"Um, That Homer Simpson, sir." 
Posted on 10/05/2004 8:24:47 PM PDT by anymouse
A $239 million satellite toppled to a factory floor last year because nobody bothered to check that it was secure before moving it, according to a NASA investigation board's report on the mishap.
The 113-page document criticized both Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., which was assembling the weather satellite, and NASA, which was overseeing the project on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NOAA N-Prime satellite fell about 3 feet as it was being moved from a vertical to a horizontal position on Sept. 6, 2003, to remove an instrument at a facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. Nobody noticed that the 24 bolts that should have secured the spacecraft were missing.
Investigators were especially critical of the Lockheed Martin operations team for its "lack of discipline in following procedures," a problem that evolved from "complacent attitudes toward routine spacecraft handling, poor communication and coordination."
Buddy Nelson, a Lockheed Martin spokesman, said NASA's final report was consistent with the findings of the company's internal investigators.
"Lockheed Martin has implemented improvements to company policies, procedures and practices that ensure such an incident will not occur again," he said Tuesday.
It will cost an estimated $135 million to rebuild the spacecraft's main section and two damaged instruments. No one was injured in the incident.
The NASA board, which was led by Christopher Scolese of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, faulted an unidentified engineer who didn't look at the cart's configuration but instead relied on paperwork from a prior operation.
"Had he followed procedures, the unbolted (cart) adapter plate would have been discovered and the mishap averted," the report said. "Errors were also made by other team members, who were narrowly focused on their individual tasks and did not notice or consider the state of the hardware or the operation outside those tasks."
NASA investigators also said planning for the maneuver was "hurried" and the operations team was "hastily formed." Overall, the contractor's system safety program was found to be "very ineffective."
Nelson said appropriate disciplinary action has been taken, though he declined to say whether anyone has been fired.
Government checks also were lacking, according to the report. An onsite representative waived a mandatory inspection during the maneuver — something investigators said might not have caught problem but was indicative of a failed oversight process.
The in-house representative also knew of problems at Lockheed but did not pass them along to NASA, the report said.
On Monday, NOAA announced that it has reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin to finish the satellite. In addition, the company will contribute all profits it earned from the contract to rebuild the spacecraft and will complete the work on a cost-only basis, Nelson said.
Before the accident, the spacecraft was supposed to be placed into storage until launch in 2008. It's now scheduled to be launched in December 2007.
Doh!
Space ping
Then again, I don't work for the government. I have a real job.
You break it, you buy it!
These people have real jobs as well. This was an unfortunate incident. Procedures already in place were not followed.
Sounds like nobody had the individual task of bolting that sucker down.
Hey guys - what is this box of bolts fo.... CRASH! Whoopsie!
But seriously, that kind of screw up would absolutely and inevitably, for better or worse, lead to dismissals in the real world.
I've seen them. For financial numbers way less than 1% of this $135 million mishap.
ANY time there is an "accident" in the aerospace industry, it is because of negligence of one or more people.
Those who choose to ignore the reality and blame it on "government" have no concept of the enormous efforts being made by people who worry about "job security" and how they are going to support their families.
Perhaps they need a dose of REALITY to put things in perspective?
"Um, That Homer Simpson, sir."
I understand. I just don't know what the outcome was to the individuals.
And it can lead to dismissals in the government world, too. Admittedly, it is a little more difficult given the bureacracy, but it happens.
ping
Ouch !
If it were human error, it casts doubt that "Lockheed Martin has implemented improvements to company policies, procedures and practices that ensure such an incident will not occur again,"
Such an incident should be less likely, but I don't think they have made it certain as they claim.
I've never worked with multimillion dollar space equipment but during my career as an engineer have been responsible for movement of heavy equipment while others were present.
I would NEVER approve nor sign off on the repositioning or relocation of said equipment without putting my eyes on the situation. The possible loss of the equipment and subsequent negative impact on schedule and cost is one thing, the possible injury to people was the more important issue.
I cringe as I type this (because I know that ultimately we (Uncle Sugar) will ultimately bear any retribution) but Lockheed Martin should absorb ALL costs for this FU.
You can be pretty sure that people were fired over this. I had heard the number was pretty high but thats anecdotal and I don't really know what the true figure is.
ping
Does that look like $135 million worth of damage?
"Does that look like $135 million worth of damage?"
You must work for Gieco?
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