Posted: Tue, Sep 23, 2003, 11:07 AM ET (1507 GMT)
All nine members of an independent safety panel resigned on Monday, complaining of a lack of influence. The nine members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), as well as two consultants, stepped down from their posts, apparently of their own volition and not at the request of NASA. One member of the panel told the New York Times that the panel members stepped down as the "honorable thing" to allow NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe a freer hand in restructuring the panel. Other ASAP members complained that they had become frustrated that NASA did not treat their concerns about shuttle safety seriously enough. There were also complaints that, because ASAP members were full-time NASA employees under federal law, they could not be as independent as they desired. The ASAP was created by Congress after the fatal Apollo 1 accident in 1967. The panel is best known for its annual report on safety concerns within the agency.

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•  New York Times article
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