Delta 2's Italian made tanks, tanking?

[docm]

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060904_business_monday.html<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>WASHINGTON—Lingering doubts about the flightworthiness of the Delta 2 rocket’s Italian-built oxidizer tanks have prompted NASA to postpone the launch of a pair of sun-observing satellites until at least Oct. 18.<br /><br />An upcoming Global Positioning System satellite launch for the U.S. Air Force, however, is in the clear because the Delta 2 built for that mission does not include one of the suspect tanks.<br /><br />NASA’s two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft were slated for an Aug. 31 liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. NASA officials, however, have delayed the launch to allow Boeing Launch Services more time to determine if the Delta 2 assigned to the STEREO mission has the same second-stage tank defect that has delayed the launch of NASA’s five-probe Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission from October into December.<br /><br />In early July, while building the Delta 2 rocket NASA ordered for the THEMIS mission, Boeing engineers at the firm’s Decatur, Ala., rocket-manufacturing facility discovered during routine testing that the rocket’s second stage leaked. The problem was traced back to an oxidizer tank Boeing buys from Alcatel Alenia Space in Turin, Italy.<br /><br />A portion of that tank has since been cut out for material thickness testing to determine why it leaked, according to Doug Shores, a Boeing spokesman in Decatur. Shores said Boeing was still working with Alcatel Alenia Space and NASA to identify the root cause of the THEMIS tank’s failure and determine any corrective actions that need to be taken.<br /><br />Shores said Boeing has a plan in place to replace the THEMIS tank and launch the mission later this year. But the company’s “first priority,</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[edkyle98]

Boeing's shutting down of former McDonnell Douglas expertise is like someone trying to do brain surgery on themselves. <br /><br />The more they cut, the dumber they get.<br /><br /> - Ed Kyle