What makes an astronaut a leader in safety?
2018-08-23
When you are young, you think that astronauts are the ultimate daredevils, sitting on rockets with 1.2 million pounds of thrust underneath, launching into an environment hostile to humans. What is more adventurous than that? So, how does an astronaut go from being a space pioneer to reviewing risk-analysis sheets? The answer is simple: The astronaut has always been a safety-conscious explorer.
Bryan O’Connor, commander of STS-40, started his naval career as a safety officer. He continued in safety throughout his naval career, making an easy shift to become the former NASA chief of Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA). O’Connor truly felt he was doing an important job, from the start of his career to the end, overseeing safety practices and investigating mishaps.
For Terry Wilcutt, commander of STS-89 and current NASA chief of S&MA, workplace safety means that everybody goes home the same way they came to work—and they don’t get injured on the job. He reflects this definition by running campaigns and looking at data analysis.
STS-89 Commander Terry Wilcutt adjusts a camcorder on the middeck of Endeavour. Image Credit: NASA
“The close call system is great to prevent future mishaps,” Wilcutt said.
There is no part of flight that is or should be considered routine, even on the ground.
These former astronauts took time to review the Significant Incidents and Close Calls in Human Spaceflight graphic. Their overwhelming response was: Something will happen again. Mishaps happen routinely, and have happened across all eras of spaceflight. It requires a team of highly trained, knowledgeable and ever-vigilant people to prevent them.
Rex Walheim, the current deputy director of S&MA at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, takes steps and implements initiatives to ensure accidents won’t be repeated. Making sure the crew is well trained, knowledgeable in their tasks and physically fit are his priorities. Understanding that there is a difference between training simulations, like “spacewalking” underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory versus the inhospitable environs of outer space, is key for new astronauts preparing to launch.
STS-135 Mission Specialist Rex Walheim reviews procedures in the Destiny Laboratory during Expedition 28/STS-135 joint operations. Image Credit: NASA
For these former explorers holding safety leadership positions, who have friends still flying as part of the astronaut corps, they do everything in their power to make what is inherently risky as safe as possible. The steps to accomplish this are consistent for all:
Walheim offered a great quote from Otto von Bismarck when speaking on the pressure sometimes felt to skirt around the lines of safety. “Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.”
Walheim noted that it is important to point out the reasons behind the rules, the reasons for why we do it the safe way, and often uses examples from lessons learned in the past to validate his point.
For new astronauts, or those aspiring to be, the safety leaders had a few gems of advice to offer:
Amelia Hill
NASA Johnson Space Center
Bryan O’Connor, commander of STS-40, started his naval career as a safety officer. He continued in safety throughout his naval career, making an easy shift to become the former NASA chief of Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA). O’Connor truly felt he was doing an important job, from the start of his career to the end, overseeing safety practices and investigating mishaps.
For Terry Wilcutt, commander of STS-89 and current NASA chief of S&MA, workplace safety means that everybody goes home the same way they came to work—and they don’t get injured on the job. He reflects this definition by running campaigns and looking at data analysis.
STS-89 Commander Terry Wilcutt adjusts a camcorder on the middeck of Endeavour. Image Credit: NASA
“The close call system is great to prevent future mishaps,” Wilcutt said.
There is no part of flight that is or should be considered routine, even on the ground.
These former astronauts took time to review the Significant Incidents and Close Calls in Human Spaceflight graphic. Their overwhelming response was: Something will happen again. Mishaps happen routinely, and have happened across all eras of spaceflight. It requires a team of highly trained, knowledgeable and ever-vigilant people to prevent them.
Rex Walheim, the current deputy director of S&MA at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, takes steps and implements initiatives to ensure accidents won’t be repeated. Making sure the crew is well trained, knowledgeable in their tasks and physically fit are his priorities. Understanding that there is a difference between training simulations, like “spacewalking” underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory versus the inhospitable environs of outer space, is key for new astronauts preparing to launch.
STS-135 Mission Specialist Rex Walheim reviews procedures in the Destiny Laboratory during Expedition 28/STS-135 joint operations. Image Credit: NASA
For these former explorers holding safety leadership positions, who have friends still flying as part of the astronaut corps, they do everything in their power to make what is inherently risky as safe as possible. The steps to accomplish this are consistent for all:
- Follow the new launch vehicles, making sure they can accomplish their missions
- Be a part of the preflight and launch readiness review boards
- Ensure the systems and missions can be executed safely
Walheim offered a great quote from Otto von Bismarck when speaking on the pressure sometimes felt to skirt around the lines of safety. “Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.”
Walheim noted that it is important to point out the reasons behind the rules, the reasons for why we do it the safe way, and often uses examples from lessons learned in the past to validate his point.
For new astronauts, or those aspiring to be, the safety leaders had a few gems of advice to offer:
- Know your job as best as you can. Know the systems you deal with, the vehicles you fly in. Don’t get complacent. Learn from others, and learn from their mistakes.
- Don’t be afraid to take a step back from a task or problem. Take a minute to re-think the situation and think of a new course of action.
- Make sure you speak up and stay involved. You have a voice. Use it when you see something wrong. See something … say something.
Amelia Hill
NASA Johnson Space Center
STS-40 Mission Specialist M. Rhea Seddon (left) and Commander Bryan O'Connor review the text and graphics system 15-foot-long printout on the middeck of Columbia. Image Credit: NASA