14 DAY TRIAL // According to space analyst and former astronaut Vance Brand, the American space agency appears to have forgotten some of the lessons it learned the hard way following the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle accidents of 1986 and 2003, respectively.
With the cancellation of Project Constellation, shortly before the orbiters were retired from active duty, the United States were left without any viable means of accessing low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station, whereas China and the Russian Federation carry out these types of flights constantly.
In order to reduce its dependency on the Soyuz capsules operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), NASA has decided a couple of years ago to start its Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which funds private companies that develop spacecraft capable of reaching the ISS.
Despite losing 14 astronauts in the two-shuttle disaster, NASA does not appear to be highly concerned with safety when it comes to assessing the spacecraft proposals submitted by its commercial partners. In terms of importance, price comes before safety/mission suitability and past performance, the three main criteria under the CCP.
Critics argue that astronauts safety should be the main priority of NASA, based on its 50+ years of spaceflight experience and disasters such as Challenger's, Columbia’s, and that of the Apollo 1 mission.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommends to NASA that any future spacecraft developed or supported by the space agency has to focus on astronaut safety above all other consideration. Under current CCP provisions, safety accounts for just 25 percent of proposal evaluation criteria.
Before this program, NASA has never cataloged prices or costs as being more important than astronaut and mission safety. Brand argues that this is very wrong, and a recipe for disaster, especially considering that the Commercial Cargo Development (CCD) program was centered on safety.
Under the terms of the CCD, companies such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences deliver supplies to the ISS. When compared to the CCP, what immediately strikes our attention is the fact that NASA appears to value the safety of food, water and fuel more than that of its astronauts.
Vance DeVoe Brand is a former test pilot and astronaut at NASA, He piloted the command module during the first US-Soviet joint space flight in 1975, and commanded a total of three space shuttle missions, Space News reports.