Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases Annual Report

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Jan 25, 2012, 05:25 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, has released its 2011 annual report.

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The ASAP holds quarterly fact-finding and public meetings and visits NASA facilities to directly observe the agency's operations and decision making. In this year's report, the panel highlighted issues related to costs, schedules, resources, requirements and acquisition strategies that may have an impact on safety.

"The pursuit of great reward often comes hand in hand with great risk, so it has always been with explorers," panel Chairman Joseph W. Dyer said. "So naturally, it was the panel's duty to ask, 'How safe is safe enough?' We didn't answer that question, but we did point to areas where that question may not produce the level of safety the panel expects and requires."

Some of the panel's critical safety issues or concerns in the report include:

-- International Space Station

-- Commercial Crew

-- Space Launch System

-- Alcohol Use and Testing Policy

Congress established the ASAP in 1968 after the Apollo 1 fire to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters.

For more information about the ASAP and to view its 2011 report, visit:

http://oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap

SOURCE NASA