Task force: Shuttle launch on track
NASA has completed half of changes suggested by investigation
(CNN) -- NASA is on track to make the improvements needed to meet its goal of returning the space shuttle fleet to service as soon as May 2005, according to an independent task force set up to oversee the space agency's efforts.
NASA has completed eight of the 15 changes recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and is well on its way to meeting most of the rest, according to members of the Stafford-Covey Task Group.
The task force members spoke with reporters Thursday after meeting at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
"At this point, we don't see anything that is such a poke-out for the program that they can't overcome it in that time frame," said Richard Covey, co-chairman of the group.
Earlier this month, NASA program managers said they were on track to launch the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to the international space station as soon as next May.
The three remaining shuttles in NASA's fleet have been grounded since February 2003, when the shuttle Columbia broke apart above Texas while re-entering the atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed.
The accident investigation board concluded in August 2003 that insulating foam flew off the shuttle's external fuel tank during liftoff, striking and cracking a panel on the orbiter's wing. The damaged panel allowed searing hot gases to seep into the wing and incinerate the spacecraft.
The investigation board drew up a 15-point "to do" list for NASA to work through before it could return the fleet to space, and the independent task force was created to oversee those efforts and certify that the work had been done before the shuttles fly again. Among the things "to do" are:
--Modifying the shuttle's external fuel tank to eliminate the shedding of debris, such as the foam that hit Columbia.
--Improving imaging capability so engineers will have better images of an orbiter at liftoff and as it is traveling through space to inspect for damage.
--Overhauling NASA's culture so that lower and mid-level staff members feel free to speak up about safety concerns.
--Coming up with methods to repair the shuttle's thermal protection layer while in orbit.
The thermal protection layer, which includes insulating tiles on the underside of the orbiter and reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the edges of the wings, is designed to protect the shuttle during the heat of re-entry. Prior to the Columbia accident, astronauts had no way to inspect the tiles and panels during orbit, nor could they repair them.
Engineers have been developing and testing procedures to plug cracks and repair panels and tiles. However, mission managers admit the procedures may need to be tested in orbit and modified before they can be officially certified.
Members of the task force said Thursday that such limitations on the thermal layer repair work would likely not delay the shuttles' return to space.
 I'm very comfortable with that overall total reduction in risk. 
-- Task force member and former astronaut James Adamson
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"There will probably be some limited capability," said Joseph Cuzzupoli, a task force member. "Definitely, a hole like the Columbia had is probably not a hole we will be able to fix. But right now, there's been some very encouraging results from what they're doing."
The Associated Press quotes another task force member, former astronaut James Adamson, as saying that a workable repair technique as required by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board does not need to be fully tested and certified before shuttle flights resume.
But, he added, "it has to be reasonable, doable and practicable. And I think NASA's going to have that."
He said the overall work that NASA has done to improve safety -- including eliminating the shedding of foam, improving imaging capability and developing the limited repair capability -- add up to an acceptable risk.
"I'm very comfortable with that overall total reduction in risk, and I would not be able to say that there is anything that I can tell that should stop them from going ahead and flying," Adamson said.
The task force meets again in March. Under its charter, it will notify NASA's administration that the investigation board's requirements have been met at least a month before shuttle launches resume.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
