spacetoday.net: O'Keefe promises stringent new safety rules

Posted: Fri, Jun 27, 2003, 10:08 AM ET (1408 GMT)
Sean O'Keefe (White House)

NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said Thursday that NASA will exceed any shuttle safety rule changes proposed by the board investigating the Columbia accident. O'Keefe, speaking at a meeting of a Florida reporters association, said that they agency would establish a "engineering and safety center" that would review safety trends across the agency and would also have the authority to stop a mission is safety was compromised. O'Keefe also told Kennedy Space Center employees that the CAIB's report will be "really ugly" and will generate "theatrics" by the media and politicians, but that report represented an opportunity to set new minimum safety requirements for the shuttles. William Readdy, NASA associate administrator for spaceflight, confirmed earlier reports that NASA would likely eliminate foam from the bipod ramp on the external tank that links it to the nose of the shuttle; investigators believe foam came off that are during Columbia's launch, striking the leading edge of the left wing of the orbiter.