NASA has appointed a new aerospace safety advisory panel (ASAP) to provide oversight of the agency's safety and quality systems. No current or former NASA employees are on the nine-member independent panel. The previous ASAP resigned after being dubbed ineffective by the Columbia accident investigation board report into the February Space Shuttle crash. The new panel is made up of safety, management and engineering experts from the US military, civil aviation, industry and universities. Beginning with the charter of the original ASAP, formed in 1967 following the Apollo 1 fire, the panel will be able to develop its own agenda for long-term independent oversight of NASA's safety policies and programmes, the agency says.
Source: Flight International
