The study resulted from a recommendation of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident that NASA review and evaluate certain aspects of its process for ensuring the safety of the National Space Transportation System (NSTS), and that a committee be appointed to audit the NASA review effort and verify its adequacy. NASA has established the NSTS utilizing a management approach and procedures that have been, in large part, most successful. The committee found little emphasis on creative ways to eliminate potential failure modes. It believes that the safety of continuing operations can be improved by creating an integrated risk assessment and management program which builds on the largely qualitative methods used previously, and that the basis for NASA's acceptance of risks should, as far as possible, stem from rationally derived criteria. The acceptance also should depend on high quality methodology, and on the objective determination and rigorous control of risks. The totality of the committee's 33 recommendations, once such a system is implemented, should be extremely valuable in the accomplishment of the NSTS program in the future, and should serve as a prototype for similar programs as well.
Post-Challenger Evaluation of Space Shuttle Risk Assessment and Management
1988
151 pages
Report
No indication
English
Space Safety , Public Administration & Government , Research Program Administration & Technology Transfer , Accident investigations , Risk , Assessments , Management systems , Safety engineering , Policies , Recommendations , Space Transportation System , Challenger (Orbiter) , NASA space programs , Space shuttles , Flight safety
NTRS | 1994