The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated February 1, 2003, as it reentered the earth’s atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, with all seven astronauts on board losing their lives. Those at NASA instantly recognized that employees needed to implement major transformations to their safety regulations to prevent future disasters. The Columbia space shuttle was the second mission to end in tragedy, after 1986 Challenger incident.
There were huge, fundamental safety culture changes that happened under the leadership of Ralph Roe Jr., who started at the agency as a test engineer, transitioning over the years to NASA’s top engineering post.
Roe played a pivotal role at NASA during a four-decade career in dramatically restructuring the organization’s safety culture, ensuring the successful exploration of our universe.
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