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NASA Investigates Possible Sabotage by Worker
mytrip writes "NASA said today it is investigating suspected sabotage of a recorder placed on the shuttle Endeavour for delivery to the space station where it will track physical stresses on the orbiting lab."
Actually, It doesn't say much more.
"The U.S. space agency NASA on Thursday confirmed it had discovered the apparent sabotage of a noncritical component of the international space station due to be carried up by the space shuttle Endeavour. It launched an investigation after finding cut wires in a piece of computer equipment intended to transfer data from station sensors to the ground, the agency said."
That's about it on the topic.
It still has the feeling of "Wha? I don't get it.". Either NASA is deliberately playing down a more serious issue, or we have some very incompetent saboteurs. Or an employee who had a momentary temper tantrum at whatever piece of equipment was in front of them.
Dr Smith works for a subcontractor now? That Jupiter2 gig must have finished.
Not only that, but his even newer job at Scaled Composites doesn't seem to have worked out, either . Not to joke, though. Looks like some people died today out in the Mojave at that facility.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
As far as I can see, Scaled Composites and Xcor are the only tenants at Mojave using nitrous. SC in the HTPB hybrid from SpaceDev http://www.astronautix.com/engines/spaybrid.htm , and Xcor in its 15 and 50 Lbf motors http://www.xcor.com/products/engines/2P1_N2O_ethan e_rocket_engine.html . The latter wouldn't need a truck load of the stuff. SpaceDev is working on a lot more hybrid projects than just SC's, but their test own stand is at Capistrano. SC is both secretive about its running projects and notoriously bad about updating it web sites about what it does announce, but by now they should be ramping up for testing the motor for SS2.
This certainly throws a wrench into the "hybrids are so much safer" works. Very bad for the two dead and four hurt, I'm just hoping Rutan wasn't among them.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B