Jim Wetherbee Speaks Out – Again

Some at NASA Say Its Culture Is Changing, but Others Say Problems Still Run Deep, NY Times

Mr. Wetherbee said that even after the Columbia disaster, NASA’s management did not see safety clearly, and he noted that the previous administrator, Sean O’Keefe, had spoken about how much risk was “acceptable.” “That’s the wrong question to be asking,” Mr. Wetherbee said. “The question we need to be asking is what risk is necessary, and how do we eliminate the unnecessary risk?”

Editor’s note: Wetherbee is just being argumentative and playing with semantics for the sake of this interview. When you ask what risk is “necessary”, and then eliminate “unnecessary” risk, you are left with some level of risk, which you obviously have to deem as being “acceptable” as you move forward and fly. That is what O’Keefe – and others – were talking about. If Wetherbee is suggesting that there is no risk in space flight that should be “acceptable”, then Americans will never fly in space again – at least not on government vehicles. Is that what you are saying, Jim?