NASA paid $26.6mn to families of Columbia astronauts

NEW YORK: NASA paid 26.6 million dollars to the families of seven astronauts who died aboard space shuttle Columbia, a settlement that has been kept secret for more than two and a half years, a report said on Sunday.

Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla was among those killed when the shuttle broke up as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere on February one, 2003.

An investigation later discovered that chuks of insulation shed from the tank during take off damaged Columbia's left wing leading to the disaster.

Reporting this, Orlando Sentinel said the space agency recruited former FBI Director William Webster, also a former federal judge, to act as a mediator and adviser in negotiating the out-of-court settlements.

The paper said its request yielded just seven pages of documents that leave many questions unanswered, including exactly when the settlements occurred.

In an interview with the Sentinel, Webster, also a former CIA director, said he was bound by confidentiality and couldn't discuss details of the agreements, but defended the process as proper.

"The members of the families wanted this to be a private matter," said Webster, a consulting partner in Washington with the international law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

"They were healing, and they were ready to discuss, properly, their rights.... Everyone felt it had a better chance of coming together without seeing their name in lights."

In brief written responses to Sentinel questions, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said little about the settlements, citing family privacy. He said the money came from the agency's budget via a 2004 Congressional appropriation.

"The Columbia astronauts were our friends and co-workers," Beutel wrote.

"Our concern always has been with the crew's families and their loss, and as a result NASA didn't announce details of the settlement in an effort to protect the personal privacy of the Columbia families."

Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and ex-general counsel Paul Pastorek, who helped set up the settlement process, did not return phone calls and e-mails, the paper said

Jon Clark, widower of astronaut Laurel Blair Salton Clark, was quoted as saying NASA was "deferential" in dealing with the families through a turbulent period in their lives.

"We were in a state of shock," he said. "To go the lawsuit route, it's very painful and very protracted. So we settled."

Also killed were Air Force Col. Rick Husband, 45, mission commander; Navy Cmdr. William C. McCool, 41, who was the shuttle pilot; Navy Capt. David M. Brown, 46; Navy Cmdr. Clark, 41; and payload specialists Air Force Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson, 43; and Israeli Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon, 48, Israel's first astronaut.

The documents were released to the Sentinel last month after a reporter filed requests in 2005 and 2006. Stephen L. McConnell, NASA's principal FOIA officer, insisted the agency was not trying to delay the records release.

Five of the seven astronauts on Columbia were military officers and barred from suing the government because they were on active duty while on loan to NASA, making contractors likely targets for lawsuits.