: 1152202819

Even though there were no plans for Charles Camarda to blast into space this time around, the Queens astronaut created quite a stir as the Space Shuttle Discovery sat waiting for its first time back in space since Camarda was on board.

The 54-year-old Camarda, a native of Ozone Park, was demoted from his position as chief engineer on Discovery’s Mission Management Team (MMT) last week to a lesser position at the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC). The astronaut said in a statement that the reassignment came due to disagreements he had with Johnson Space Center Director Mike Coats. Many sources believe that it was Camarda’s questioning of Discovery’s safety status that lead to his removal from the MMT.

Camarda, who served on last summer’s two-week Discovery mission, the first trip back to space after the Columbia disaster, indicated that his own words lead to his transfer. In an e-mail to colleagues, he wrote, “I cannot accept the methods I believe are being used by this center to select future leaders. I have always based my decisions on facts, data and good solid analysis. I cannot be a party to rumor, innuendo, gossip or manipulation to make or break someone’s career. I refused to abandon my position on the MMT and asked that if I would not be allowed to work this mission that I would have to be fired, and I was.”

When reached at her Ozone Park home, Charles’ mother Rae declined comment regarding her son’s situation.

After being delayed from its initial July 1 launch time, Discovery took flight July 4. It was only the second space shuttle to lift off since 2003’s Columbia disaster in which seven astronauts were killed when a piece of foam broke off and struck the shuttle‘s left wing. Reports have said that at least five foam pieces fell from the ship during the launch.

NASA officials, however, said the Discovery’s foam loss is nothing to worry about. “Every piece of foam that came off was after the critical time, and we can confirm all but one of those was smaller than the mass that we worry about,” said shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. “The tank performed very well, especially early in the flight in the lower atmosphere.”

Camarda would be justified in sharing the worry of fellow engineers regarding the foam situation because his own mission was delayed by two weeks when the shuttle’s fuel tank covering had to be redesigned. The Queens astronaut apparently agreed with two NASA officials who voted “no go” during the Flight Readiness Review three weeks ago.

It seems the two eventually qualified their vote because of NASA’s plan to use the space station as a waiting point for rescue should the shuttle be damaged.

“In the end, we had essentially two members who were both no-go, but they did not object to us flying, and they understand the reasons and the rationale that we laid out in our flight plans,” said associate administrator for space operations Bill Gerstenmaier.