NASA is given a thumbs-up in safety report

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has released its 2007 Annual Report, giving the U.S. space agency good marks for safety.

The annual report examines the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's 2007 safety performance and advises the agency on ways to better that performance.

"While there are still opportunities for improvement, the panel's finding concluded that NASA is making significant progress in improving safety issues during the past year," Chairman Joseph Dyer said. The panel, known as ASAP, "commends the Constellation Program for endorsing the recommendation of the ASAP and continuing to employ early hazard and risk analysis."

The panel did express concerns relating to the adequacy of funding for the Constellation Program, NASA's plan to create a new generation of spacecraft to explore the moon and beyond. The report said schedule pressures are introducing concurrency in both requirements development and program implementation decisions, and noted the slow pace at which some NASA headquarters decisions are implemented by the 10 NASA centers.

The 143-page report is available in PDF format at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oer/asap/documents/2007_ASAP_Annual_Report.pdf