Discrepancies
between an independent review of NASA's astronaut healthcare system and an
in-house survey prompted lawmakers Thursday to urge more open communications
among the U.S.
space agency's ranks.
In July, an
independent panel evaluating NASA's astronaut medical and behavioral services
recommended a series of improvements for the agency's healthcare system. The
panel also reported a pair of anecdotal
accounts of drunk astronauts that were later
allowed to fly despite safety concerns by fellow spaceflyers
and flight surgeons.
But the
results of a NASA internal investigation, released last
week, found no evidence that the alleged incidents ever took place, or that
safety concerns from the agency's flight surgeon corps have ever been brushed
aside.
"The
real question is, is there that comfortableness within the NASA flight safety
operations that allows everyone to step forward without feeling somehow they're
ostracized," said Congressman Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee), chair of the
House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee, during a Thursday
space and aeronautics subcommittee hearing.
U.S. Air
Force Col. Richard Bachmann, a veteran flight surgeon who led the independent
health panel for NASA, said the split between the two reports may be due to a
continuing fear of professional repercussions among those working within the
space agency. To avoid such obstacles, his panel pledged anonymity to NASA
astronauts, flight surgeons and other agency employees interviewed during their
healthcare evaluation.
"We
believe this may represent continued fear and barriers to communications and may
be cause for greater, not less, concern," Bachmann, commander of the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, told the subcommittee.
"The pictures that are painted by the two reports are diametrically in
opposition. The fact that they are not coming forward with similar concerns
when NASA asks the questions, I believe, still represents a problem."
NASA's
safety chief Bryan O'Connor, a former astronaut who conducted the agency's
internal review, said that while he was unable to verify the independent
panel's accounts, there was the possibility that those interviewed were
reluctant to come forward.
"There's
always a chance that someone may not feel totally comfortable speaking to their
safety guy," O'Connor told the subcommittee.
The space
agency is now preparing a focused anonymous survey for its employees to help
flush out any continuing concerns related to the independent panels' findings,
O'Connor added.
NASA
Administrator Michael Griffin told the subcommittee that the independent
panel's accounts of alleged drunk astronauts, as well as the arrest of former
astronaut Lisa Nowak earlier this year which spurred the agency to
reevaluate its healthcare system, have "shaken the public confidence"
in the U.S. space agency.
"The personal
conduct of NASA's workforce, including our astronauts, must be of the highest
standards, beyond reproach," said Griffin,
adding that the agency demonstrates such excellence daily. "But in the
face of the allegations and adversity which we've encountered recently we must
ask and answer hard questions, and we've done that."
Ensuring an
open communication environment has been a prime target of NASA since 2003, when
investigators faulted the
agency's internal culture as a contributor to the loss of the space shuttle Columbia
and its astronaut crew.
"The
more general allegation is a cultural problem that needs attention from the top
senior leadership," Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Florida) told Griffin during the hearing, referring to the alleged disregard of safety concerns in the
independent report.
"Fighting cultural problems is a little bit like shadow
boxing, because I think that you're administration has undertaken to change the
culture of that reporting," Feeney said.
Griffin
repeatedly urged space agency employees to come forward with any concerns they
may have during his testimony before the committee.
"If
there is anyone at NASA who has a concern, bring it forward. I need to hear
it," Griffin
said. "There's nothing more important to me in an agency like NASA than
having an open, free, non-political discourse on topics."
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