02 February 2003
NASA Head Says Manned Space Flight Program Will Continue
(Administrator Sean O'Keefe discusses Feb. 1 loss of Space Shuttle Columbia) (650) By Thomas Eichler Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration says his agency plans to continue the U.S. manned space flight program, despite the loss February 1 of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts -- the second fatal accident in the shuttle program, following the explosion on launch 17 years before of the shuttle Challenger. "Our objective is to find out what caused this, fix it and make sure that we support the dream, the vision that those folks gave their lives to," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on NBC's Meet the Press February 2. Columbia broke up in the skies over Texas at about 8 a.m. local time as it descended for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 16 days in orbit. Debris from the spacecraft was reported to be spread over a path extending for 800 kilometers. O'Keefe promised an exhaustive investigation to determine the cause of the accident. "[W]e are going to leave absolutely nothing to chance or unturned to determine exactly what happened," he said. "We are looking at every possible theory of what could have contributed to this horrific accident." Asked whether NASA can rule out terrorism as a cause of the shuttle's breakup, O'Keefe said "It appears so, but we are not going to leave any stone unturned" during the investigation. He announced the appointment of retired Admiral Harold W. Gehman Jr. to lead an independent investigation of the Columbia accident, to supplement NASA's own internal investigation. Gehman led the investigation into the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole at the port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000. Asked about concerns of critics in the recent past that reduced budgets and other factors might be compromising NASA's ability to deal with safety issues, O'Keefe said NASA listens to all such concerns. [A]nything that could possibly compromise safety, is examined as carefully as we know how to ... and we correct any deficiency before launch," he said. According to O'Keefe "there are no objections that are overruled of anyone who believes that there is a safety consideration." He added that although Columbia was over 20 years old, it and the other shuttles are put through a major modification and rebuilding program every three years, putting them in "as-new condition." Asked about the status now of the scheduled flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis in March to relieve the crew of the international space station -- American astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Petit and Russian Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin -- O'Keefe said on ABC's This Week that future shuttle flights are on hold until investigators determine the cause of the Columbia accident. He said the space station crew members remain in good spirits. He noted that earlier that day the Russians had launched an unmanned space ship on schedule to resupply the space station, carrying equipment and materials that can sustain the crew there "through at least early summer, late spring. ... So we've got time, and we've got an opportunity, I think, to sustain them for what they need." He added that U.S. space officials work closely with their Russian counterparts on the space station. "They are supportive of what we do and we're working with them ... to assure that they know exactly what the events were and making sure that we support the crew of the international space station completely. In his comments on NBC, O'Keefe said the United States remains dedicated to maintaining a continuous human presence on the space station. Further information on Space Shuttle Columbia can be found on the NASA Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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