Word: oxygenate
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...thorough probe of the accident that crippled Apollo 13 and endangered the lives of Astronauts James Lovell, Fred Raise and Jack Swigert, NASA Deputy Administrator George Low announced last week that the space agency had determined the probable cause: a short circuit that led to the explosion of an oxygen tank in the service module...
Investigators believe that the short occurred either in a fan used to stir supercooled oxygen in the tank, or in wiring leading to the fan. In the presence of pure oxygen, the short could have ignited insulation, wires, or even the aluminum parts within the tank. The resulting heat would have produced the pressure that burst the tank. Though NASA may never learn the exact cause of the accident, it has ordered numerous small design changes to prevent any recurrence of an oxygen-tank explosion; the fan will be removed, wiring will be changed and aluminum structures inside the tank...
...afraid this is going to be the last moon mission for a long time," radioed Apollo 13's commander shortly after one of his spacecraft's vital oxygen tanks exploded. Last week, safely back in Houston, Jim Lovell and his crewmates took a far more cheerful view. "I foresee that we can get this incident over with," Lovell said, "and can charge ahead." The space agency shared his optimism. Despite Apollo's close brush with disaster, NASA officials seem more determined than ever to continue exploration of the moon...
Cortright's investigators are looking into all conceivable causes of the explosion. But most top NASA officials already think that the blast was probably the result of a defect in one of the two double-walled oxygen tanks. Under the extremes of pressure (920 lbs. per sq. in.) and temperature (-297° F.) inside the tanks, they say, a fragment of metal-perhaps a rivet or a piece from an internal cooling fan-could have flaked off. As this chip sheared away, there may have been a spark or another kind of combustion, Dr. Rocco Petrone, director...
...preliminary study of the telemetry tapes has already shown that oxygen pressure in one of the tanks rapidly increased 90 seconds before the accident. Unfortunately, the rise was not observed on the ground, Flight Director Gene Kranz told TIME Correspondent Leo Janos last week. Reason: So much data streams into Houston from a spacecraft that flight controllers monitor only a certain number of critical functions at any single moment; the signals for the others are simply stored on tape for later examination. Furthermore, Kranz explained, even if some hawk-eyed observer had spotted the wild pressurization, his first incredulous reaction...