Which factor should be considered as part of the re-entry risk assessment but is not the sole determinant?

• A. Air quality trends
• B. Hazard severity
• C. Mission impact
• D. Rescue complexity

Answer: (B)

In risk assessment, you look at how bad a hazard could be (the consequences) and how likely it is to happen, along with how easily you could respond or mitigate. Hazard severity is the measure of how severe the outcomes could be if the hazard occurs, so it must be considered because it defines the potential magnitude of impact. But it isn’t the sole determinant because the overall risk depends on other factors too—especially how likely the hazard is and how effective your mitigation or rescue options are. Among the options, hazard severity best fits as a necessary piece of the risk picture: it directly informs how severe the consequences could be, while the other factors describe context or response considerations that influence risk but do not define the consequence level itself.