Study Raises Concerns About Shuttle Safety

The NASA space shuttle’s maintenance contractors, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., haven’t always put safety before speed and cutting costs, a new study said Thursday.

The independent study also found that job cuts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration over the last few years stressed and overworked its workers and “eroded” NASA’s commitment to safety.

“In spite of NASA’s clear mandate on the priority of safety, the nature of the contractual relationship promotes conflicting goals for the contractor (e.g., cost vs. safety),” said the report of the 13-member Space Shuttle Independent Assessment Team. “NASA must minimize such conflicts.”

The study was commissioned by NASA after a July shuttle launch had two mechanical malfunctions. NASA has had two more highly public failures since--the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter in September due to a navigational error and the loss of the Mars Polar Lander, which failed to respond to commands upon reaching Mars in December.

The United Space Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed, has operated and maintained the shuttle fleet since 1996, when NASA consolidated all the contracts for the space shuttles into one. The six- to 10-year contract is worth an average of $1.2 billion a year.

“We’re working closely with NASA to come up with an appropriate response,” said Jeff Carr, spokesman for the alliance. “It must be evaluated against initiatives long on their way. Bottom line, safety is our top priority.”

NASA itself acknowledges that its contractors need to pay more attention to safety procedures.

“We haven’t been able to communicate [to contractors] fully that safety is the one determinant” for financial awards, said Joseph Rothenberg, the chief of NASA’s spaceflight office.

Many managers of the Space Alliance put too much emphasis on hitting scheduling deadlines and not enough on finding “the root causes of any maintenance problems,” Rothenberg said.

NASA must be sure to hire more workers on its own staff, not just for the alliance, the team concluded. The study was completed by a team appointed by NASA and representing the agency, contractors and the military.

During a shuttle takeoff in July, one wire was accidentally severed, cutting off one engine control. A backup control kicked in without any glitch, NASA said. A pin also popped out of a gas canister, again without harm.