Background

On the morning of February 1, 2003, Mission Control in Houston, Texas lost communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia during its descent. A short while later, as debris from the shuttle fell from the sky, it was determined that the Columbia had disintegrated. There were no survivors. Judicial Watch immediately filed Freedom of Information Act requests concerning the safety of the space shuttle program. Multiple news reports had suggested that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials knew, or should have known, that the program was inherently unsafe; that measures should have been taken to protect the safety of the brave men and women aboard the shuttle. In addition to this tragic and reckless carelessness on the part of NASA, JW is also investigating whether or not NASA contractors, such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, convinced government officials to "look the other way," and ignore safety concerns. The following are excerpts from FOIA documents obtained by Judicial Watch.

Key Excerpts:

NASA Press Release, March 13, 2000

"The American people have said loud and clear they desire a government which costs less and does more. NASA has heard that message and embarked on a fundamental cultural change over the last several years."

"An additional review, by a team under former Lockheed Martin executive Thomas Young, is due to NASA this week."

Houston Chronicle Article, March 10, 2000, Cutbacks threaten shuttle safety, space experts tell NASA

"Years of declining budgets and worker cutbacks are jeopardizing the safety of NASA’s space shuttle, a panel of aerospace experts concluded in an internal report made public Thursday...the experts found that the cutbacks forced NASA to turn too much of its safety oversight to it’s prime contractors as it trimmed costs."

Relevance

It is clear from both documents that NASA was more concerned with trimming costs than with shuttle safety in the years leading up to the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. Furthermore, both documents make reference to NASA contractors and the
influence they had with respect to safety oversight. Judicial Watch will continue to probe the relationship between NASA and its contractors to determine if corrupt practices on the part of government officials led to the loss of the seven lives aboard Columbia.