISS assembly are essential to make the plan for human missions to the moon and to Mars a reality.

While currently most of my work here has been devoted to the return to flight effort of the Space Shuttle, I am continuing my duties as a robotic arm instructor, my mission specialist training that includes the Space Shuttle and ISS systems, EVA, Russian language, and aircraft operations, as well as public relations activities both in Japan and the United States.

My Japanese astronaut colleague, Soichi Noguchi, will take part in the assembly of the ISS on the STS-114 mission, which is the next scheduled Shuttle flight. My goal is to contribute to the return to flight process so that his mission will be realized in the safest manner and as early as possible.

KOICHI WAKATA Astronaut, Manned Space Technology and Astronauts Department, Office of Space Flight and Operations Born 1963, in Omiya, Saitama, Japan. In April 1992, Wakata was selected as an astronaut candidate for the International Space Station assembly and operation flight by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (now part of JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and started training as a Shuttle Mission Specialist. Currently, he belongs to the EVA and Robotics branches of the NASA Astronaut Office Robotics Branch and is involved in the development of technologies for return to flight of the Space Shuttle, while serving as a robotics instructor astronaut.

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