Shuttle Contractor Adapting To Post-Columbia Operations

摘要

Managers at United Space Al-liance (USA) are contemplating the creation of an independent safety authority that would be similar in purpose to the Independent Technical Authority NASA is forming. The idea ― the details of which are still being hammered out ― is one of several changes the company responsible for preparing NASA's shuttle fleet for launch is making in response to the 2003 Columbia tragedy, in general, and specifically the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report "We did what the NASA administrator told us all to do. We took the CAIB report seriously and we read it very carefully," said Mike Mc-Culley, a former astronaut who is now president and chief executive officer of USA. "We're trying to make ourselves better."