Spring Break
Editorial: leaders must keep public informed
Issue date: 2/6/03 Section: Commentary
Last Saturday, the United States and the rest of the world were forced to cope with the kind of tragedy it hadn't seen since 1986, and had hoped it would never see again, as the NASA space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry over the southern United States. NASA workers, friends, family, government officials, and distraught Americans paid their respects to the fallen astronauts in a memorial service at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As the country takes the time to remember, it must also take this opportunity to resolve to continue the important work to which the lost astronauts dedicated their lives. At the same time, the government and NASA must resolve to continue this work with a new emphasis on safety for everyone involved.
Already, less than a week removed from the disaster, rumors of earlier reports warning of potential safety concerns with the space shuttle have begun to surface. As one of the hosts of WTIC's Bruce and Collin Show noted, this smells like another Coleen Rowley all over again. Rowley, of course, was the Minneapolis FBI agent who tried to warn her superiors before Sept. 11 of the possibility of potential terrorists training at flight schools. Her warnings were largely suppressed by the rigid FBI hierarchy.
Early evidence suggests that the culprit in the shuttle crash may have been damage caused to thermal tiles on the shuttle during lift off. CNN.com reported yesterday that, "the fragility of those tiles has been a question for NASA almost since the shuttle program's inception; in fact, studies in the early 1990s suggested that the tiles were vulnerable to a hit from debris during take off." Other reports were even more prophetic in their warning that fuel tank insulation material could fall off and damage the tiles. It seems possible that, once again, the warning signs for disaster were out there. One can only hope that these warnings were not suppressed by bureaucratic hierarchy, the way Rowley's were.
If it turns out that the warnings were suppressed from above, NASA (and every other government agency for that matter) needs to learn a serious lesson. The culture of keeping quiet and putting success and the maintenance of the status quo above safety must be eliminated. A second warning should not have been necessary after Sept. 11, and we still do not know the details of what lead up to the disaster. No matter what the final analysis, however, federal agencies must learn to value the warnings of even the lowest employee, rather than make every effort to suppress them. A tradition of equality and safety must supplant a culture of secrecy and short-cuts.
As the country takes the time to remember, it must also take this opportunity to resolve to continue the important work to which the lost astronauts dedicated their lives. At the same time, the government and NASA must resolve to continue this work with a new emphasis on safety for everyone involved.
Already, less than a week removed from the disaster, rumors of earlier reports warning of potential safety concerns with the space shuttle have begun to surface. As one of the hosts of WTIC's Bruce and Collin Show noted, this smells like another Coleen Rowley all over again. Rowley, of course, was the Minneapolis FBI agent who tried to warn her superiors before Sept. 11 of the possibility of potential terrorists training at flight schools. Her warnings were largely suppressed by the rigid FBI hierarchy.
Early evidence suggests that the culprit in the shuttle crash may have been damage caused to thermal tiles on the shuttle during lift off. CNN.com reported yesterday that, "the fragility of those tiles has been a question for NASA almost since the shuttle program's inception; in fact, studies in the early 1990s suggested that the tiles were vulnerable to a hit from debris during take off." Other reports were even more prophetic in their warning that fuel tank insulation material could fall off and damage the tiles. It seems possible that, once again, the warning signs for disaster were out there. One can only hope that these warnings were not suppressed by bureaucratic hierarchy, the way Rowley's were.
If it turns out that the warnings were suppressed from above, NASA (and every other government agency for that matter) needs to learn a serious lesson. The culture of keeping quiet and putting success and the maintenance of the status quo above safety must be eliminated. A second warning should not have been necessary after Sept. 11, and we still do not know the details of what lead up to the disaster. No matter what the final analysis, however, federal agencies must learn to value the warnings of even the lowest employee, rather than make every effort to suppress them. A tradition of equality and safety must supplant a culture of secrecy and short-cuts.