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1994-04-07
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4/5/94: LAUNCH ADVISORY -- STS-59 LAUNCH RESCHEDULED TO APRIL 8TH
Space Shuttle managers today decided to delay the launch of STS-59 to allow
additional inspections of metallic vanes in the high pressure oxidizer
preburner pump volute housings of Endeavour's main engines.
The inspections are expected to add at least one day to the launch
preparations, and managers will review the findings once the inspections are
completed. A launch window for STS-59 on April 8th opens at 8:06 a.m. EDT.
The inspections are being performed after similiar main engine parts were found
to be out of specification by about 30 thousandths of an inch regarding
measurements of the radius of the metallic vanes. The vanes direct the flow of
liquid oxygen as it is fed into the high pressure oxidizer turbopumps on the
engines. The radius is a measure of the curvature of the metal, and a sharper
curvature could reduce the tolerance of the metal to fatigue cracking.
The out-of-specification measurements were found on a housing undergoing proof
testing at Rockwell's Rocketdyne Division, the main engine manufacturer. Some
other preburner housings were then found to have similiar curvatures.
However, in more than 8,330 minutes of Space Shuttle Main Engine operations to
date, no preburner housings have been found to have fatigue cracks. In
addition, cracks have never been found following proof testing of the housings,
tests that subject the parts to much more severe pressures than experienced
during flight. Due to the out-of- specification measurements, managers decided
an inspection of the preburner housings installed in Endeavour's main engines
to determine their radius would be prudent.
-end-
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■ Via FTL BBS (404-292-8761) and NASA Spacelink (205-895-0028)