SHUTTLE CARRIER'S BOLTS SCRUTINIZED; INVESTIGATION TARGETS WASHERS.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and its space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. contractor are investigating why the orbiter Atlantis was not properly bolted to its Boeing 747 carrier during its cross-country trip to Palmdale last week, officials said Wednesday. Washers were missing on two bolts where the rear of the orbiter was attached to the 747 for its trip from Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics , Florida, to Palmdale. There are no indications that the orbiter was in danger of falling off, said Bruce Buckingham, news chief for Kennedy Space Center. ``It's a pretty critical situation where you don't have the orbiter attached firmly to the 747,'' Buckingham said. ``That raised our eyebrows that it happened.'' Atlantis left Florida on Nov. 11 after a six-hour delay caused by problems getting the orbiter attached to its carrier. The investigation will look to see if those problems are related to the missing washers, which are meant to protect the attachment bolts from damage during flight, officials said. Atlantis arrived in Palmdale on Friday after a series of delays caused by bad weather between Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma and Palmdale. The missing washers were discovered by the NASA and United Space Alliance crew that removed the orbiter from the 747 at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. The orbiter was then handed off to Boeing's Reusable re·use tr.v. re·used, re·us·ing, re·us·es To use again, especially after salvaging or special treatment or processing. re·us Space Systems unit for a 10-month, $70 million modification project. The investigation will be overseen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), . The United Space Alliance, which is responsible for shuttle shuttle: see loom. shuttle In the weaving of cloth, a spindle-shaped device used to carry the crosswise threads (weft) through the lengthwise threads (warp). Not all modern looms use a shuttle; shuttleless looms draw the weft from a nonmoving supply. operations, will conduct the interviews with the technicians responsible for attaching the orbiter to its carrier. There is no timetable for when the investigation will be completed. The next scheduled orbiter ferry flight will be in late August when Atlantis is returned to Florida. However, it is possible that a space shuttle mission might end at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . Edwards is used as a backup landing site when there is bad weather at Florida. |
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