NASA panel can’t confirm safety standards met
WASHINGTON – It’s impossible to know whether a multibillion-dollar program to replace the space shuttle with private rockets meets safety standards because NASA has been slow to provide adequate information, the head of a NASA advisory panel said Friday.
“Candid, timely and transparent communication has been insufficient,” Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer, chairman of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, told members of a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee. “This lack of transparency has been a concern for a number of years despite numerous discussions … with senior NASA officials.”…
…Dyer told lawmakers NASA has been more forthcoming with information in recent weeks, but that did not satisfy lawmakers.
“Denying information to (the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel), or Congress, about the Commercial Crew Program is unacceptable when the hardworking American taxpayers are footing the bill for the program and the safety of our astronauts is on the line,” said GOP Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Mississippi, who chairs the Space Subcommittee that held Friday’s hearing.
Hattiesburg American
3/1/15
