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No shuttle flights for a year?
MSNBC ^ | Sept. 7, 2005 | James Oberg

Posted on 09/07/2005 12:42:24 PM PDT by anymouse

NASA memo warns impact of Katrina, tank problems could be long lasting

As NASA continues to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the future of the shuttle program, at least one official is warning it could take up to a year before the next flight takes off.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; Technical; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: et; externaltank; hurricane; katrina; michoud; nasa; neworleans; shuttle; space
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To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; discostu; ...
Can't blame NASA for this...


21 posted on 09/07/2005 5:53:51 PM PDT by KevinDavis (the space/future belongs to the eagles --> http://www.cafepress.com/kevinspace1)
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To: RightWhale
Yes, but where do the workers at Michoud live and how do they get to work? The Michoud area is pretty low and not easy to get to even without hurricane damage.

The NASA Stennis test center apparently was fairly well saved, but it too is not easily accessable. The Navy helicopters were taking food and water to those that stayed during the storm, so I'm sure SSME testing Stennis is going to be off-line for a while as well.
22 posted on 09/07/2005 5:57:39 PM PDT by anymouse
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To: anymouse

They should just sub it out to private contractors. They would save a ton of money. Oh, and screw the Russians, the EU, and the whole concept of an "international" space station.

If there is anything to be gained by a space station, then let's not share the benefit of it. If there is nothing to be gained by it other than providng a fan club to HAM radio operators, D&D players, and/or a bunch of dorks who went to space camp, and whose favorite movie is Space Camp, then just scrap the whole idea.


23 posted on 09/07/2005 6:01:02 PM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: anymouse

It's going to be quite a commute from Baton Rouge or Houston.


24 posted on 09/07/2005 6:14:39 PM PDT by RightWhale (We in heep dip trubble)
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To: anymouse

Doesn't the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama have a SSME test stand. The one that was used to test Saturn V stages. As has been stated, the facilities may have survived, the people that work there and run things need lodging. Another tough year the shuttle program. However, in light of the larger tragedy of Katrina, this is small potatoes.


25 posted on 09/07/2005 6:23:08 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (ISLAM IS A CULT. IT MUST BE ERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!)
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To: KevinDavis
Can't blame NASA for this...

Sure you can. They built a mission critical component with no disaster recovery (failover site) option in a hurricane prone area that resides UNDER sea level with a large body of water to the north and the largest river in North America to the south.

26 posted on 09/07/2005 6:30:02 PM PDT by xrp (Executing assigned posting duties FLAWLESSLY, zero mistakes)
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To: NCC-1701
I'm pretty sure the Marshall SSME test stands where mothballed or dismantled.

Boeing-Rockwell had SSME test stands out near Simi Valley, CA, but I think they shut them down as well. I got to see a engine test out there in the late 1970s on a high school field trip. Very impressive.
27 posted on 09/07/2005 7:58:25 PM PDT by anymouse
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To: anymouse
The real problem is not the damage to the facility, although it's trashed and the completed tank inside was substantially damaged.

The problem is not the destruction of the homes of more than half the workers, although that's a problem.

The problem is not that the bridges are out between the Michoud facility and the workers' homes, although that's true (the memo speculates that this will take months -- seeing how quickly they've gotten contracts let for this, I would guess that the bridges will be open in a month to six weeks).

The problem is that the main tank insulation problem, that they thought was a small and easily fixed thing, turns out to be bigger than expected. Instrumentation on Discovery's main tank shows that their computer models of aerodynamic forces were invalid. And the forces that they get turn out to be not easily susceptible to computer modeling.

They're now looking at maybe having a new design ready for testing in about a year, with launch three months after that if there are no glitches -- maybe January or February of 2007. No earlier.

In the meantime, the ISS stays in caretaker status with no new construction, and more of everything else that they want to do with Shuttles gets pushed back by the priority of the ISS, and the Shuttle's wear-out date of 2010 gets significantly closer. I see a convergence of bad news.

It's not doing science, it's not delivering payloads for industry or national security. At some point we have to define what it is then.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

28 posted on 09/08/2005 8:09:19 AM PDT by Criminal Number 18F (Is it news, or is it CNN?)
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