-----Original Message-----
From: USA Houston Mailroom
To: ALL-Departments
Subject: CEO/COO Message

Dear Colleagues,

As we begin the third week following the Columbia tragedy, we would like to give you a status of where we are and share some thoughts about where we are going.

The support for the astronauts' families and friends has been tremendous. The community is rallying to help them through this difficult time. From pictures drawn by school children to thousands of letters of condolences, we are letting them know that they are in our thoughts and prayers.

We are also helping to address the more pragmatic side of this tragedy by establishing funds to help with the added financial burden facing them. Employees who are interested in making contributions to a charity fund for the survivors of the Columbia crew can now enroll online for a one-time payroll deduction that will be matched by company funds.

Many of you are directly involved in supporting the investigation and know that steady progress is being made. NASA is doing a great job of maintaining open communications with the public.

There is little time-lapse between the confirmation of new information and its release to the news media. We are hopeful, based on progress to date, that the root cause will be determined fairly quickly, and we can move forward again, fulfilling the conviction expressed by the families, the President and the NASA Administrator to find the cause, fix it and safely return to flight as soon as possible.

The Columbia accident investigation has added significantly to our workload. However, NASA also needs us to continue to focus on future flight preparations so that once the cause has been fully addressed, we can complete the ISS core configuration.

The Congress has added $50 million to NASA's Shuttle budget for this year to cover the added cost of the investigation. We know that some of you are working two jobs now, and we are working on reallocating resources to even the workload.

One encouraging sign in the wake of this tragedy has been the strong and unwavering public support for Human Space Flight and the Shuttle. In spite of the cynical minority, who seem to never miss an opportunity to criticize progress, overall national support remains very high.

A recent survey showed that 71 percent of the population believes in continuing the Shuttle program despite the inherent risk. The President's strong statements make it clear that Shuttle also has continued political backing.

Even if it takes a year or more to find and fix the cause, we expect our Shuttle budget will reflect this level of support.

So far, USA has received only minor attention in the media. However, you can expect increased coverage, both positive and negative, as time goes on and as the availability of new information regarding the investigation slows down.

We can't control the tone that the media chooses for any particular story. But we can all continue to take pride in our performance over the years, and the knowledge that our commitment to the safety and success of the Shuttle program remains unshakeable.

We did everything we could to make Columbia's mission safe, as we do for every mission. Our performance metrics in safety and quality are excellent and NASA is very complimentary of the work we do. When the media take the time to learn the facts and look objectively at our performance, the reports are generally very positive.

Nonetheless, there will inevitably be a story or two that are less than positive. We plan to actively refute all misrepresentations with hard facts, but corrections don't generally get the same visibility as the original story. Our best response will be to continue to look ahead, maintain our focus on safely returning to flight and meeting our customer's objectives. We are still the best in the business.

As are many of you, we are still working to personally cope with the shock of this terrible tragedy. The grieving process is going to continue for some time.

We think frequently of the astronauts and their families, and wonder if there was anything that we, personally, could have done to prevent the accident.

We know that many of you are asking yourselves the same question. Yet, at the same time, we know that the USA team did all that could be done to make Columbia, as every vehicle, as safe as possible. We want each of you to keep that in mind.

We are very proud of the job that you do for the astronauts and NASA, and we look forward to continuing that tradition once Shuttle flights resume. In the meantime, we want to encourage you to take the time to deal with your personal grief, take time with your families, and begin to prepare yourselves for the challenges ahead. Let the memory of the crew of Columbia, combined with our own determination, guide us into the future as we return America safely to flight.

Original signed by
Russell D. Turner President & Chief Executive Officer
Michael McCulley Chief Operating Officer
United Space Alliance

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