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NASA Workers, Contractors Say Report's Portrayal May Be off Mark

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

Aug. 27--NASA so strongly encourages employees to disclose problems that a number of space contractors and former employees at Johnson Space Center said Tuesday that the Columbia Accident Investigation Board may be off the mark in portraying the agency as putting deadlines ahead of safety.

NASA tries to foster an open atmosphere so employees at all levels feel comfortable revealing safety problems and putting forward solutions, employees of the space agency's contractors said.

"Anybody on the floor can stop a process," said Rob Tomaro, a shuttle crew instructor at United Space Alliance, the key contractor hired by NASA to run the shuttle program. "I could stop a procedure."

The employees' view of NASA was sharply at odds with the report released Tuesday by the board, which found that the space agency's hidebound, bureaucratic culture had as much to do with Columbia breaking apart over Texas Feb. 1 as the foam insulation that punctured the shuttle's wing during takeoff.

But not everyone involved in the space program was surprised by the report's scathing criticism.

"I fully expected to see what was in the report," said Mark Reidel, an engineer at one of NASA's contractors. "I thought it was an accurate account of what caused the event."

Reidel said the report accurately detailed how NASA and its contractors were under enormous pressure to meet deadlines. "From a taxpayer's standpoint, safety in flight should never be outweighed by budget issues. Our mission is to get (the astronauts) in orbit and bring them home safely."

The report also found NASA has a poor communications system and that engineers' safety concern sometimes were never passed on to higher-ups.

But several employees working for NASA contractors disagreed.

Craig Walton, a United Space Alliance shuttle crew instructor who formerly worked at the mission control center at Johnson, said, "As far as communication not being there, that's not accurate."

The report found that NASA created a culture that put meeting deadlines related to the construction of the international space station ahead of safety issues.

Walton, however, said, "I have never felt rushed."

Tomaro said NASA and United Space Alliance employees all are required to meet deadlines -- just as employees are at any company.

"When I had a concern, it was always addressed," Tomaro said.

But he added: "Not being on a console at Mission Control, I don't know what happens to somebody who tries to override there."

Other workers said the accident investigation board was out to lay blame for the accident on someone or something and that NASA was the easy scapegoat.

NASA was consumed by safety every step of the way, said a man who formerly worked as an interpreter at Johnson but who did not want to be otherwise identified.

"I think it's bogus. I know people over there, and they work hard," he said. "I don't see any negligence. It's easy to criticize."

He said the board's report also seems to fail to take into account space flight's inherent risks.

"Nothing is 100 percent safe when you are talking about space exploration," he said.

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(c) 2003, Houston Chronicle. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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