Innovation Addresses Countdown Challenges

With the nation’s attention focused on the Space Shuttle team during the STS-121 and STS-115 missions this summer, USA employees stepped up with innovative ideas and solutions to keep the flights on track despite unexpected challenges that, without fast and creative thinking, could have caused significant delays in meeting program milestones.

The first occurred during STS-121 when a crack in the External Tank’s (ET’s) thermal protection foam was discovered and debris concerns arose.

Because of the location of the crack, high on the tank, no adequate view of the bracket was available. Many Mission Management Team (MMT) members favored a close inspection of the area before proceeding with the launch, which would mean positioning special ET platforms to get a look at the bracket, a process that would take 24 hours and delay the launch.

As the MMT discussed the problem, USA Engineering Integrator Mike Young wondered if a device called a boroscope, which is routinely used to inspect hard-to-reach areas of the Orbiter during processing, could be used to examine the ET bracket. If deemed feasible, the process could be completed in a few hours and preserve the July 4 launch opportunity.

Young’s idea was to insert the boroscope into a flexible plastic tube that could be bent to a desired configuration to allow the camera to peer around obstacles – a technique that had been used in the past. Young contacted USA’s Micro Inspection Team (MIT) lead Brad Smith, who agreed that it was possible.

Young assembled a team of NASA, USA and Lockheed Martin engineers in the MIT lab where they worked with the inspection team to devise a plan, and by late that afternoon, the team – including Brad Smith, Jeff Rowell and Charles Wassen was at Launch Pad 39B, deploying their equipment.

“One of the critical aspects of this effort was to be careful to do no harm to the Shuttle, which was poised in a launch configuration,” Young said. “We went over our procedures very carefully ahead of time and really focused on the hazards and risks.”

To get to the bracket, which was hidden by a facility wall, the MIT crew stretched the 12-foot long device around the obstacle to a point within inches of the bracket. Monitoring the work via boroscope video cam, the engineering team watched as they scanned the entire bracket assembly.

The images were then rushed to the MMT meeting that was in progress, allowing the program managers to see high-resolution photos of the foam damage and to make the decision that the Shuttle was safe to fly.

Following the launch, NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach welcomed USA’s MIT to Firing Room 4 and credited their effort with making the Independence Day launch possible.

“It felt good,” Young said. “Solving problems in tough situations like this is what we live for.”

Two months later, as the launch of STS-115 approached, the ingenuity of USA team members was called upon again.

Three weeks before the scheduled launch of Atlantis, the Space Shuttle Program was alerted to the probability that two of the four bolts retaining Atlantis’ KU Band antenna actuator were too short and were not properly engaging the locking feature. Improperly secured bolts could cause the 300-pound antenna unit to fall during launch. After much discussion, program managers decided the two bolts must be replaced prior to the mission.

As the MMT deliberated, engineers and technicians got to work devising a way to access the area containing the KU Band antenna assembly while the Shuttle was at the pad. Changing the bolts at the pad was the preferred option, since the other option was to roll the Orbiter back to its hangar, which would take weeks and entail risks associated with rolling back and de-mating.

Within days of the decision to remove and replace the bolts at the pad, a multidisciplinary team – involving USA, Boeing and NASA employees from more than a dozen elements – led by USA’s Pete Reutt of Payload Mechanical Engineering, was ready with a plan.

At the pad, technicians deployed the clean access platform between the payload and the Orbiter docking system so the high crew could erect a special scaffolding platform to allow technicians to reach the bolt location. The customized setup in a hazardous, close tolerance, clean-room environment required creativity and a close attention to detail, all in a short time frame.

“With the accomplishment of this feat, we did something previously thought to be impossible,” Reutt said. Noting that the bolt location is one of the most inaccessible places when the Orbiter is at the pad, he credited the success of the effort to incredible teamwork and dedication, and to the availability of new 3-D Computer Aided Design software, which allowed the team to quickly create an accurate model showing how the job could be done.

“As new and improved technology becomes available, we are increasingly able to do things we couldn’t attempt just a few years ago,” Reutt said.

A select team – including USA technicians Todd Hubert, Richard Jacques, Al Rossetti, Mark Drollinger, Dave Waters and Jim Tobin – performed the operation by taking turns laying on a surfboard-sized platform, reaching two feet out to access the bolts.

The bolt replacement was successfully completed, preserving the chance to launch Atlantis at the beginning of the window a week later.

“These are excellent examples of innovative approaches to problem solving. The teams used their knowledge, experience and “out of the box” thinking to find timely solutions to difficult problems,” said USA Space Shuttle and Space Station Program Manager, Howard DeCastro. “This kind of thoughtful innovation is a longstanding characteristic of our workforce. Finding innovative solutions to problems will play a vital role in our transition to the Constellation Program.”

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