Shuttle order examined

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 6

Shuttle order examined

NZPA-Reuter Washington A Presidential commission investigating the space shuttle explosion was focusing on the United States space agency’s decision to launch despite warnings that freezing weather that day was a perilous unknown, a source close to the commission said yesterday.

The commission and a Senate sub-committee on space, are concerned with how and why top National Aeronautics and Space

Administration officials gave a green light for the launching on January 29, after booster rocket engineers expressed fears about freezing cold the night before. A former Secretary of State, William Rogers, head of the Presidential panel, issued a statement on Sunday saying the launch decision “may have been flawed.” The source said that at the heart of Mr Rogers’ statement were questions posed by some of the 13

panel members about what occurred between the time the manufacturer of the booster rockets advised against the launch the night before, and the decision to approve a lift-off the next morning.

“The commission wants to know what changed their minds between the telephone conference on January 27 (local time) and the next morning when the go-ahead was given,” the source said.