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Ex marine lead shuttle program Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/130/nation/Ex_Marine_to_lead_space_shuttle_program+.shtmlhttp://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/130/nation/Ex_Marine_to_lead_space_shuttle_program+.shtml
Ex-Marine to lead space shuttle program
By Paul Recer, Associated Press, 5/10/2003
WASHINGTON -- A former Marine officer who has held engineering and management jobs in three NASA centers is taking over as manager of the space shuttle program as the space agency tries to recover from the Columbia accident.
William W. Parsons, 47, director of NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, was named yesterday as the new manager of the space shuttle program, succeeding Ronald Dittemore, who was NASA's most prominent spokesman after the loss of Columbia.
Dittemore announced his plans to resign on April 23. Officials said there will be a period of transition, with Parsons and Dittemore working together for a time, but the new manager should be in charge by this summer.
Parsons said he approaches his new job ''with a bit of trepidation'' because it comes during a period of recovery for the program. ''This is a big challenge for me and I had to think through it'' before accepting the appointment, he said.
Space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while returning to Earth on Feb. 1, killing seven astronauts. The three remaining space shuttles have been grounded during the accident investigation. Without the shuttle fleet, NASA is relying on the Russian space program to rotate crew members on the International Space Station and send new supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
Parsons said his initial focus will be to take the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and devise a plan to safely start flying the space shuttles again.
The investigating board is expected to complete its report this summer, and NASA has promised to address each of its recommendations.
Parsons said it was premature for him to identify changes he might make in the management and safety programs of NASA but pledged, ''If things need to be changed, we will be change them.''
Those decisions will be based, in part, on the board's findings, he said.
The investigating board said earlier this week that its ''working scenario'' about Columbia's accident is that debris broke or punched a hole in a thermal protection panel, allowing superheated gases to penetrate the hollow left wing and melt it from the inside. The most likely cause of the wing damage is thought to be from foam insulation that peeled off the shuttle's external tank and smashed into the wing during Columbia's Jan. 16 launch.
NASA officials said that engineers already are devising ways to prevent the external tank from shedding insulation.
Parsons will also have to deal with an increasingly skeptical Congress.
Members of the House space subcommittee on Thursday were critical of NASA spaceflight plans. Representative Joe Barton, Republican of Texas, said he regarded the space shuttle as too unsafe to fly with people on board and would vote against funds for the program.
''It's troublesome that there are thoughts like that out there,'' said Parsons, but he said his job is to concentrate on restoring the space shuttle.
Parsons holds engineering degrees from the University of Mississippi and the University of Central Florida. After earning a bachelor's degree, he spent four years as an officer in the Marines. He was an engineer in industry before joining NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1990. Parsons held engineering management positions at three space centers before being named director of the Stennis center last August.
At a space subcommittee hearing Thursday, Barton said the accident rate on the space shuttle is ''simply not acceptable.'' Two space shuttle orbiters have been destroyed and 14 astronauts killed in 113 space shuttle flights.
Barton said the shuttle should be changed so it can fly as an unmanned cargo ship while NASA designs and builds a safer spacecraft using new technology.
At a news conference Thursday, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe said human involvement in space flight is essential for building the space station, the massive orbiting laboratory now being assembled. Construction is on hold due to the halt in shuttle operations.
O'Keefe said there was an outside chance the shuttles will fly again by the end of this year, but that early 2004 was more likely.
This story ran on page A2 of the Boston Globe on 5/10/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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