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Faulty fuel gauge delays shuttle launch
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-15 06:09
Thousands of people had descended on the space centre for the launch,
including John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, members of
Congress, and family members of the seven fallen Columbia astronauts. Lawmakers
and others refrained from second-guessing NASA's decision to press ahead before
it had gotten to the bottom of the fuel gauge problem.
"I'm disappointed for all of us," said Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida
Democrat, who as a congressman was on the shuttle right before the 1986
Challenger launch explosion. But he added, "The system is working like it
should."
Just a day earlier, NASA was embarrassed when a lightweight plastic window
cover fell off the shuttle on the launch pad and caused damage to some of its
thermal tiles - the very thing that NASA had worked so hard to avoid after
Columbia's wing was pierced at lift-off by a chunk of foam insulation from the
fuel tank. Discovery's tiles were quickly replaced.
Since the Columbia tragedy, NASA has worked to fix its "safety culture." The
space agency said it has had frank and vigorous discussions about the upcoming
flight - including the fuel gauge problem - and encouraged engineers to speak
up.
The faulty gauge reading cropped up after the tank was filled with more than
500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Launch controllers ran a test to
check out all four hydrogen-fuel gauges in the tank; when they sent a command
mimicking an empty tank, three indicated empty, while one stayed stuck on full.
It was a clear violation of the launch rules, Hale said,
and it took just five minutes of discussion for managers to agree on a
postponement.
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