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ZL2TZE > SAREX 08.09.99 14:06l 56 Lines 2719 Bytes #-9683 (0) @ WW
BID : 65077-ZL2TZE
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: [sarex] Shuttle grounding
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Sent: 990907/0821Z @:ZL2TZE.#73.MLB.NZL.OC #:65077 $:65077-ZL2TZE
From: ZL2TZE@ZL2TZE.#73.MLB.NZL.OC
To : SAREX@WW
Copied to clear up confusion shown here re status of Shuttle fleet and
reasons for grounding. RN
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Space Shuttle Fleet Grounded -NASA
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA's fleet of space shuttles, grounded as
inspectors inch their way through trouble-plagued wiring on each orbiter,
will not carry out further missions until mid-October at the earliest, the
U.S. space agency said Saturday.
The fleet of four orbiters has been grounded since a harrowing lift-off of
shuttle Columbia in July. Astronauts and ground controllers wrestled
throughout the eight-minute flight to space with power failures to two of the
computers controlling Columbia's three main engines. The shuttle was one
short-circuit away from a never-before attempted emergency abort.
That led to electrical inspections on the entire shuttle fleet, and
technicians have discovered enough problems, including faulty insulation and
frayed wires, that mission managers have decided not to schedule any more
flights until the work is complete, said NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham.
``The work is progressing well,'' said Buckingham, but technicians have not
been able to predict how long the job will take. ``It's anticipated that no
mission could technically be ready for launch before mid-October at the
earliest.''
NASA said damage had been found inside each orbiter, something unexpected
until Columbia's troublesome lift-off.
So far, inspectors have found 38 electrical defects on shuttle Endeavour and
26 aboard shuttle Discovery. Comprehensive inspections of Columbia, the
oldest shuttle in the fleet, and Atlantis, the youngest, will begin later
this month, NASA said.
``Our focus is to be absolutely certain that we do our very best to find, fix
and prevent any recurrence of this problem,'' Ron Dittemore, NASA's shuttle
program manager said in a release.
Before the inspections began, Endeavour had been scheduled to lift-off
September 16 on a 10-day science mission, with Discovery set to fly sometime
before October 15 on a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Launch
targets for both those missions were put in limbo once the inspections were
ordered.
NASA said many of the electrical defects were caused over the years as
technicians performed their pre-launch and post-launch routines inside the
shuttles, often stepping on wires or inadvertently nicking them. Other
defects were caused by wires rubbing against metal surfaces.
The space agency said it was revising service procedures in light of the
discoveries and plans to schedule more electrical inspections in the future.
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