ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997 TAG: 9704080073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Some are starting to wonder if NASA is slipping into a "good-enough-for-government mode.''
Forced to fly on two-thirds power, space shuttle Columbia's astronauts squeezed in as many experiments as possible Monday, working by flashlight before closing their lab for an early return to Earth.
``For sure, you can't cram 16 days of work into four days, but we're doing our best,'' said astronaut-physicist Donald Thomas.
The seven astronauts expressed disappointment about having to return home today after only four days aloft.
They might have been able to fly the entire 16-day science mission if NASA had halted the countdown Friday and replaced a faulty electric generator that had been giving unusual voltage readings hours before liftoff.
That generator slowly lost voltage in orbit - a situation that can cause an explosion - and forced NASA to cut short the $500 million-plus mission.
``Certainly, hindsight's always going to be 20-20,'' Columbia's commander, James Halsell Jr., admitted Monday.
John Logsdon, director of space policy at George Washington University, said: ``It's a real expensive learning experience.''
The electric generators, called fuel cells, are so critical, supplying power for virtually all systems, that each shuttle has three. If one fuel cell goes down, a mission is cut short.
Shuttle program manager Tommy Holloway said in retrospect, Columbia's No. 2 fuel cell should have been replaced before launch.
John Pike, director of space policy at the Federation of American Scientists, said he was even more astonished by NASA's discovery last week that Columbia had been flying without thermal insulation on water pipes for at least nine years. The mission was delayed one day so technicians could insulate the lines.
``When I look at the combination of the insulation and this fuel cell,'' Pike said, ``it's beginning to sound like maybe that's where they're saving money and they're slipping into a good-enough-for-government mode.''
In a news conference Monday, the astronauts acknowledged they were surprised by Mission Control's decision to cut short their flight, and said that while they were not consulted, they supported the move.
Halsell will have to land this afternoon with one-third less power because of the deteriorated fuel cell, which was turned off Sunday to keep it from overheating and possibly exploding.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB