WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe vowed Wednesday to pursue all the recommendations the Columbia Accident Investigation Board issued in its 248-page final report.
Though OKeefe had yet to read the lengthy report from cover to cover -- thats on tap, he said, for the long Labor Day weekend ahead -- the Boards hard hitting assessment of the role NASAs organizational culture played in the Feb.1 space shuttle accident hit home.
"We get it," OKeefe said. "[We] clearly got the point."
Changing NASAs organizational culture -- defined by the Board as simply "the way we do things here" -- may be the toughest challenge the agency faces as it prepares to return its remaining fleet to flight operations. The report was released Tuesday.
OKeefe acknowledged as much during a press conference at NASA Headquarters. "Its not just about walking around telling everybody to shape up or ship out," he said, adding, "its going to take sustained leadership."
OKeefe also made clear that he is unlikely to ask anyone else to "ship out" as a result of his or her role in the accident.
"Its not about changing boxes or individual faces in those positions," he said. "Its about longer term institutional change and, again, to that point, we get it."
Most of the senior NASA personnel directly mentioned by name in the reports assessment of "missed opportunities" during Columbias 16-day mission have since resigned or been transferred to other jobs in the agency. Notable exceptions include William Readdy, NASAs associate administrator for space flight, and Bryan OConnor, the agencys associate administrator for safety and mission assurance.
OKeefe defended the fitness of his senior management team. He pointed out that all four NASA field centers with lead roles in human space flight -- Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Stennis Space Center -- have all seen a change of leadership at the top since he took over in January 2002.
NASAs preliminary Return to Flight implementation plan is expected to be completed in seven to 10 days. A NASA source told SPACE.com the Return to Flight team is working toward a deadline of Sept. 5 for delivering the plan to the U.S. Congress.
OKeefe gave no clear indication of when NASA expects the shuttle fleet to resume service and pointedly declined to reaffirm the March 2004 target set before the reports release.
"When we have made the judgement that we are fit to fly, thats when we will do so," he said.
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