Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  September 20, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1726)

RELEASE:  99-104

NASA FORMS INDEPENDENT INDUSTRY-GOVERNMENT TEAM TO REVIEW SHUTTLE
MAINTENANCE AND REFURBISHMENT PRACTICES

     Following the recent discovery of maintenance-related damage
to electrical wiring in the Space Shuttle, NASA is forming a team
of leading aerospace experts to review the overall safety of
shuttle maintenance and refurbishment practices.

     The team will be chaired by Dr. Henry McDonald, director of
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Other members will
be named later this week.

     "Dr. McDonald's team will include top maintenance experts
from NASA, the military, the aerospace industry and the commercial
aircraft industry," said Joe Rothenberg, associate administrator
for space flight at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. "Their
experience and lessons-learned compiled over the years will be
essential to our continuous improvement processes for shuttle
safety."

     The team will assess NASA's standard practices for
maintaining and refurbishing the shuttle orbiters, main engines
and solid rocket boosters. It also will recommend improvements.
Preliminary findings will be presented to NASA in October.

     "I'm proud to lead this team and I am looking forward to the
task ahead," McDonald said. "I plan to bring the best expertise
available from around the country to examine this issue and
recommend the right improvements. Ensuring the safety of the
shuttle both now and well into the next millennium will be our top
priority."

                            -end-