News Michoud / New Orleans

from "www.wwl.com" website ....

KATRINA DELAYS NASA WORK

The space shuttle's external fuel tanks were supposed to be shipped back
to New Orleans this week, from Kennedy Space Center, but that has been
put on hold, thanks to Katrina.

NASA has grounded the shuttle fleet until Michoud workers solve the
problem of foam insulation peeling away from the external fuel tank
during liftoff. That is what led to Columbia's destruction, and the
people at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans are
eager to get back to work on the tanks.

“It is expected that we will remove what is called the ‘protuberance
air-load ramps’ from the external tank and dissect them to gather more
data,” says spokesman Marion LaNasa.

LaNasa says they will develop a plan to go forward once they get that
information, but first they have to get those tanks barged back to New
Orleans.

Justa Lurker wrote:
from "www.wwl.com" website ....

"It is expected that we will remove what is called the 'protuberance
air-load ramps' from the external tank and dissect them to gather more
data," says spokesman Marion LaNasa.

LaNasa says they will develop a plan to go forward once they get that
information, but first they have to get those tanks barged back to New
Orleans.

Do you have any idea how many tanks are involved in this barging? It
seems like overkill to barge more than one back, if that many. Wouldn't
it be quicker and cheaper to fly technicians to Kennedy for removal of
just one ramp, then fly that ramp back to Michaud by military airlift?

If no problem with the PAL foam itself is found, what good does it do
NASA to have all its eggs in one basket, i.e., at Michaud? Maybe
there's more at issue here than meets the eye, especially the eye tuned
to PAO.

I'm sorry, but the NASA/Lockheed track record has made me skeptical,
especially of anything running to excessive cost at the expense of
schedule. In that case, what you get for your taxpayer dollar is too
much undeserved Lockheed profit and too many non-involved workers laid
off or essentially idle.

Challenger's Ghost