WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress, issued its 2021 annual report Tuesday examining the agency’s safety performance over the past year and highlighting accomplishments, issues, and concerns. 

The report highlights 2021 activities and includes observations on NASA’s:

• Strategic Vision and Guiding Principles
• Agency Governance
• Program Management

Throughout 2021, the panel explored the status of NASA’s ongoing program of work and focused on the longer term, strategic posture of the agency to address risk management. As a result, this annual report continues the panel’s focus on strategic issues and their bearing on current development, exploration, and operational matters.

Completing an end-to-end uncrewed flight test, Demo-1, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon departed the International Space Station at 2:32 a.m. EST Friday, March 8, 2019, and splashed down at 8:45 a.m. in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 nautical miles off the Florida coast. (Credits: NASA Television)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

We got a smidgen of additional information today about the “anomaly” (explosion) that destroyed a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft during a test at Cape Canaveral on Saturday.

Patricia Sanders, chairwoman of the NASA Aviation and Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), told the group during its regularly scheduled meeting that the incident occurred during an operation to test the spacecraft’s Draco maneuvering thrusters and larger SuperDraco emergency escape motors.

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House Subcommittee on Space Hearing An Update on NASA Commercial Crew Systems Development Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2018 – 10:00am Location: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Subcommittees: Subcommittee on Space (115th Congress) Hearing Purpose The purpose of the hearing is to examine the development of the NASA’s two  commercial crew systems, being built by Boeing and SpaceX, to service the International Space Station Witnesses: Mr. William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator, Human […]