Word: semiliquids
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Unable to empty out the tank during tests at the Cape, NASA technicians applied 65 volts to the heater, trying to boil off the semiliquid oxygen. The voltage fused the inadequate 28-volt cutoff switches, allowing the temperature in the tank to rise to 1000° F. and damaging the Teflon insulation on the wires. This led to the arcing that occurred during the mission. Why did the Cape Kennedy technicians have to resort to this untried procedure for emptying the tank? Because, said the panel, the tiny tube through which oxygen is fed in and extracted had probably been...
...internal heater if its temperature rises above 80° F. Tests showed that the temperature, if unchecked, could soar as high as 1,000° and cause the electrical insulating material to flake off. The arcing that results can ignite the insulation. Heat from the fire expands the compressed semiliquid oxygen, and its pressure eventually increases enough to burst the tank. The safety switches were apparently damaged when the heater was used during a test before the launch...