Thisstory is Chapter 5 in an 11-part series by Florida Today.
Wayne Hale was 3 the daySputnik's beep penetrated Americans' psyche. Forty-seven years later, Hale,deputy manager of the space shuttle program, doesn't remember any of it. Buthis mother never forgot.
The little boy, accordingto his mother's story, listened intently and was never the same. Wayne Hale wasa space cadet.
Clovis, N.M., adust-encrusted town west of the Texas border, might be in the middle ofnowhere, but it was close enough to the space craze to turn a boy's curiosityto obsession. Robert Goddard and Wernher von Braun tested early Americanrockets at an Army range two hours west. The Apollo program later tested thecrew escape systems there. Roswell sightings of secret test craft kept tales ofspaceships and aliens hot in the news.
But Hale was a realist. Heknew the thick eyeglasses he'd worn since boyhood would stop him from being anastronaut. Hale studied hard and picked Rice University because it was close bythe Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston.
When NASA would not givehim a job fresh out of college, he chased a master's degree at PurdueUniversity because of its reputation for churning out astronauts and missilemen.
Together, they made historyflying the world's first reusable spaceships, and then went their separate waysto promising careers.
Hale ultimately became"Flight," standing at the helm of the Mission Control Center,orchestrating more shuttle missions than anyone else ever has.
That's why he says heshould have done things differently when everything was on the line.
Hale saw them while tyingup loose ends before leaving Houston to take a new job at KSC. Something hitColumbia's wing, disintegrating into white powder, while the ship rocketed upat about twice the speed of sound.
Somewhere in NASA,engineers and managers made two similar requests. But the orders were madeoutside NASA's chain of command and, in a wave of confusion, mission managerLinda Ham nixed the pictures, saying NASA didn't want or need them.
Maybe it didn't matter.
"Some people thinkWayne was a hero in this," Hale said. "That is far from the truth.Please do not portray me as some kind of hero trying to do somethingextraordinary. I played a role in this. All of us involved in this effort haveregrets."
In the end, the frustratedColumbia Accident Investigation Board blamed bureaucratic bungling and poorcommunication for many "missed opportunities" by managers to getsatellite pictures or do anything to try to give the crew a better chanceinstead of letting Columbia make a doomed attempt to land.
The CAIB report, NASArecords and the people involved still don't tell who, if anyone, objecteddirectly to Ham. The reasons remain as foggy as the story of what happened. AllHale says is: "I have regrets."
Belinda hadn't moved toFlorida yet. They hadn't put the house in Friendswood, a few miles from JohnsonSpace Center, on the market.
They were empty-nesters.Son Joshua was in the seminary and about to be married. Daughter Elissa wasstudying English at a private college out of state. Belinda didn't really wantto go to Florida after living so long in suburban Houston.
Scurrying through the NewOrleans airport on a flight home to Houston, Hale flipped on his cell phone andchecked voice mail. One message. "It's Bill Parsons. Give me a call."
"I need you to be mydeputy," Parsons said.
"I wassurprised," Hale said. "I didn't even know I was being considered forthat kind of job."
Despite being back in Texas,Hale wasn't spending as much time at home as he might like. There was littletime for socializing with friends from church, or doing much of anythingoutside his small office at Johnson Space Center. Still, he was home.
"Our kids think wedon't have a social life," Hale said.
Among his orders: ChangeNASA's culture; revitalize a safety system so gutted during the 1990s thatinvestigators said "there was no 'there' there"; encourage people toovercome fears and speak up to top managers; wipe away years of ingrained apathywhen requirements loosened and managers often let cost and schedule pressureguide decisions.
Rules for mission managerschanged. Never again would top managers be out of town during a flight. Norwould the Mission Management Team take a weekend off, with a crew in harm'sway, instead of meeting every day as required by the flight rules.
"I wake up everymorning with a shiver, saying we've got to do this right and what can I dopersonally to make sure we do the very best job," Hale said.
Being portrayed as a herostuck in Hale's craw. Then came the e-mail that pushed his buttons.
Keeping that fragile dreamalive meant perfection. They would bet the space program every time they litthe shuttle's solid rocket boosters.
"A final, personal note,"Hale typed. "A worker at KSC told me that they haven't heard any NASAmanagers admit to being at fault for the loss of Columbia. I cannot speak forothers, but let me set my record straight: I am at fault.
"If you need ascapegoat, start with me. I had the opportunity and the information and Ifailed to make use of it. I don't know what an inquest or a court of law wouldsay, but I stand condemned in the court of my own conscience to be guilty ofnot preventing the Columbia disaster.
"We could discuss theparticulars: inattention, incompetence, distraction, lack of conviction, lackof understanding, a lack of backbone, laziness.
"The bottom line isthat I failed to understand what I was being told; I failed to stand up and becounted. Therefore look no further; I am guilty of allowing Columbia to crash.
"As you considercontinuing in this program, or any other high-risk program, weigh the cost.You, too, could be convicted in the court of your conscience if you are everparty to cutting corners, believing something life and death is not yourresponsibility, or simply not paying attention. The penalty is heavy; you cannever completely repay it."
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