Re: [sarex] Shuttle inspection

[John Stone <jstone@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Bruce Bostwick wrote:

> >       Could it be wiring that they are inspecting? My shuttle status
> >messages indicate a fleet wide inspection of wiring. A short in one of
> >them during the last mission would have caused some engine controllers
> >to fail. They are looking more closely to see where it occurs, and how
> >to prevent it in the future.
>
> thought it was a couple of the GPC's that shut down .. I do know they came
> closer than they ever have to an RTLS abort.  That would have been a pretty
> spectacular failure ..

It was two engine controllers that shut down ... only one backup for each engine.
Most of us old skydrivers think an RTLS abort is a fantasy. I would have to have
big odds on it being successful. I think we came within a hair of another
Challenger....

>
>
> >       Also, some debris would have damaged one of the main shuttle engine's
> >bell, causing a small hydrogen leak in the bell's cooling system, and
> >a small plume outside the bell during the last liftoff...
>
> heard about that .. never saw video but apparently one of the SSME's was
> showing signs of very anomalous operation.  Definitely time to ground the
> fleet and take a look at all the hardware -- I know they look it at during
> turnaround at the OPF but maybe it's time to do a major teardown.

It was very obvious on the tapes after you knew what to look for....
afterlanding, during the walkaround, you could see a damaged area inside the bell
about 18 inches long that looked like a dozen or so  cooling tubes were
perforated .... I can't figure out what might have caused it ... ice on the
throat nozzles????? ... at any rate caused a 15 FPS underburn to orbit ....If
anyone has URL's for pics I would like to see closeups...

John, K0UWT


>
>
> <BGB>
>              --... ...--  -.. . -.- -.. ..... -... .. ...-
>            Bruce Bostwick  KD5BIV    Austin, TX  Grid EM10DH
>                  Technician Plus Amateur Radio Operator
>  ARRL / UT ARC VP / Austin ARC / Austin Repeater Org. / Travis Co. ARES
>    http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~lihan/  mailto:lihan@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
>           http://www.qsl.net/~kd5biv  mailto:kd5biv@qsl.net
>
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