NASA Reassigns Engineer Before Shuttle Launch

A top NASA engineer and astronaut was removed from his position as director of engineering at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after writing a congratulatory e-mail to engineers who voiced concerns over the safety of the next shuttle launch.

Charles J. Camarda, who flew on last year’s mission to the International Space Station, said in a statement released Tuesday evening that his reassignment within the space agency involved a “management style” issue between him and Johnson director Michael L. Coats, rather than a concern over whether the shuttle is safe to launch.

Camarda had said in an earlier e-mail to colleagues that he had been removed from the key Mission Management Team, which oversees shuttle missions.

But Tuesday, he said that he had been assured he would be participating on the team and that he looked forward to “working toward the successful completion of” the 12-day STS-121 shuttle mission, scheduled for launch Saturday.

The conflict with Coats apparently came to a head after Camarda offered congratulations to engineers who spoke out at a flight-readiness conference 10 days ago. In that meeting, the agency’s top safety official and the chief engineer said they did not believe the shuttle should launch until more fixes are made to the foam insulation covering the external fuel tank.

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin overruled the two dissenters and decided to go ahead with the launch. Despite their concerns that the foam problem was not fixed, the two engineers said they had no objections to the launch.

In the e-mail to colleagues, copies of which were supplied to the media, Camarda did not say whether he was congratulating the engineers for having the courage to speak up or voting not to launch. Efforts to reach him by phone at his League City home outside Houston were unsuccessful.

NASA officials insisted the dispute had nothing to do with safety. They pointed out that Griffin has said repeatedly that he welcomes open debate.

Griffin’s “expectations are for people to raise issues,” said NASA spokesman Dean Acosta.

Camarda, 54, has been reassigned to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, based in Hampton, Va. He is one of the most knowledgeable and outspoken astronauts about the risks of spaceflight and the danger to the vehicle caused by falling debris.

Coats is a former astronaut with three shuttle flights under his belt. He became Johnson director last year after working as vice president of the advanced space transportation department at Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Co., in Denver.