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William Parsons will be NASA's New Shuttle Chief
By Paul Recer
AP Science Writer
posted: 11:00 am ET
09 May 2003
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- William W. Parsons, director of NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, was named Friday as the new manager of the space shuttle program. Parsons succeeds Ronald Dittemore, who resigned April 23. Dittemore rose to prominence while acting as a spokesman for the space agency following the destruction of space shuttle Columbia. Parsons was named the Stennis center director in August 2002 after almost a decade of work at the Johnson and Kennedy space centers. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said Parsons assumes a "critical position for the agency as we begin to focus our return to flight efforts in the wake of the Columbia tragedy." Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1 while returning to Earth from a 16-day orbital mission. All seven astronauts aboard were killed. The space shuttle fleet has been grounded since while engineers and investigators try to determine the cause of the accident. On Thursday, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, argued that the space shuttle is not safe enough to keep flying with people on board. He wants the government to build a new, safer space vehicle or modify the shuttle so it can be flown unmanned. He said the shuttle has cost the lives of 14 astronauts in just 113 flights. The accident rate -- one of every 62.5 missions -- "is simply not acceptable," said Barton, a member of the House Science Committee's space and aeronautics panel. An accident investigation board analyzing the Columbia loss is expected later this year to recommend changes that board members said would make the three remaining space shuttles safer. It is expected that NASA will require more money to make the recommended fixes. At a news conference Thursday, O'Keefe said human involvement in space flight is essential for building the International Space Station, the massive orbiting laboratory now being assembled. Components for the lab are delivered to orbit by the space shuttle. Construction is on hold now because the space shuttle fleet was grounded after the Columbia accident. O'Keefe said NASA engineers are evaluating safety changes that may be required for the space shuttle system, but have not determined how long those repairs will take. He said there was an outside chance the shuttle could return to flight by the end of this year, but that early in 2004 was more likely. He said he did not think any of the needed fixes would require "a major redesign" of the space shuttle.
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