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Space Station in Peril: A FLORIDA TODAY Special Report
posted: 30 June 2005
05:02 am
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ft_issreport_archiveOver the course of this four-month investigation into NASA and the International Space Station (ISS), FLORIDA TODAY pored through thousands of pages from NASA documents ranging from engineering studies, risk analyses and safety waivers to the journals kept by astronauts during their stay aboard the orbital outpost. The investigation also included two years' worth of minutes from the panels overseeing space shuttle and station safety, and much of the material used for the following articles was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Among the sources for this special report are current and former space station engineers and managers, as well as top NASA officials and independent safety experts interviewed by FLORIDA TODAY. Safety Trade-offs Put Station at Risk
CAPE CANAVERAL -- NASA keeps flying crews on the International Space Station despite more than 800 known flaws and safety violations, some of which could destroy the outpost or kill its occupants.Shuttle Grounding Caused Some Station Risks
Safety problems on the International Space Station must be seen in the context of the Columbia disaster and the grounding of the shuttle fleet, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said.
Shuttle Fleet Grounding Compounds Water, Food Shortages
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The International Space Station is short on food, water and spare parts because the U.S. shuttles are grounded and Russian supply ships have not flown on schedule.Disaster May Be a Year Away if Crew Abandons Outpost
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Evacuation is the ultimate backup plan for the safety of an International Space Station crew. But studies reveal a 50 percent chance the station would be destroyed in the course of a year with no crew on board to handle problems. And falling pieces of the space station could pose danger on Earth. Space Debris Poses Significant Threat
CAPE CANAVERAL -- NASA risk analyses show that micrometeorites and space junk pose one of the greatest dangers to the $100 billion station. Yet, agency records show most of the Russian half of the outpost, including the station crew quarters and emergency lifeboats, fail to meet NASA safety standards. Hundreds of Glitches Plague ISS Computers
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Ground crews can control almost anything aboard the International Space Station, thanks to some of the most ambitious computer software ever written, a rat's nest of 4 million lines of meticulously strung together letters and numbers. Yet, just like the systems that run home computers, the station software harbors maddening glitches. Daily Analysis Ensures Crew Safety, O'Keefe Says
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe agreed to an interview for a special FLORIDA TODAY report on safety problems with the International Space Station.
FLORIDA TODAY has expressed its opinion on the future of the International Space Station in an editorial. You can read it here. Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2004 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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