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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The NASA-appointed commission conducting an independent investigation into the Columbia accident is too closely linked to the space agency and has too little time to do its work, say critics who wonder whether the public can trust the findings.
They cite the perception of conflicts of interests -- a NASA official is a commissioner, a NASA engineer is the executive secretary, the board is relying on NASA staff and using NASA facilities.
The commission has 60 days to complete its mission, a timeframe perhaps insufficient for a thorough probe, says one lawmaker who notes the presidential commission investigating the shuttle Challenger explosion got 120 days.
Acknowledging congressional skepticism, NASA's chief has changed the commission's charter and may add more members.
Despite those moves, "I'm still concerned that the credibility and the independence of the commission can be challenged,'' Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon, ranking Democrat on the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee, said Saturday.
Some members of Congress want a presidential commission to investigate Feb. 1 shuttle Columbia disaster, much like the one President Reagan sent to look into the Challenger's explosion 17 years ago. Only a few days into that investigation, NASA was accused of secrecy and cover-ups.
To blunt Congressional criticism of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe revised its charter on Thursday, toning down language that seemingly had given him a strong hand to shape the investigation, and said the panel may get more members.
On Saturday, O'Keefe called the commission an ``extremely independent outfit.'' Speaking to reporters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., where recovered pieces of the lost spacecraft are being collected, said the investigation is ``going to be as independent and wide open as we can get.''
Gordon, in a letter sent Friday to President Bush, praised the changes but said more members still need to be added to the panel, and the board's charter must be revised further to ensure its independence. It also should report directly to the president and Congress, in effect a presidential panel like the Challenger's.
He also said the 60 days given to the board to probe the accident may not be enough time for a thorough investigation, noting the presidential commission looking into the 1986 loss of the Challenger had twice as long.
Any timeline should remain flexible, Gordon said Saturday, "but to start off with a 60-day mandate just isn't credible.''
The White House responded Saturday that it believes, as of now, the independent panel is the appropriate way to investigate Columbia's disintegration in flight, especially since Congress also plans an investigation.
Presidential spokesman Scott Stanzel said the Bush administration does not rule out that its view could change as the investigation moves forward.
"It's important for them to look at the facts and leave no stone unturned,'' Stanzel said."We don't rule anything in or out at this point, as events warrant.''
O'Keefe's charter changes eliminate the edict that the board will act "with direction from the NASA administrator'' but will work ``in accordance with the provisions of applicable NASA policies and procedures.'' It also says the board will now ``work with'' the O'Keefe in scheduling activities and reports, instead of "in coordination'' with him.
Jim Burnett, who was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board when the Challenger exploded, said, the board is ``external,'' not ``independent.''
The NTSB, which conducts independent investigations into plane crashes, pipeline explosions and train wrecks, lent staff to NASA to conduct its Challenger investigation, as it did for the Columbia probe.
"When NASA picks someone to conduct their investigation,'' he said, "they quite likely do it with an eye toward someone who's going to be friendly.''
Also, staff from the space agency and its contractors will be doing a lot of the work, and the technical analysis could be influenced by considerations of who could get into trouble, Burnett said.
Criticism of its role in the Challenger probe led NASA in the mid-1990s to create an outside board called the Space Shuttle Mishap Interagency Investigation Board -- since renamed the Accident Investigation Board _ headed by retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. The agency produced a manual on how to investigate accidents.
Board members, most of whom hold safety posts in the military and the Transportation Department, were activated for the first time the day the Columbia came down.
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