THE mass resignation of a safety panel created after the Challenger accident signals that NASA’s latest house cleaning is well under way. In addition to the departure of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, 11 of the top 15 managers within the shuttle programme itself have resigned or been reassigned, including mission manager Linda Ham. The loss of the panel leaves a major vacuum, and it remains to be seen what will take its place.
The US Congress has been grilling the agency about how it plans to fix the deeply rooted problems uncovered by the Columbia accident board. The Columbia…
