Columbia Accident Investigation Board Minutes of Open Meeting Date of Meeting: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 Time of Meeting: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Location of Meeting: Hilton Houston Clear Lake 3000 NASA Road One Houston, Texas Board Members Present: Admiral Hal Gehman Major General John Barry Dr. Sheila Widnall Mr. Steven B. Wallace Dr. John Logsdon Dr. James Hallock Rear Admiral Stephen Turcotte Major General Kenneth Hess Board Staff Present: Lt. Col. Tyrone Woodyard Laura Brown Terry Williams Patricia Brach J. William Sikora Other Government Employees Present in Their Official Capacity: None Members of the Public who Presented Oral or Written Statements: Dr. Milton A. Silveira Robert F. Thompson George W. Jeffs Owen G. Morris Prof. Aaron Cohen Dr. Jean Gebman Mr. Robert P. Ernst Dr. Diane Vaughan Matters Discussed: The organization and lines of authority in the Shuttle Program during its development, and the relationships between engineering, mission operations, safety reliability and mission assurance (SR&QA), and contractors. The considerations that drove the evolution of the Shuttle design including, trade-offs involving budget, schedule, re-usability and weight; margins of safety and redundancy; and management of risk in a “system of systems.” Shuttle design specifications relative to debris hits on the orbiter, and the disposition of in-flight anomalies through the problem reporting and corrective action (PRACA) system. The challenges related to safely sustaining an aging aircraft fleet. How the sociology of NASA as an organization and the normalization of deviance contributed to the Challenger launch decision and may have contributed to the Columbia accident. Matters Resolved at the Meeting: None Documents Received, Issued or Approved at the Meeting: None Back to Event