Independence
This blog represents the personal opinions of Wayne Hale only. It does not represent the opinions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or Special Aerospace Services, or their clients.Follow me on Twitter
- So very pleased to have an alumnus of William Marsh Rice University confirmed as the next NASA Administrator! #Rice 2 days ago
- Honored to be in this group twitter.com/ricealumni/sta… 4 days ago
- Three of the smartest Rocket Scientists I know! #34SS https://t.co/LdnEtBYm9p 5 days ago
- Nice outdoor exhibits at the Space Symposium! #34NSS https://t.co/VMgna8UOs9 5 days ago
- To finish the story, 37 years ago I was in the MCC for the first reentry and landing of Columbia. The tiles worked.… twitter.com/i/web/status/9… 1 week ago
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Tag Archives: Columbia Accident
After Ten Years: the Fateful FRR
George Abbey never allowed a shuttle flight to be scheduled over the last days of January. He was too steeped in the events of the Apollo 1 fire and the STS-51-L loss of Challenger and her crew to put another … Continue reading
Posted in After Ten Years
Tagged Columbia Accident, Flight Readiness review, George Abbey
21 Comments
After Ten Years: STS-113, the Calm before the Storm
Of course the title is wrong; there was nothing calm about STS-113. I was the Ascent/Entry Flight Director as you can see in the picture of the mission control team. This ISS assembly and crew rotation flight was jam packed … Continue reading
Ten Years After Columbia: STS-112, the Harbinger
“You will never remember the many times the launch slipped, but the on-time failures are with you always” – Walt W. Williams, NASA Program Manager for X-15 and Mercury In the summer of 2002, the word got out about the … Continue reading
After Ten Years: A Few Words from Admiral Gehman
I’d like to interrupt my personal recollections of the Columbia accident and its aftermath to give a few words from Admiral Gehman. You might as well know that there are still people out there who will tell you the CAIB … Continue reading
Posted in After Ten Years
Tagged Columbia Accident, Organizational Culture, Program Management, Safety Culture
51 Comments
After Ten Years: Flying A Mature Vehicle – Or Not
“The Space Shuttle is an experimental vehicle with an operational mission” – NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Michael Kostelnik, 2004 The Space Shuttle system was under development for 13 years and then actually flew in space for over 30 years. … Continue reading
Posted in After Ten Years
Tagged Columbia Accident, conventional wisdom, Organizational Culture
16 Comments
Ten Years After Columbia: Pennywise and Pound Foolish
“Relentless budget reduction pressures necessitate more dramatic program actions” – Brewster Shaw, Space Shuttle Program Manager, December 1994 Polls show that the general populace rates the Internal Revenue Service as the most disliked agency in the US Federal government. Among … Continue reading
After Ten Years: The Tyranny of Requirements
My good friend and colleague from the Flight Director’s office, Jeff Bantle, left the agency several years ago to head up Lockheed-Martin’s Presidential Helicopter project. He now has a great presentation talk about how incrementally added requirements can sink a … Continue reading
Posted in After Ten Years
Tagged Columbia Accident, Common Sense, Program Management, Project Management
17 Comments
