Subj : NASA, shuttle, anyone?
To   : MARK LEWIS
From : WAYNE CHIRNSIDE
Date : Sun Aug 14 2005 04:21 pm

-> ->  CA> Have been a bit surprised at the lack of interest in 
-> ->  CA> this echo of the sloppiness of the recent space 
-> ->  CA> shuttle launch?

-> -> sloppiness??

->  WC> Yup.
->  WC> Rules stated no launch without all four tank fuel sensors
->  WC> working.

-> ok... all four were working when they tested and launched...

All four worked intermittently, one of the hardest dorts of faults
to track down from my personal electronic experience. 

Had the sensors failed again as they had before as nothing had
been done to fix them it's possible the sensors would have indicated
fuel it was running out.

This would lead to the flame from the engine nozzels being sucked back
into the combution chambers, BOOM.

This is generally considered a bad thing.

Also a repair to a dent in the shuttle's tank was repaired after the
foam was removed.
Foam was replaced but it wa sdeemed unnecessary to inspect the affected
area.

As it happens foam from this area detached during launch to orbit.


->  WC> Shuttle not rolled back but delayed.

-> so... don't have to rollback to fix a problem...               

Don't worry they didn't. 
They flew the shuttle without a clue as to what had caused the problem.

->  WC> Intermittent problem with the faulty fuel sensor never pinned down
->  WC> it happened to be working when they launched after deciding to
->  WC> override their own safety rules.

-> when did they decide to override their rules? i don't recall that and i 
watched
-> and recorded most all of the NASA TV broadcasts...                  

It was repeatedly announced after the initial delay and after they
failed to pin down the intermittent fuel sensor problem,

It just happpened the sensor didn't fail during the runup to
launch, very fortuitous.

->  WC> Now the tank's burned up returning to Earth we'll never know why
->  WC> the sensor malfunctioned.

-> one suggestion was a ground problem because the problem never happened after
-> the initial discovery... could also have been a loose connection... either 
way,
-> they apparently fixed it while getting to it and studying it...

Ground problems are FAR from trivial as an electrical _circuit_
requires a return to function.
In my personal experience ground problems are actually the worst
sort of problem.

I spent months tracking down an intermittent ground problem in 
a stereo amplifier once.

-> what else was sloppy??

See above.
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