RSF@SU-AI.ARPA (03/27/84)
From: Ross Finlayson <RSF@SU-AI.ARPA>
a097 0946 26 Mar 84
PM-Shuttle Engines,370
Report: Spaceplane's Main Engines Fast Wearing Out
MIAMI (AP) - The main engines thrusting the space shuttle into orbit
perform well but are wearing out so fast and require so many repairs
that they may have to be completely redesigned, a published report
says.
Senior engineers from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration say engine wear has become a severe and chronic
problem, with repairs required after almost every flight, The Miami
Herald reported Sunday.
''The engines have performed successfully every time they have
flown, but we are just not getting the life out of them that we had
hoped for,'' Walter Dankhoff, director of the main-engine program for
the space agency, told the newspaper.
In the extreme case, the re-engineering process could take up to 10
years and cost as much as $1 billion. The main engines, built by the
Rocketdyne division of Rockwell International, were once expected to
fly 55 missions without an overhaul.
Dankoff said NASA officials are confident that when the space
shuttle Challenger takes off on April 6, its three $30 million main
engines will function flawlessly during the spacecraft's 8 1/2 minutes of
powered flight.
NASA officials also said that replacement of two key hydraulic power
units on Challenger's solid-fuel boosters won't delay the April
flight.
NASA spokesman Jim Ball said Friday it was feared the hydraulic
power units might allow fuel lines to crack and leak, sparking a fire
like the one that broke out in a rear compartment of Columbia during
the closing moments of the ninth shuttle mission last year.
After 10 successful launches in the 3-year-old space shuttle
program, NASA says it is satisfied with the way the engines perform in
flight.
Still, after every successful mission in the past three years, there
has been some repair work on the engines.
Rocketdyne officials have refused to discuss the shuttle's engine
problems or efforts to improve engine life.
In a prepared statement, however, company officials acknowledged
that some ''areas of the engine have been identified in which
maintenance or parts replacement are required to assure the
reliability of the space shuttle.''
ap-ny-03-26 1246EDT
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