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Lockheed Martin Drops NOAA Satellite

Posted by michael on from the all-the-king's-horses-being-mobilized dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Last Saturday, engineers at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale were rotating the NOAA-N spacecraft from vertical to horizontal when it slipped and fell - hard. SpaceRef has the story and a graphic photo of the damaged satellite."

3 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. They're lucky by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 3, Insightful

    that nobody got hurt! Can you imagine the shock to someone standing next to it when it fell?

    --
    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  2. This Kinda thing by KMAPSRULE · · Score: 5, Insightful

    happens so often its only a matter of time before it really hurts someone:

    First, technicians from another satellite program... removed the bolts...without proper documentation.
    several programs I have worked on have had near accidents because parts were "borrowed" without redtags being applied. Second, the NOAA team working today failed to follow the procedure to verify the configuration of the NOAA "turn over cart" since they had used it a few days earlier.

    Complacency(sp?) Happens way to often in every job environment. And it takes a lot of discipline to force yourself to follow the procedures everytime day in/day out and beyond.

    --

    --Im an oven mitt, not an engineer! (SLArbys Radio Commercial)
  3. Re:24 bolts? by gnovos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How the heck are 24 bolts missing? Someone is sooooo fired over this one!

    And it will probably be the technician who removed them and not the manager who ordered it done.

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"