Diverse Team of Experts Supports Independent Shuttle Accident Probe

The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is drawing together some of the nation’s most experienced investigators and safety experts from the aviation, naval nuclear propulsion, medical, scientific and academic communities to determine the cause of the February 1, 2003 space shuttle accident. The following is a list of investigators and members of the Independent Analysis and Support Team who are currently assisting the CAIB:

• Col. Jack Anthony – Currently the Deputy Director of Personnel for the Air Force Space Command, Col. Anthony has served in various positions in space systems engineering, military satellite operations, and education technical leadership. His assignments have included Commander of the 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schreiver Air Force Base, satellite program manager at the National Reconnaissance Office and the Air Force Research Laboratory, assistant professor of astronautics at the Air Force Academy, and flight test engineering. He holds MS and BS degrees in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Academy.
• Dr. James P. Bagian – Dr. Bagian was chosen as the first director of the Veterans Administration National Center for Patient Safety in 1998. NCPS developed and implemented a "systems approach" to health care solutions that applies human factors engineering methods and draws on the ideas of high-reliability organizations to target and eliminate system vulnerabilities. A former NASA astronaut for 15 years, from 1980 to 1995, Dr. Bagian was a crew member on the Discovery space shuttle mission in 1989 and on the Columbia in 1991, logging more than 337 hours in space. Following the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion, he supervised the capsule's recovery from the ocean floor and served on the team that investigated the tragedy. He led efforts to develop a pressure suit used for shuttle crew escape, a shuttle escape hatch and other related survival equipment. Dr. Bagian is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch. A colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, he is an Air Force-qualified freefall parachutist, holds a private pilot's license, and has logged more than 1,500 hours of flying time in propeller and jet aircraft, helicopters and gliders. Dr. Bagian was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 for "integration of engineering and medical knowledge in applications to aerospace systems, environmental technology and patient safety." He is a current board member of the National Research Council Space Studies Board and is chairman of the National Research Council committee on Space Biology & Medicine. He received the American Medical Association's Dr. Nathan S. Davis award for outstanding public service in the advancement of public health (2001): the Associations of the American Medical Colleges' first annual Innovations Award (2001): and the Frank Brown Berry Prize given for the outstanding contribution to medicine emanating from the federal sector (2002). He is also a former board member of the aerospace Human Factors Society. He was first in class at U.S. Air Force Flight Surgeons School, Jefferson Medical College, and received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer.