[net.columbia] More Info on Yesterday's Problems

alb@alice.UUCP (12/09/83)

As John Young was firing a steering jet yesterday morning,
before the initially scheduled deorbit burn, a hard jolt
hit the space shuttle.  It was followed by the failure of
two computers and an Inertial Measurement Unit.  One of
the computers was restored, the other turned off, leaving
the Columbia with four; the IMU was turned off, leaving
the shuttle with two others, only one of which was needed
for landing.  NASA said the astronauts and the shuttle were
never in any danger, but they delayed the landing only to
fully understand the problem.  If another extension had been
necessary, the shuttle had enough supplies for two more days
in orbit.