Apr 17 2003
From The Space Library
John E. Riley, a 33-year member of NASA's Public Affairs Department, broadcast voice of NASA's Mission Control for the Apollo program, and NASA spokesperson, died of cancer at the age of 78. He had begun working for NASA in 1959 and, as a member of the Apollo program team, had provided commentary during the first moonwalk. Riley had also initiated the practice of encouraging astronauts' interviews with media and had traveled with astronauts internationally. (Matt Schwartz, “Obituary: Riley, 78, Longtime Spokesman for NASA,” Houston Chronicle, 21 April 2003.
The CAIB released its first two official recommendations, suggesting that before resuming Shuttle missions, NASA should 1) improve its inspections of the leading edge of the orbiters' wings, and 2) ensure that U.S. spy satellites would capture detailed images of the orbiters during each mission. Although the Board had not yet begun developing its final report, the CAIB released preliminary recommendations so that NASA could begin to implement them expeditiously. The CAIB made the first recommendation because it had found that inspection techniques in place did not enable engineers to assess the structural integrity of the orbiter's heat shield, considered a “criticality one” item. The failure of the heat shield~ comprising the reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels that protect the front of the orbiter's wings during reentry, the RCC panels' supporting structure, and the attaching hardware~ would lead to the loss of the vehicle and crew. The CAIB made the second recommendation because it had discovered that NASA officials had cancelled an informal request that the U.S. military capture images of Columbia to check for possible damage caused by launch debris. NASA already had a new memorandum of agreement with the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) to provide NASA with images of orbiting Shuttles. Previously, NIMA had only made images available upon request, but the CAIB recommended that NASA and NIMA make imaging each Shuttle flight a standard requirement. (Jim Banke, “Columbia Board Releases Two Recommendations to NASA,” Space.com, 17 April 2003, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_caib_030417.html (accessed 17 November 2008).
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