US Investigators Criticize NASA for Columbia Accident

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 27, 2003

US Investigators Criticize NASA for Columbia Accident

The board investigating the space shuttle Columbia accident released the much-anticipated report on Tuesday, blaming the US space agency NASA for contributing to the tragedy.

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The board investigating the space shuttle Columbia accident released the much-anticipated report on Tuesday, blaming the US space agency NASA for contributing to the tragedy.

The physical cause of the loss of Columbia and its crew on Feb.1, 2003, was a breach in the thermal protection system on the leading edge of the left wing, caused by a piece of insulating foam breaking away from the external tank at 81.7 seconds after launch, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said in its report.

"NASA's organizational culture had as much to do with this accident as foam did," the 248-page report concluded.

"The organizational causes of this accident are rooted in the Space Shuttle Program's history and culture, including the original compromises that were required to gain approval for the shuttle, subsequent years of resource constraints, fluctuating priorities, scheduled pressures, mischaracterization of the shuttle as operational rather than developmental, and lack of an agreed national vision for human space flight," it said.

The report was the result of a seven-month-long investigation by the independent board of 13 members, more than 120 investigators, 400 NASA and contractor employees, and more than 25,000 searchers who recovered Columbia's debris.

The investigating board makes a total of 29 recommendations, including 15 return-to-flight ones that they said NASA should implement before the three remaining space shuttles return to flight.

Commenting on the report, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Tuesday that his agency accepts the criticisms and will comply with the safety recommendations "to the best of our ability."

"We already have begun to take action on the earlier issued recommendations, and we intend to comply with the full range of recommendations released today," O'Keefe said in a statement.

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