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June 26, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Choosing safety over schedule, NASA has grounded the space shuttle fleet while engineers try to determine why tiny cracks are developing in the fuel line feeding the main rocket engines.
The announcement put a crimp in NASA's efforts to satisfy a tight schedule for building and supplying the international space station. Solving the problem could take weeks or more, and people who have criticized the space agency in the past praised what they saw as a new emphasis on success and safety over speed.
"These days, the value of safety is higher in the NASA culture than it has ever been," Keith Cowing, editor of NASA Watch, a watchdog Web site and frequent space agency critic, said Tuesday.
NASA engineers said they aren't even sure that the space shuttle problem is a threat to safety. They found minuscule cracks in the metal liner of fuel lines that carry supercold hydrogen to the main rocket engines. What caused the cracks and the extent of threat they represent are unanswered questions, said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield, but that, alone, is enough now to ground the fleet.
Hartsfield said Tuesday that NASA engineers are just beginning to search for solutions to the fuel-line cracks, and it could be weeks before the shuttle fleet is cleared to fly again.
That could mean delays for missions scheduled for July, August and October. The October flight is particularly critical since it involves resupplying the international space station and rotating crew members.
After determining the cause of the cracks, engineers will decide if the cracked linings can be repaired or the lines must be replaced. That would be a problem, since there are no spare parts.