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New Problem Could Ground Space Shuttle Fleet

Posted by Hemos on from the cracking-and-breaking dept.

Ender writes "As if the NASA folks at KSC did not have enough problems to deal with a the moment, (see previous /. article on the engine cracks and the following CNN article on the repairs) a NEW problem has sufaced in the Apollo Era transporter which vehiculates the Shuttles to the launch pads (crawler). They found many cracked bearings in the cylinders that lift the shuttle and its launch platform on the transporter. After this discovery they took a look at the other crawler and it too had quite numerous cracked bearings. No word from NASA yet but these findings may further delay the next Space Shuttle launch which is currently scheduled for NET (no earlier than) Sept 28th and by the same token slow down the assembly of the ISS. Complete articles at SpaceFlightNow and United Press International."

11 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. What I don't understand by phunhippy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What I don't understand is how they **JUST** Found these cracks? I mean obviously they all did'nt just appear at once. So do they have any idea how long they have been forming? How many shuttle roll-outs have been done with cracks already? Probably a lot i assume.. It would seem that they could do 1 more roll-out and then replace(get made) all the bearings they need..

    1. Re:What I don't understand by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I was watching a show about the people behind the scenes at NASA. One of the Shuttle mechanics made the point that there are places inside the Shuttle that require major disassembly just to inspect. He also added that a lot of things in the shuttle were never MEANT to be worked on. The designers just thought the older Shuttles would be retired before the parts wore out.

      --
      I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
  2. Problem? by Howzer · · Score: 4, Funny
    Must be a slow news day at NASA.

    From the article: NASA and contractor engineers are troubleshooting cracked bearings ... it is not yet known what, if anything, must be done to resolve the issue.

    My guess, and I should flag here that IANARS, is they'll have to replace those bearings...

    Sigh.

  3. Gentlemen, start your whining! by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I predict the feedback will be filled with the following:

    1. Whining to the effect of 'they JUST found these? All the bearings went bad at once?'

    2. Whining to the effect of 'They're still using 40+ year old crawlers? How dumb!'

    3. Whining to the effect of 'NASA is so stupid, they can't even drive 5 miles, much less fly a million in a shuttle'

    4. A few token 'We should be at moon/mars/jupiter by now, NASA has just fallen by the wayside and is a relic of lost dreams' whines

    5. A few people will get a kick out of saying 'Maybe we should pay the Russians to help us with our space technology?' and 'Can't they fix this by having Natalie P. put grits on the bearings?'

    6. Finally, one or two levelheaded people will say 'This stuff happens, and I'm glad they're catching it now instead of when a shuttle falls off a crawler'.

    Of course, #6 will be basically ignored, and instead a message saying 'If these bearings failed, it would be bad.' will be marked +5 Insightful, +5 Interesting, and +5 Informative, the three I's of insipid posts that bring to mind the sound of a million people saying 'Well, duh....'

  4. Damn... by kcbrown · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And I was hoping that it was a problem with the shuttle itself. The shuttle is entirely too expensive (half a billion dollars per launch?!?!) for what we get, and it really needs to die so that we can at least get another opportunity to replace it with something more cost effective. Because as long as they can continue to operate the shuttle, they will, no matter the cost -- because it's politically easier.

    --
    Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
  5. Re:built on site in the mid 1960s ?? by PRickard · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ever seen the movie Apollo 13 ? It shows the crawlers moving equipment into place before launch. Imagine something along the lines of a hundred-ton bulldozer with a rocket sitting on top of it. If you had to replace one of them you'd wait as long as you could, too.

    --

    == Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign ====

  6. Pics of the Cracked Bearings by Kumba · · Score: 5, Interesting

    NASA has to be one of the few agencies to take pictures of most of their activities. They added Pictures of the cracked bearings today to the KSC Media Archive, and they are some ugly cracks.

    Links can be found here:
    KSC-02PD-1166
    KSC-02PD-1167
    KSC-02PD-1168
    KSC-02PD-1169
    KSC-02PD-1170
    KSC-02PD-1171

    --Kumba

  7. David Strait finds tiny hairline cracks... by antdude · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I saw this last week or so (I don't remember where exactly), but I did a search and found the story on Space.com. Here's what it said:

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Did a 27-year-old with perfect vision and admitted pickiness help prevent disaster on the space shuttle?

    NASA may never know, but the manager of the shuttle program said inspections will be more thorough from now on.

    The first of 11 tiny hairline cracks that grounded the entire shuttle fleet was spotted by David Strait, a sometime surfer with 20/20 vision who works for United Space Alliance, one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's contractors.

    Within the space agency there's talk of an award for the systems inspector, who caught the biggest potential hazard at the launch site since an engineer spied a 4-inch (10-centimeter) pin wedged against Discovery's fuel tank during a countdown in 2000.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  8. Re:Why the incline by Detritus · · Score: 4, Informative

    There are big flame pits and channels under the launch platform that allow the hot exhaust gases from the main engines and solid rocket boosters to escape the immediate area of the launch platform. The Florida coast is not a good place to dig big holes in the ground, unless you are trying to create a swamp.

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  9. Number 8 - NASASpeak by CProgrammer98 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    what the hell sort of word is "vehiculates"???

    It amuses me that NASA has to invent fancy new words when there's perfectly good word that will do the job - "TRANSPORTS".

    I guess it makes them sound important or something.

    vehiculates - I bet that one isn't in the OED!

    --
    And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
  10. Early design bearing troubles in the 1960's by drsoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Imagine something along the lines of a hundred-ton bulldozer with a rocket sitting on top of it.

    After getting to walk around under one aftera visit a few years ago to KSC I can attest to the fact that they're massive vehicles. The treads alone tower over a grown man's head. Imagine something like Sealand on tracks (well, a little smaller). The roadbed consists of Alabama river rock several feet deep that supposedly causes less friction for the treads and gets crushed into dust as the crawler runs over it. It was pretty awkward to walk on the rocks since they're very loosely packed. All-in-all the crawler is quite a site to see up close and an amazing engineering marvel.

    Anyway, it looks like the enormous weight was causing issues with early bearings even when they were designing it in the 1960's. This explains a bit about that as well.