NASA Data Shows 71% Cut in Quality Monitors

The number of people responsible for monitoring the quality and reliability of work done for the U.S. space agency has been cut 71% since mid-1970, a rate more than double that of reductions in the overall agency work force, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration figures.

The cutbacks could be the “common denominator” in a series of recent failures for the space program involving different contractors and different systems, said Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.), whose office obtained the figures in preparation for a hearing today and supplied them to the Post.

Reductions in “quality assurance” personnel have been cited repeatedly by space program critics as a contributing factor to NASA’s current problems, but this is apparently the first time the cutbacks have been documented.

Independent Inspectors

The quality assurance office at NASA is charged with providing independent, expert inspectors to watch workers who build, repair, handle and test flight hardware at NASA centers and at contractor plants. These inspectors are supposed to make sure work is done properly and inform officials of problems.

The revelation follows other reports documenting instances of sloppy workmanship, waste, mismanagement and related problems in the space program, which is still reeling from the Challenger shuttle accident on Jan. 28, the explosion of an Air Force Titan 34D rocket on April 18 and the failure of a Delta rocket Saturday. Broken down center by center, the figures show that quality assurance personnel were cut most radically at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., which is responsible for the space shuttle’s propulsion systems. The number at Marshall went from 615 people to 88 people, a reduction of 86%.

Supervised Booster Work

Marshall officials supervised the development and production of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters.

Milton A. Silveira, NASA chief engineer, said the figures came from a report prepared as part of a campaign by some employees to get NASA to beef up the quality assurance staff.

He acknowledged that there had been drastic cuts and said they meant, among other things, that one level of testing on flight hardware failures was eliminated.