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Backstop: Shuttle Will Fly with Outstanding Waivers; New Oversight Eases Conflicts on Safetyhe space shuttle Discovery is carrying some 300 waivers to technical specifications as it enters the home stretch of its planned return to flight next month. There were about 6,000 waivers in place when Columbia crashed. Shuttle managers say they are working to reduce the number of waivers remaining by fixing the problems they highlight, a change prompted by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. In the wake of the accident, NASA has heeded the CAWS recommendation that waivers be the responsibility of an "independent technical authority" (ITA), rather than the shuttle program itself. To carry out the recommendation of the CAIB-which found an inherent conflict of interest in having the same managers make decisions about cost, schedule and safety-then-Administrator Sean O'Keefe designated the agency's chief engineer as the formal ITA. He is responsible for setting, maintaining and granting waivers across the agency. In mid-January, Fred Gregory, then O'Keefe's deputy and now his acting replacement, launched the ITA within NASA under Chief Engineer Rex Geveden, the former program manager on the Gravity Probe B experiment.
Document ID
20050160484
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Morring, Frank, Jr.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
April 11, 2005
Publication Information
Publication: Aviation Week and Space Technology
Volume: 162
Issue: 15
ISSN: 0005-2175
Subject Category
Space Transportation And Safety
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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