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From: sklein@troa02.enet.dec.com (Susan Klein)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Columbia showing her age?
Message-ID: <1990Dec12.235552.12365@pa.dec.com>
Date: 12 Dec 90 23:51:44 GMT
Sender: news@pa.dec.com (News)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 30


In article <20792.2765fbdf@merrimack.edu>, yetmank@merrimack.edu writes...
>I know I'll get bombarded for this.
> 
>Am I the only one who feels that Columbia is starting to show her age?  This
>last mission was an absolute disaster for the orbiter.  Such problems lead this
>small time space follower to question how long it will be before Columbia is at
>fault for a major disaster.
> 

I will start the bombarding. Only joking. 

I think that the basic point that the orbiter was the problem on the STS 35 
mission is not correct. The problems with the pointing of the ASTRO telescopes
is more than likely a payload problem. Obviously, the waste water line problem
is an orbiter problem, but one I am sure readily correctable.

The hydrogen leaks are once again not all directly related to the orbiter, the
ET connector leaked. Also processing problems I think also caused part of the 
leak.

Every mission the orbiters are have minor problems, but that is what the 
astronauts are partly there for, to fix them or find away around them,

Columbia is old, but I think she has a few million miles more on the odometer
left.

Susan Klein	sklein@troa09.dec.com
		--or-- ...!decwrl!troa09.dec.com!sklein
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