"By recommitting ourselves to the original concept for the ASAP, we believe a stronger, more focused advisory panel will benefit the entire agency well beyond our return to flight efforts," O'Keefe said in a statement.
The new panel includes Steven Wallace, a member of the Columbia board and current chief of accident investigations at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fellow new panelists Walt Cantrell, a retired Navy Rear Admiral, and Rosemary O'Leary of Syracuse University are members of the Stafford Covey Task Group overseeing NASA's initial return to flight efforts.
None of the new panel members have any direct history with NASA.
"We've taken extra steps to ensure the independence of this panel," NASA's safety chief, Bryan O'Connor, said in a statement. "While the original law and the new charter allow for NASA members, none of the new members is a current or former agency employee or contractor."
Clearly establishing independence from NASA was a key factor in the Columbia board report gaining widespread acceptance around Capitol Hill and throughout the nation. NASA officials hope for the same now with the new ASAP.
The ASAP was created following the Jan. 27, 1967 fire at Launch Complex 34 here that claimed the lives of the three Apollo 1 astronauts.
The intent of the original ASAP charter was for the panel to act as an independent body that would advise the NASA Administrator on safety issues regarding operations, missions and other agency programs.
During the years that followed, the ASAP's annual report often would call attention to problems needing immediate attention. In some cases the troubles were fixed, but in many cases NASA's response was considered a polite "thank you for noticing, we'll get back to you."
With no teeth behind implementing the annual reports, and no extra money coming from Congress to allow NASA to address some of the concerns, the ASAP grew to become the ineffective organization detailed in the Columbia report.
Moving forward it is NASA's intent the new ASAP work closely with the Stafford Covey Task Group and the new NASA Engineering and Safety Center in Virginia to be a more effective organization.
Another significant change is that instead of releasing one report each year, the ASAP will put out a report each quarter -- making their findings more timely and relevant.
"By drawing on and tasking the technical support of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, the panel will have a deep capacity to conduct comprehensive, independent, external oversight of our safety systems, operations and culture. We welcome the members' active participation in our efforts to emerge from the Columbia tragedy a smarter, stronger and safer agency dedicated to exploration," O'Keefe said.
Pulled from the NASA statement, here is a list of the nine new ASAP members:
- Rear Admiral Walt Cantrell, USN (Ret)
Former Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
Member, NASA Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group
Former NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel member
- Vice Admiral Joe Dyer, USN (Ret)
Former Commander, Naval Air Systems Command
General Manager, Military Systems Division, iRobot Corporation
- Augustine Esogbue, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Intelligent Systems & Controls Laboratory, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Major General Rusty Gideon, USAF (Ret)
Former Commander, U.S. Air Force Safety Center, and USAF Chief of Safety
Former Director of Operations, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command
Former Commander, Foreign Aerospace Science and Technology Center
- Deborah Grubbe
DuPont Corporate Director -- Safety and Health
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Former consultant, Columbia Accident Investigation Board
- Rosemary O'Leary, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Public Administration and Political Science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, New York
Member, NASA Stafford-Covey Return to Flight Task Group
- John Marshall
Delta Airlines, Vice President Corporate Safety and Compliance, Atlanta
Co-chair, Commercial Aviation Safety Team
Board member, National Defense Transportation Association
- Steve Wallace
Director, Office of Accident Investigation, Federal Aviation Administration
FAA representative to National Transportation Safety Board
Former Columbia Accident Investigation Board member
- Rick Williams
Corporate Safety Director, Alcoa, New York
Former Director, Human Resources, Alcoa Primary Metals, Knoxville, Tenn.
- Brigadier General Joseph Smith, USA -- Ex-Officio Member
Director, U.S. Army Safety Center, Fort Rucker, Ala.
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