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Space Shuttle: Need to Sustain Launch Risk Assessment Process Improvements

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date March 26, 1996
Report No. NSIAD-96-73
Subject
Summary:

The 1986 explosion aboard the space shuttle Challenger underscored the risks inherent in human space flight. The Presidential Commission investigating the accident found that it had been caused by poor rocket motor design, but the Commission also cited as a contributing factor shortcomings in NASA's processes for identifying, assessing, and managing risk. This report reviews the steps that NASA has taken to improve the free flow of information in launch decisions and the progress NASA has made in adopting quantitative methods for assessing risk.

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