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NATION
the battalion
5A
Monday, September 30, 2002
Safety concerns linger as NASA
hopes to launch shuttle Atlantis
Tiny cracks that grounded a fleet
A total of 11 hairline cracks were found in
metal liners inside the fuel lines of the
shuttles Atlantis, Discovery, Columbia
and Endeavour. The cracks, none of
which is longer than three-tenths of
an inch, prompted officials to take
the entire fleet out of service.
Metal flow liners
are inserted inside
bends in the fuel line
Their function is to
make hydrogen
fuel flow more
smoothly and
efficiently.
Hydrogen
fuel line
Hydrogen
fuel tanks
The fear was that the cracks
could cause the metal to chip,
sparking a launch explosion.
AP
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
— First, hairline cracks
were discovered in each of
NASA’s space shuttles, ground
ing all flights. Then bigger
cracks were found in the plat
forms used to transport the shut
tles to their pads.
The agency hopes to end its
summer of discontentment with
the launch of space shuttle
Atlantis on Wednesday, but the
criticism continues.
For one retired NASA engi
neer, the cracks point out just
how old the space shuttle fleet is
— and how vulnerable.
“Not only is it old, but they
tested the dang-gone thing to
death” during the three-year
moratorium on flights following
the Challenger explosion, said
Don Nelson, whose career
spanned Gemini, Apollo and the
space shuttle.
He’s pushing for a full-
fledged escape system, and until
then limited crews of four,
because “there’s always some
thing in there that’s a potential”
for disaster.
“A failure rate of 1-in-500 is
nothing to brag about,” Nelson
said. “It’s a terrible failure rate
when you’re talking about car
rying human passengers.”
In the first space shuttle
flight since June, Atlantis will
carry up six astronauts, includ
ing David Wolf, who lived on
Russia’s Mir space station fol
lowing the near-catastrophic
collision of 1997. He is satisfied
with the crack repairs but wor
ries the time-consuming work
may have diverted attention
from other potential problems.
“Therein lies the real risk
induced by the cracks,” Wolf said.
The space shuttle fuel lines
just above the main engines
were found to be cracked in all
four ships. Engineers suspect
the flaws may have been around
since the program began in 1981
but escaped detection.
Although the cracks were
small and in some cases almost
invisible, NASA worried they
might grow and send metal frag
ments hurtling into an engine
like shrapnel, with catastrophic
results. Unprecedented welding
was ordered, and all flights were
put on hold in the first ground
ing of the fleet since 1999, when
damaged wiring halted launches
for five months.
The much larger cracks in
the Apollo-era shuttle haulers
popped up in the bearings.
NASA surprisingly was able to
order more of the giant bear
ings, initially used to support
moonships.
“Crack plus crack plus crack
equal sky is falling,” said
Kennedy Space Center’s direc
tor, Roy Bridges, exasperated by
the complaints. “The sky is
NOT falling.”
Bridges acknowledges that
much of Kennedy’s Apollo-era
equipment and buildings need to
be modernized, given that the
space shuttles face another
decade or two of flight. He had
hoped to have an up-to-date
computer system in the launch
control center two years ago, but
the project fell behind, threat
ened to cost hundreds of mil
lions of dollars more than
planned and, as a result, was
canceled two weeks ago.
In its latest annual report, the
Aerospace Safety Advisory
Panel criticized NASA for put-
SOURCE: NASA
ting off maintenance and
improvements to shuttle-related
equipment and buildings.
“If restoration continues to
be delayed, it will reach a
point at which it may be
impossible to recover,” the
panel warned. “At best, this
will be a costly nuisance
prompting delays and the need
for expedited repairs. At worst,
safety can be compromised.”
That best-case scenario
already played out with the
shuttle transporters. The last
time Atlantis was being readied
for liftoff, in April, a pipe on the
exterior of the Apollo-era
launch platform cracked and
clouds of highly flammable
hydrogen fuel billowed into the
air. The flight was postponed
nearly a week while NASA
fixed the ruptured line.
“Everybody would be
thrilled to death if the good fairy
came and told us there was
enough money to rebuild all our
infrastructure,” said flight direc
tor Phil Engelauf. “But 1 don’t
think that there’s any sense that
we can’t continue to operate
with the hardware that we’ve
got. We just need to keep our
selves focused on keeping it all
maintained.”
That’s good news for Jerry
Goudy, the master welder who
repaired Atlantis’ cracked
plumbing. “As the fleet ages,
welders will be a hotter item,”
he said with a smile.
Testing shows nation has enough
smallpox vaccine for everyone
SAN DIEGO (AP) — By diluting long-
stored doses, the United States now has
more than enough smallpox vaccine to pro
tect everyone in case of a bioterrorist attack,
a top health official said Sunday.
Testing some of the 86 million doses of
vaccine that came to light last March shows
that they can be watered down and still offer
potent protection against smallpox.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
said Sunday that the diluted vaccine has
been tried on more than 100 volunteers to
see if it still works. The results show this
cache alone contains enough to vaccinate
everyone in an emergency.
This is very reassuring,” Fauci said. He
spoke at an infectious disease conference in
San Diego sponsored by the American
Society for Microbiology.
The last smallpox case in the United
tates was in 1949, and routine vaccination
stopped in 1972. However, the Soviet Union
stockpiled tons of the virus during the Cold
War, and experts worry some of that might
be used as a weapon by terrorists.
Many experts assumed that vaccination
would begin again once new smallpox cases
were discovered. But last week, government
officials said they are planning to offer
smallpox vaccine before such an attack to
all 280 million Americans.
However, that would involve distribut
ing vaccine that is still being made for the
government. The first of that supply should
arrive early next year from Acambis Inc.,
which has been contracted to make 209
million doses.
In the meantime,- health officials would
have to rely on batches of vaccine left over
from decades ago if smallpox is somehow
released before the new vaccine is ready.
Until recently, the only known supply was
15 million doses of a vaccine called Dryvax,
made 20 years ago. Government studies
showed it could be diluted 5 to 1, making 75
million doses.
Still, that was not enough. In March,
the pharmaceutical firm Aventis Pasteur
announced that it was giving the govern
ment 86 million doses that had sat nearly
unnoticed in a walk-in freezer at a remote
mountainside lab in Pennsylvania since
the 1970s.
No one knew, though, whether that vac
cine, like Dryvax, could be diluted.
Fauci said Sunday that tests show the
Aventis Pasteur vaccine can be watered
down at least as well as the other vaccine.
That means that, when cut 5 to 1, there will
be more than 300 million doses.
“We really are fully protected. We have
enough doses to cover everyone right now ”
said Dr. Michael Osterholm of the
University of Minnesota, a bioterrorism
adviser to Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson.
Whether everyone would need to be vac
cinated, however, is unclear. Many adults
were vaccinated in childhood, and even
though defenses against the virus fade over
time, experts assume many retain some pro
tection against smallpox.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Man arrested at airport with boxcutters
hidden in lotion bottle, scissors in soap
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A Bulgarian national was arrested
Sunday at Atlantic City International Airport after federal screeners
°und a pair of scissors embedded in a bar of soap and two box-
CU M? rS ' n a ' ot ' on bottle in his backpack.
Nikolay Volodicv Dzhonev, 21, was charged with possession of a
prohibited weapon. Egg Harbor Township police said Dzhonev was
De| ng held on $100,000 bail.
Authorities said the man was a student from Bulgaria with a
summer visa allowing him to work at an Atlantic City-area
convenience store.
He was the last passenger to pass through screening Sunday for
a flight from Atlantic City to Myrtle Beach, S.C., Transportation
Security Administration spokesman Robert Johnson said.
When his backpack went through the X-ray machine, screeners
spotted the scissors and pulled him aside, he said. A search of the
backpack turned up the scissors, embedded in a bar of soap, and
the boxcutters hidden in a lotion bottle, Johnson said.
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Licensed by the Texas Supreme Court
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Jim James
Attorney At Law
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J 1
Monday Night Football!
Denver vs. Baltimore
$500 <)() Cash Giveaway
Plus tickets to Bocktoberfest in Shiner,TX on October 19' 1
and a ride on the Fox and Hound Party Bus
to be given away at the end of every quarter.
Ask us about our Front Row Fan Club.
Win a VIP Party for Monday Night Football.
Register for our weekly giveaway.
Call for details 846-021 I
r
AMA
American Marketing Association
Next meeting will be a fundraiser @ Johnny Canno's
On Tuesday, October 1, 2002
Eat @ Johnny Carina's between 7-9 PM and a portion of
the nights total will go to Still Creek Boys and Girls Ranch
*Prize for the member who brings the most people*
Be sure to mention you're with the AMA fundraiser
Must pay with cash or check
Bring your friends A roommates and support
Still Creek Boys and Girls Ranchi
wehner.tomu.edu/AMA
J
PASSPORT TO CAREERS
r
for
LIBERAL ARTS MAJORS
^ September 30- “Career Safari”
Learn how to choose a career.
Student Counseling Center
6:00p.m. -103 Henderson Hall
^ October 2- “Destination: Real World”
Team how to develop competitive workplace skills.
Career Center
6:00p.m. - 209 Koldus
^ October 7- “Adventures in Education”
Teacher Certification & Graduate School Preparation
6:00p.m. -106 PSYC
► October 10- “Been There.-Done That”
Student Panel: Study Abroad/Work Abroad, Internships
6:00pm. -106 PSYC
NW-
* Attend 3 out of 4 nights to be eligible for a drawing for a DVD player
*Door prizes and refreshments every evening
Sponsored by College of Liberal Arts, Career Center, Student Counseling Service, and i.ibcral Arts Student
Council
en's Center
Texas A&.M UmYentty
Presents
"The Subtleties el hfitekcstlon in Dully Life:
kmeFemlnltfcCtues*
• •
Cynthia Enloe, Ph.d is Professor of Government at Clari:
University. A renowned educator, feminist, and political scientist,
Enloe is also the author of over 30 publications.
This talk will focus on how militarization works, and how It not only
shapes women's and men's lives differently, but how militarization
actually depends on certain ideas about ‘-and actions of- women.
Thursday, Oct 3;
7 pm, M$C 206.
Co-Sponsors: The Meibem G. Glasscock Center
for Humanities Research, Dean of Faculties,
George Bush School of Government and Public
Service, Military Studies Institute, Sociology
Department, and the Women's Studies Program.
For mure details, contact the Women '$ Center at
wcentenciiamu.edu or 845-8784