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Could a Dirty Rag Take Out a $2 Billion Satellite?
An anonymous reader writes "The alleged rescue of a U.S. military communications satellite underscores some of the weaknesses in U.S. space efforts. Quoting: 'The seven-ton “AEHF-1,” part of a planned six-satellite constellation meant to support radio communication between far-flung U.S. military units, had been in orbit just one day when the problems began. The satellite started out in a highly-elliptical, temporary orbit. The plan was to use the spacecraft’s on-board engine to boost it to a permanent, geo-stationary orbit. But when the Air Force space operators at Los Angeles Air Force Base activated the engine, nothing happened. The Government Accountability Office would later blame the failure on a rag left inside a fuel line by a Lockheed worker.'"
It's hard. Any little thing that goes wrong will likely cause the whole thing not to work.
That's why it's rocket science.
Yeah. Damn it people! This is just rocket science, not brain surgery!
So, the problem is the satellite is 'on the rag'?
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
XXI century new space programs motto : It's failures all the way down, man!
-- Home is where you eat your heart out.
Luckily, in the aerospace industry, there's no such thing as a "$5 wrench". Hell that was probably a $700 dirty rag.
I like music
Yes, the gov't will have to pay for that space-rag now. Lockheed forgot to bill them for it.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Yes, the gov't will have to pay for that space-rag now. Lockheed forgot to bill them for it.
The bill also included the fines levied by the TSA for failing to file an export declariation on the space rag.
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." ~Ozzy Osborne
So why do they not check the forms before launching the satellite into orbit?
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
TFA states that they are seeking compensation from Lockheed. Hopefully, that'll happen without an actual suit.
That would be quite the space suit.
They had one, but none of the engineers had 2 quarters to put in the machine.