Ex-NASA worker on trial accused of lax inspections

Kennedy Space Center technicians testified that Billy Thomas Thornton never checked their work.

ORLANDO - Defense attorneys for a former NASA inspector charged with falsifying examinations of crucial parts on space shuttle Discovery said Monday their client did nothing wrong.

Billy Thomas Thornton did his job as a quality assurance specialist, responsible for checking that contractors completed work on electronics and other components considered necessary for safe flight, said defense attorneys Kepler Funk and Alan Diamond on the first day of his trial.

Several technicians from the Kennedy Space Center testified that Thornton never checked their work and that a log book showed Thornton hadn't signed in to visit the orbiter.

But Funk said Thornton performed the work, often after the technicians had left.

"Some times people don't sign in," Funk said. "That doesn't mean the work wasn't done."

Thornton was indicted last year on 166 counts.

The missing inspections alleged by prosecutors came as the shuttle was being overhauled.

Discovery is scheduled to be the first shuttle sent back into space after the fleet was grounded because of the 2003 Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts. The scheduled launch date has been pushed back to mid-July.

[Last modified May 10, 2005, 01:02:19]