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Task Force Recommends Independent Shuttle Safety Group
By John Kelly
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 11:30 am ET
24 September 2002
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- As NASA contemplates handing over more space shuttle operations to private companies, a task force assigned to study the subject recommends an independent safety organization no matter how the agency handles privatization of its manned spaceflight programs. The task force, which is studying "competitive outsourcing" of shuttle operations among other issues, briefed administrator Sean O'Keefe on its findings in private Monday. NASA officials and the company conducting research for the task force would not release the report or comment on its contents, calling it a preliminary draft. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which was briefed about the task force's work several months ago, prepared a written status report saying the task force would propose some additional outsourcing of shuttle operations and creation of an "Independent Safety Assurance Office." The safety panel's status report said, "the briefing stopped short of making a definitive recommendation. Implicit in the briefing, however, is the general recommendation that some competitive outsourcing of the Space Shuttle or parts thereof should be executed." Aviation Week & Space Technology, citing a leaked copy of the report and interviews with unidentified members of the task force, reported Monday the group found NASA needs to reform contract management and safety in its manned programs. The magazine said the report's recommendations, if implemented, could shift many NASA jobs to the private sector. The magazine also reported the task force will propose a checks-and-balances system under which NASA, the prime shuttle contractor and a safety organization separate from NASA would all have to sign off before a flight. Dwayne Brown, a spokesman at NASA headquarters, said the Aviation Week report was based on a draft of the task force report. He said a final version of the report will not be ready until Sept. 30. After that, Brown said agency officials would share it with budget writers in Congress and the Bush administration before releasing a public version in mid-October. "It's only in draft form," Brown said. Until NASA receives and reviews a final version, Brown said the agency will not comment further. Kari Fluegel, a spokeswoman for primary shuttle contractor United Space Alliance, said the company's managers had not seen the task force recommendations. She said the company was proud of the work done so far under the existing Space Flight Operations Contract. "We certainly respect NASA's thought process and everything that's gone into getting the report commissioned," she said. Rand Corp., a think tank which does research on its own and under contract with the Defense Department and many other government agencies, would not comment on the research it has done for the NASA-led task force. "The task force report is not complete, so it would be premature to comment on a report still in progress," spokesman David Egner said.
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