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NASA Probes Shuttle Oxygen Leak

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the getting-started-with-a-bang-not-necessarily-a-good-thing dept.

Cherita Chen writes "NASA is investigating the possibility of a gaseous oxygen leak, posing a serious fire risk, during the launch of the space shuttle Discovery in July. From the article: 'Engineers uncovered possible evidence of high concentrations of the gas in the rear engine compartment about two minutes after lift-off. A leak could lead to a fire or even an explosion in flight.'"

6 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no! by mrRay720 · · Score: 5, Funny

    They'd better not let all of that dangerous oxygen escape into the atmosphere!!

    1. Re:Oh no! by JourneyExpertApe · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oxygen isn't dangerous per se, but it becomes deadly when it reacts with hydrogen to form dihydrogen monoxide.

      --
      If you can read this sig, you're too close.
  2. Gas in the rear engine compartment... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...can really make you unpopular with the rest of the crew.

  3. Re:Say what? by boarder8925 · · Score: 4, Funny
    I think something smells fishy.
    Really? I thought it smelled like a Taco Bell burrito....

    =P
    --
    Keep your eyes to the sky.
  4. Re:It's True! by TWX · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I hope you realize that an `Informative' mod can also, like grandparent, be a joke. He did, after all, provide information about this deadly substance."

    And vice versa. I find that half of time the hard-found information that I post to slashdot is somehow considered Funny...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  5. Re:500 parts per million? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Funny

    Good enough?

    Yeah, I'll pay that one. Actually, I've been enjoying the discussion on "dihydrogen monoxide" too. I wonder how many of the posters kidding about its hazards have actually thought about it. How many people have been killed by water this year, and are killed by water every year?

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."