Word: nasa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...subcontractor. Both claimed they were victims of corporate retaliation for whistle blowing. Charges that there were serious lapses in safety, quality control and security have been substantiated in a two-month investigation by a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee. It also found that in 1986 and 1987 NASA and its contractors may have cut corners in developing and reviewing vital flight computer software in order to keep the shuttle on schedule. Rockwell may not share NASA's improved attitude: the company continues to call such charges "untrue...
...builder. Some of the three synthetic-rubber O rings (increased from two on previous rockets) that seal the booster's joints will be purposely flawed to see how well the rings can prevent the kind of leakage that triggered the Challenger explosion. Based on the outcome of the tests, NASA will decide on a precise launch date...
...Even as NASA worries about safety, it must take many calculated risks. In May, for example, agency officials had to make a decision about a potential danger if a flight had to be aborted shortly after lift-off. What would happen, asked NASA analysts, if one or more of the valves that allow the liquid fuels to flow from the external tank into the orbiter's main engines failed to shut after the tank was jettisoned? The thrust from leaking fuel, they feared, could cause the orbiter and tank to collide. Since the shuttle's computer is not programmed...
...Discovery mission is successful, the NASA schedule will then call for nine flights next year and another nine in 1990. One hitch: there may not be enough solid rocket fuel. The shortage, which will begin next year, is the result of a series of explosions in early May that destroyed a Nevada plant that produced about 50% of the nation's ammonium perchlorate. The compound constitutes about 70% of the solid fuel used in the shuttle boosters...
...NASA's more immediate concern is proving that it can get Discovery safely into space and back again. Most Americans, who will be watching on launch day, are just as anxious as NASA to see the shuttle program back in orbit...