Jim Oberg ) wrote:
: Msnbc (Oberg): Why NASA's making the right decision

: Analysis, not wishful thinking, guiding shuttle officials

: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8700458/

: COMMENTARY By James Oberg //NBC News space analyst

: Special to MSNBC // 2:40 p.m. ET July 25, 2005



: HOUSTON - At first glance, NASA's decision to possibly launch even if a
: sensor glitch reappears suggests that the space agency was wrong two weeks
: ago to postpone the launch. However, the two decisions actually are very
: different, and indicate how much NASA's safety culture has improved.

: Had NASA decided two weeks ago to ignore the glitch, it would have been
: a decision based on instinct alone. Had that instinct proved right (that is,
: nobody dies), it would have begun the process of betraying the hard lessons
: of Challenger and Columbia. The odds are that the hardware flaws would not
: have had disastrous consequences - but the decision to fly anyway, in the
: face of them, could well have.

: The decision to launch this time, in the event of a sensor "hiccup" of a
: very specific type, will be made in the full sunlight of massive amounts of
: investigation, analysis, and cold-blooded calculations of safety principles.
: It may or may not have happy consequences (anything can happen, especially
: in space), but it will be fully consistent with the best practices of
: hazardous operations. These standards have in the past led to safe space
: flights, and past occurrences of forgetting such principles have been at the
: root of NASA's worst space disasters.



Right, what good is a "process" if no one actually follows it? And
processes are what is done. So,...

Eric