Posted on 04/18/2005 6:04:16 PM PDT by anymouse
New NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said on Monday he might consider letting the space shuttle return to flight even if an independent panel has not finally approved some safety improvements.
Griffin, a rocket scientist who was confirmed by Congress last week to head the U.S. space agency, said NASA's managers will have the final say on whether shuttle Discovery lifts off during its scheduled launch window from May 15 to June 3.
Asked at his first news conference if he would allow Discovery to fly despite some reservations by the independent Stafford-Covey Commission, which monitors NASA progress on safety recommendations after the Columbia disaster, Griffin replied, "In concept, yes I would."
"I cannot begin at this time to say under what specific conditions that NASA might elect to go ahead with the launch, given a disparity of opinion between various interested parties as to whether we should or shouldn't," Griffin said.
The answer will depend on technical details, and NASA managers will have the final say, he said.
"Advisory groups advise. We need to take our advice very seriously ...," Griffin said. "But at the end of the day, the people wearing government and contractor badges charged with launching the vehicle will be the ones who are responsible and accountable for their actions."
The Stafford-Covey panel's charter is to assess NASA's fulfillment of 15 recommendations made by Columbia investigators for the safe return to shuttle flight. Final clearance on eight recommendations is pending.
The panel's final evaluation, scheduled for late March, was postponed because members wanted more information from NASA.
The return to flight of the shuttle fleet, grounded since Columbia's mid-air disintegration on Feb. 1, 2003, is Griffin's top priority.
After the first successful shuttle flight, he said he would consider reinstating a shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the aging but popular Hubble Space Telescope, which under current NASA plans would be allowed to degrade in orbit until being brought down to Earth.
Griffin also said he is convinced President Bush's ambitious plans for human space missions to the moon and Mars are affordable within projected budgets.
"In present-day dollars, you could probably go to Mars for about what we spent on Apollo over the 12 years of its performance," he said. "At a few billion dollars a year, spaced out over a number of years, voyages to Mars are eminently do-able."
Griffin said he was taking NASA's helm at one of the most promising times in decades, but acknowledged inherent challenges in moving the agency forward.
"It is a challenging time," he said. "If everything were going and we were doing for the next three decades the stuff that we've been doing for the last three decades, frankly I don't believe I would want the job."
"It is a challenging time," he said. "If everything were going and we were doing for the next three decades the stuff that we've been doing for the last three decades, frankly I don't believe I would want the job."
space ping
If it works out - good, if it doesn't - goodbye.
"go" what? Go Boom? Go crash? Go splat? Go poof? What?
Just don't launch the flying bread truck when it's cold out could save alot of money.
Far Side ping.
First recommendation: Griffin goes ... as a passenger.
Why?
For the same reason I think airport security checkers ought to be randomly required to board airplanes they've just "inspected". It concentrates the mind.
This guy wants to ignore safety recommendations. Okay Mr Griffin, if you think it's safe enough for others, welcome aboard.
Yeah, I get your point. But his point is not to be unsafe, per se, but rather that risk is going to be involved here, and we may just be trying for a perfection we'll never reach.
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