Keynote 1: Reflections on the risk of human space exploration — Lessons learned from past failures

Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor. From the first missions to explore space to recent problems on the International Space Station, NASA has faced many challenges and has relied on creative and innovative ways to overcome issues, complete the mission, and ensure the safe return of crew members. However, over the past 50 years, NASA has also experienced three fatal accidents resulting in the loss of seventeen astronauts — the Apollo 1 fire on the launch pad, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion during ascent, and the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia during entry. Studying the lessons learned from the Challenger and Columbia accidents, as well as similarities in those two tragedies, provides a prospective of cultural, organizational, and management failures that can occur in any engineering organization managing extremely complex systems operated in high risk environments.