After disaster the quest for answers: in the wake of the columbia tragedy, what will become of America' romance with space?

• Author: Wald, Matthew L.

When the space shuttle Columbia broke, up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard, America's space program cycled again from triumph to tragedy.

Few under 25 have any memory of a time when space travel meant the crossing of a new frontier, the drama of man's first steps on the moon--or the last time American astronauts died.

It was in 1986 that Columbia's sister ship, the Challenger, blew apart during liftoff, killing all seven aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, the first "teacher/astronaut," who was supposed to conduct lessons from orbit.

After the Challenger disaster, America's manned space program was grounded for 32 months. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, spent $2.4 billion on redesign and testing, and made several hundred alterations.

The Columbia crash is all but certain to bring further changes, though specifics won't be known for months. Even before the disaster, critics had raised questions about the age and safety of the shuttle fleet. All but one of the orbiters were built during the 1980s. A government panel studying shuttle safety concluded last year that federal budget cuts over the past decade were endangering future missions.

SAFETY AND COST

"I have never been as worried for space shuttle safety as I am right now," Richard D. Blomberg, the panel's chairman, told a congressional committee last spring. "All of my instincts suggest that the current approach is planting the seeds for future danger." He added that his concern was not for current missions, but that "nobody will know for sure when the safety margin has been eroded too far."

NASA has sought to make safety paramount, but critics said it has fostered a conservatism causing delays and cost overruns.

It is no secret that NASA has had major difficulties. "They have been under a lot of scrutiny because of some high-profile screwups and the enormous cost overruns in the space station," says one senior Washington official, referring to the International Space Station, which is serviced by the shuttles.

A HISTORY OF TROUBLES

NASA, in fact, has had a string of problems, but the ones not involving loss of life attract less attention. In September 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter was destroyed when it flew too close to the planet. It went off course due to confusion between two teams of engineers, one using measurements in feet and the other using meters. Three months later, the Mars Polar Lander was destroyed when its engines shut down 132 feet before it reached the planet's surface. A wiring mistake during a test had prevented engineers from detecting a false sensor reading.

But the underlying problem, two review panels said, was the pressure of NASA's so-called "faster, cheaper, better" approach to space missions. "People were trying to do too much with too little, and not adequately conveying their concerns to others, particularly upper management," Thomas Young, a former NASA official, said after heading one of the reviews.

SOME WARNINGS UNHEEDED

To be sure, such seemingly elementary...