Nasa grounds space shuttles

BBC News Online ^ | 6/25/02 | Dr David Whitehouse

[GeneD]

The American space agency Nasa has grounded its space shuttle fleet indefinitely after finding small cracks in fuel pipes in the main engines of two shuttles. The cracks, discovered on shuttles Atlantis and Discovery, will delay the scheduled 19 July launch of Columbia, due to carry the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, into space.

The cracks were found in metal liners used to direct fuel flow inside the main rocket motor's fuel pipes on shuttles Atlantis and Discovery.

"The concern is that ... if a piece were to crack off and go down into the engine, would that damage the engine and cause it to shut down," said Nasa spokeman James Hartsfield. "Whether that is something that could actually happen, we don't know yet."

Safety concern

"These cracks may pose a safety concern and we have teams at work investigating all aspects of the situation," said Ron Dittemore, NASA's shuttle program manager. "This is a very complex issue and it is early in the analysis. Right now there are more questions than answers."

Engineers found the first crack during an inspection of "flow liners" - thin pieces of metal that aid the flow in fuel pipes - as they were installing engines in Atlantis more than a week ago.

Subsequent testing found other cracks in both Atlantis, which is 17 years old, and Discovery, which is 19. Columbia, the oldest of the four shuttles in the fleet at 21 years old, is to be inspected.

Because it takes a week or so to remove a shuttle's engines and the same amount of time to reinstall them, Columbia's forthcoming mission on 19 July has been delayed indefinitely.

NASA engineers will try to determine if the problem is a flaw introduced at the time the flow liners were installed in the shuttles or whether the cracks are a problem of age.

The liners act as sleeves inside the hydrogen fuel line in the plumbing for the shuttle's engine. NASA is working to determine whether the problem is limited to that one liner, which was in a bellows, where the fuel line bends.

"We've never seen these (cracks) before," said James Hartsfield. "The flow liners have been in the shuttles since day one. We have begun an analysis to try to understand it."

[biblewonk]

Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say it was good, I just said I didn't fear it and that was in the context of my own death.

[Aracelis]

I'm not as horrified by the thought of death as you seem to be.

You assume far too much, biblewonk. The last thing I am is afraid of death...for therein lies the beginning of the rest of the story, and I eagerly await that time.

I am far more afraid of rabid "Christianity" and the tendancy to insult, offend, and otherwise make life miserable for people who are not convinced that a "Creator" exists. People that espouse your viewpoints are a danger to civilization, the very antithesis of what Christ taught about love. Perhaps you need to re-read the Beatitudes.

[Aracelis]

I pray that there never is a 22nd century.

You obviously missed the very excellent points made by TomSmedley:

One of the most virile schools of thought in today's Christianity can be described as "calvinism on steroids." These people have an optimistic expectation of the future, convinced that God is honored by excellence, by achievement, by creativity -- and that He will bless that which honors Him.

I am wondering, Biblewonk, which is more honoring to your "God"...striving for achievements and the betterment of mankind, or hiding in a cave praying for the end of the world?

RadioAstronomer and many others like him that post on these threads are working for the betterment of mankind...tell me, what have you done lately to be your "brother's keeper"?