spacetoday.net: NASA names former shuttle official safety center manager

Posted: Sat, Nov 15, 2003, 7:30 PM ET (0030 GMT)
NASA

NASA has selected a former space shuttle official as the manager of a new safety office, a move that has generated a degree of controversy. Ralph Roe, former manager of the shuttle vehicle engineering office, will manage the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), based at the Langley Research Center in Virginia. NESC was established by NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe earlier this year to provide independent testing and analysis for the shuttle and other NASA programs. Roe was one of the shuttle officials reassigned in the wake of the Columbia accident; he had been serving as a special assistant to Langley director Roy Bridges. One Senator, Ernest Hollings (D-SC), criticized the selection in a statement, saying that the selection of Roe was evidence that "NASA cannot reform itself" and that an independent commission is needed to oversee NASA's return-to-flight activities. Hollings introduced legislation earlier this month that would establish such a commission.