Seventeen years after the Challenger accident, the space shuttle Columbia and its crew were only forty miles from Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle exploded during re-entry to the Earths atmosphere. The explosion killed all seven astronauts onboard. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations immediately jumped into action, declaring a contingency and following the Agency Contingency Action Plan for Space Flight Operations. As a public sector organization, one that must report to Congress and the American public, NASA is held to different standards than private organizations when it comes to releasing information. To understand how public sector organizations handle crises, the strategies and tactics NASA used following Columbia and how closely the agency followed the contingency plan, this study takes a look at NASA from an internal perspective using interviews with six people who were NASA employees at the time of Columbia and one journalist who covered the story. Through the interviews those who were there and handled the crisis explained that they followed the plan very closely, but that the key in having a plan is to allow for flexibility and to make sure employees understand how the plan works by holding rehearsals. Tactics used during Columbia included everything from press releases to press conferences, with NASA Web site playing a crucial role in the dissemination of information. NASA chose the strategy of open and honest communication following Columbia, which served the agency well, earning it praise from the media and the public. This idea of open and honest, or transparent, communication was crucial for NASA as a public sector organization and the organization provides a model for communication following a crisis that other public sector organizations could follow.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-06042008-133647 |
| Date | 04 June 2008 |
| Creators | Schult, Emily Ann |
| Contributors | Lisa Lundy, Bob Mann, Jinx Broussard |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06042008-133647/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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