THE CHALLENGER: AN AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY : New Panel to Assist in Rocket Redesign
The National Academy of Sciences announced Monday that it has formed a panel of experts to advise NASA on the redesign and construction of the solid rocket boosters blamed for the Challenger explosion.
The Rogers commission recommended that an independent review panel oversee development of an improved booster by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its contractors.
Before the release of the commission report, NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher asked the National Research Council to establish such an advisory group.
The council is the principal research arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, private organizations charged with advising the federal government on science and technology.
H. Guyford Sever, former director of the National Science Foundation and science adviser to former President Gerald R. Ford, was appointed chairman of the 10-member study group.
The panel includes experts in propulsion, materials, structures, aerospace engineering and related industrial technologies. It will complete detailed evaluations of the booster redesign process and submit written reports to Fletcher containing recommendations for improvements.
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