ABSTRACT
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials, fearful that they could not otherwise obtain congressional funding, mounted an energetic public relations campaign that depicted the shuttle as all things to all people. The agency promised that the shuttle would lift scientific payloads into orbit, provide the Pentagon with access to the 'high ground' of space, and offer an efficient, economical means of launching communications satellites which could turn a profit into a bargain. NASA officials increasingly chose to believe in the image, which, in turn, drifted ever further from reality. Politicians are under pressure to tighten laws which govern safety standards and to provide harsher penalties for those who endanger life, pollute or defraud, as well as greater and speedier levels of compensation to those affected. The key to crisis management is crisis prevention, whether the vigilance and preparation is self-motivated or enforced by legislation.
