Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Space Science

Lockheed Martin Drops NOAA Satellite 76

Posted by michael from the all-the-king's-horses-being-mobilized dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Last Saturday, engineers at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale were rotating the NOAA-N spacecraft from vertical to horizontal when it slipped and fell - hard. SpaceRef has the story and a graphic photo of the damaged satellite."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Lockheed Martin Drops NOAA Satellite More

Lockheed Martin Drops NOAA Satellite

Comments Filter:

  • Shit.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by leifm ( 641850 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @03:48PM (#6913729)
    And I thought I was pissed when I dropped my iBook...
    • Eddie was pissed when I dropped my Toughbook down his stairs. Luckily, further examination revealed that the stairs had only taken 3 small dents, none of which were obvious to the casual observer.

      The toughbook, of course, failed to notice.

      Why would you carry around a computer that's so delicate you can't even nudge it off a table 40 or 50 times? It's just silly when your $1700 computer is less durable than a $30 dead-tree book. Don't put up with wimpy hardware.

  • Ouch! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) ( 613870 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @03:52PM (#6913770) Journal
    I can't begin to imagine the frustration for the people working on that project seeing their baby lying there like that. Note the two levels of failure. Even a well designed protocol can fail if the participants are sloppy on a regular basis. There's probably a moral for all of us there.
  • Well, I guess my worst day at work does not equal dropping a multi-million dollar satellite. But they now have a comittee to investigate, so that's good. I'm glad no one created a committee to investigate that time I dropped a machine while it was on, that drive no workee no more.
    • How funny there is guards staring at this goof up until they figure out what to do with it.

      What's up with building satellites FIVE years in advance. I understand it takes a long time at stuff.. but really, the technology will be so different by 2008. Hell, robots will be running things.

  • They're lucky (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Rick the Red ( 307103 ) <Rick DOT The DOT Red AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @03:58PM (#6913849) Journal
    that nobody got hurt! Can you imagine the shock to someone standing next to it when it fell?

    • Re:They're lucky (Score:5, Informative)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:10PM (#6913992) Homepage Journal
      Plus the propellant system was pressurized which apparently presents some risk to techicians simply going in and messing around with the thing right now. Anyone know whey propellant was loaded in a craft that isn't scheduled to launch for five years? Perhaps the propulsion system was being pressure tested with an inert gas or something.
      • satellite prop systems are always under a pad pressure. very small, no more that 20 psi or so. it just ensures no dirt creeps into thrusters or valves. ususally, its helium, but could be nitrogen.
      • It absolutely is NOT fueled up. Satellites are use hypergolic (self igniting) fuels that are pretty much the most dangerous chemicals on earth, after plutonium. Here are some pictures of them fueling up Amsat Oscar 40 (ironic to think that while these pictures were being taken, any one of these people could have saved it from blowing up by just opening the damn valve or whatever) http://www.amsat-dl.org/launch/ Note the protective gear and the emergency escape chutes in the fuel depot... Yeah. The fueling u

        • Re:They're lucky (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Xilman ( 191715 )
          hypergolic (self igniting) fuels that are pretty much the most dangerous chemicals on earth, after plutonium.

          With respect, this is garbage. Plutonium is pretty inoccuous stuff, as long as you don't go around assembling kilogram quantities of it in a small space. Chemically, Pu is about as toxic as lead. People survive for decades with lumps of Pb inside them. Radiologically, Pu is rather feeble too. Its half-life is many thousands of years and, although you wouldn't want to ingest it, there are many

          • I still have the warning label from a particularly nasty cellular current blocker called 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) that I used to study signalling in Aplysia Californica, a lovely little snot-like sea slug.

            4-AP is pretty scary stuff: the small bottle I had could have (if an appropriate delivery mechanism could be deployed) killed almost everyone in the Cleveland metro area. Good thing scientists are all well-balanced individuals, huh?

  • (pointing at engineers with jaws dropped)
    Ha Ha!

    Homer says, "D'oh!"

  • This Kinda thing (Score:5, Insightful)

    by KMAPSRULE ( 639889 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:01PM (#6913877)
    happens so often its only a matter of time before it really hurts someone:

    First, technicians from another satellite program... removed the bolts...without proper documentation.
    several programs I have worked on have had near accidents because parts were "borrowed" without redtags being applied. Second, the NOAA team working today failed to follow the procedure to verify the configuration of the NOAA "turn over cart" since they had used it a few days earlier.

    Complacency(sp?) Happens way to often in every job environment. And it takes a lot of discipline to force yourself to follow the procedures everytime day in/day out and beyond.

  • 24 bolts? (Score:5, Funny)

    by BigBir3d ( 454486 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:06PM (#6913939) Journal
    How the heck are 24 bolts missing? Someone is sooooo fired over this one!

    • Re:24 bolts? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gnovos ( 447128 ) <gnovos@NoSpAM.chipped.net> on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:38PM (#6914329) Homepage Journal
      How the heck are 24 bolts missing? Someone is sooooo fired over this one!

      And it will probably be the technician who removed them and not the manager who ordered it done.
      • And rightfully so, if the technician was the one who failed to document the bolt removal properly! Now, if the supervisor allowed documentation failures like this one to occur routinely on his watch, then he should be shown the airlock, as well!

      • Re:24 bolts? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by kasparov ( 105041 ) *
        The places that I have worked, the person making a change to a project is responsible for documenting any change that they make. Pushing the responsibility for documentation to anyone else just doesn't make sense.

        If the manager tells someone to make a change, documents it, and the guy has to go pick up his kids and doesn't get to it that day... you have problems. Documentation should be done only after a change is made, and then by someone who made (or at least witnessed) the change.

      • And it will probably be the technician who removed them and not the manager who ordered it done.

        Nah, that's what unions are for. All the really big companies have them.

        I wouldn't be surprised, though, if it were just one of the VPs coming in to show off to his friends. There was probably even a sticky-note on the controls saying "Hey Bob, I borrowed your bolts. Whatever you do, don't tip the thing over!"

      • Re:24 bolts? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Gotta post Anonymously on this one. I know someone who works in this lab.... They have been working tons of overtime lately. They have been made to cover other peoples positions on projects that are not theirs through many early morning to cover the managments poor time management.
        It sounds like the usual (and brings to mind the last big space oops), too few people working on too many projects with too tight of deadlines. It was a matter of time until something went wrong. Of course the managers will
        • There are a few options here:

          1. slip-shod work, but everything gets "done"
          2. precise work, but not everything is finished
          3. talk with mgmt about getting more people (usually fresh faced newbies out of college to do the b.s. work for cheap)
          4. work somewhere else

          Number four is not a viable option for most people.

          Number three never works, but if it did, it would cost the company millions of dollars.

          Number two gets people in trouble, and costs the company millions of dollars.

          Number one costs the company mi
        • So why didn't the hardworking engineers bother to tell anyone they'd removed the bolts? How long can that take?
  • NOAA-N Prime is under guard, all records have been impounded,

    ...and the workers responsible will be ass-pounded.

    --riney

  • IM dialog.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Blob Pet ( 86206 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:11PM (#6913993) Homepage
    A conversation with my buddy Chris on this article...

    Me: the satellite's name is NOAA-N Prime haha...it should have an autobot symbol

    Chris: But the question is, what does it transform into?

    Me: i think it's already in vehicle mode

    Chris: Yeah, it damages its enemies by falling over on them and causing severe damage, according to the article

    Chris: I'm not sure it deserves the title "autobot"

    Chris: "NOAA-N Prime finally defeats the mighty Megatron by falling on its side on him. Megatron, not strong enough to lift NOAA-N Prime off of him, eventually gave up"

  • Bad Engineering (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:20PM (#6914126)
    That's just, what, a 20G decelleration? Heck, my laptop can survive more than that. Here, watch m

  • Perhaps all those procedures .... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Perhaps all those procedures .... are preventing people from thinking .... the workers in an average workshop - where people think instead of relying on procdures - rarely drop the most expensive item in the shop on the floor .....

    • Yeah, I've never dropped an engine off an engine stand before... Mechanics don't drop cars of lifts very often. Then again people probably don't take random bolts out of the lifts at night to fool the mechanics. I bet it was done intentionally by a rival satellite team.

  • Personally, I find this re-assuring... (Score:4, Funny)

    by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:21PM (#6914138) Homepage
    ...'cause it means that on the whole, no matter how bad a day I'm having, I can always remember: someone else had a far, far worse one.
    • ...until it happens to you. So next time you drop a multi-million-dollar satellite which is only 5 years from launch, you can take comfort in knowing that you made someone else feel better about their day. ;-)

      We should be thankful that beheading is no longer allowed in the U.S...

  • I didn't do it.

  • Can anybody explain the accident more clearly? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by spitzak ( 4019 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:32PM (#6914260) Homepage
    The first impression of the photo is that the satellite tipped completly over from vertical standing on that white framework on the right. You can see another satellite standing up in that position in the background.

    However the description does not match this, it says it fell only three feet, from an apparently horizontal position.

    What I can't see is what was holding it up in that position. Was that fixture (the "roll over cart") removed? Or is it hidden behind it, or attached to the "bottom" (now on the right edge) or what? How exactly did the missing 24 bolts not become noticed until it was in this horizontal position?

    Just curious for more details. Other people's expensive mistakes are always fascinating!

    • Re:Can anybody explain the accident more clearly? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ahotasu ( 206241 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @05:11PM (#6914673)
      I'll give it a go.

      First, note that spacecraft (S/C) are rotated from vertical to horizontal positions very very slowly For smaller S/C, hand-cranked carts are used, but from the pictures, I think this one used a motor, which may have taken longer to "adjust" when the techs noted the problem (the S/C slipping from the plate before the fall).

      In the photo you see on the linked page, the turn-over cart is the large white structure located on the far right of the picture. The large ring is the base where the 24 missing bolts should have been. This interfaces with (most likely, I'm guessing here) the S/C launch vehicle adapter ring, which is probably the slightly flared chrome-colored cylinder at the base of the S/C (again, on the right of the picture).

      You can't tell from the picture posted, but I've seen pictures that show the ring is (only) roughly 5-10 degrees from horizontal. The ring itself, when horizontal is about 3 feet above the floor. Doubtless, what happened is that, as the plate (and therefore S/C) was rotated, the S/C started to slip off of the plate, striking the turn-over cart and then rotating over into its fatal dive.

      This is similar to how other S/C are handled, at least in my experience. It is also interesting to note that some physical S/C moves are videotaped and have significant quality assurance checkoffs. This may be limited to lifts (think crane), and vibration tests, and not "simple" turn-over maneuvers, and I'd bet this isn't the first time this turn-over cart was used, nor the first time this S/C was turned. I wonder if there are videos floating around? I'd sure as heck find it interesting to see the turn-over procedure and see where they checked off the step saying "check bolts".
      • From your description, it really sounds like it did fall over from a nearly vertical position. And that is certainly what it looks like from the pictures. It slid off that flat white surface to the right.

        The article text kind of implied that it only dropped 3 feet, as though it was horizontal and then the top dropped to the floor. Perhaps they were trying to minimize how bad it sounds.

  • photoshop? (Score:4, Funny)

    by oni ( 41625 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:56PM (#6914498) Homepage
    I feel sorry for the engineers who's work has been damaged, but I can't help but want to photoshop this. There is a desk complete with in-out boxes just to the left of the satellite. I think there needs to be a small pool of blood there to make this funny.

    Bad news: we dropped a multi-million dollar satellite
    Worse news: it landed on Phil, the only guy who knows how to fix it.

  • America's Funniest Home Videos (Score:3, Funny)

    by chia_monkey ( 593501 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @04:59PM (#6914536) Journal
    That's aweful. And probably gonna be damn expensive to fix. But looking at the picture, all I can imagine is watching a kitten or something bump up against it, watch it knock over, and have Bob Saget saying something so horrifically annoying that all I want to do is wish I was underneath that thing.

  • From the article:

    NOAA-N Prime is planned for launch in 2008.

    and

    The immediate actions concern safety (preventing the spacecraft from rolling, discharging the batteries, and depressurizing the propulsion system).

    If the thing wasn't going to be launched for 5 years, why on earth was the propulsion system pressurized? Did they just happen to drop it during a propulsion test?

  • Consecutive slashdot stories (Score:5, Funny)

    by Smack ( 977 ) on Tuesday September 09, 2003 @05:29PM (#6914900) Homepage
    Barnes and Noble Drops Ebooks
    Lockheed Martin Drops NOAA Satellite

    Hee.
  • in other news, the little known Al-Bolt-Yeeda struck again today, setting back the production of the multi-billion dollar satellite untold weeks. This terrorist organization is better known for their previous activities with the Chicago Balcony Board (or CBB) as well as their activities in the Chicago Night Club Doors Committe (or CNCDC). Their activities are far ranging indeed if they can strike at the most technically sophisticated bolts we have today. I believe that they must be supported and protecte
  • One more example of why nerf-gun fights in the office are a bad idea.
  • They should do what I did when I fried that bar code scanner at work that time; just put it back in the box at the bottom of the pile and pretend you know nothing about it.

    You win again, gravity!
  • As a robot, I'm deeply offended by this graphic photo. If you all find this type of imagery entertaining, then all you meatbags can just bite my shiny metal ass!
  • I, for one, am not surprised that a Nintendo of America designed satellite would face launch delays.
  • How many tacos would this be worth?

  • New rule (Score:1, Funny)

    by annisette ( 682090 )
    posted from command Central: All future satellite construction will be built in the vertical, checked in the vertical, and launched in the vertical, This decree will eliminate this problem.

  • One word... (Score:2, Funny)

    by tellurian ( 90659 )
    eBay
  • This article [spaceref.com] from the same site has a few more details about the incident. The satellite was a polar-orbiting environmental satellite used to monitor weather and climate. It was upright when it fell.

  • Project Status Messages (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mr.Sharpy ( 472377 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @11:22AM (#6921532)
    Vibration Test...Completed
    Structural Load Test...Completed

    Good to see they got those out of the way!

  • I have a relative who works at a division of (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Lockheed Martin. This is what they sent me in reply to my sending them the link on the satellite being dropped. I've elided some information and am posting anonymously to protect them.

    Lets look at this. These clowns modified a piece of support equipment without documentation and didn't record the fact that the equipment was missing parts. Then another gaggle of clowns failed to examine the item before use, (prior to use inspection) because they had used it " a few days ago". Sadly, I can see how it could h

    • Maybe Lockheed should be slapped with punitive damages because of this. It blows me away that they would willfully tear up proven processes regarding sattelite or space vehicle manufacturing.

      You'll never get the management in any efficient manner - but you can get the industry that spawned this, so-called efficiency experts. Sue the hell out of them. Child Phsycologists have been sued successfully for creating false testimony regarding child abuse (non) cases, perhaps a financial incentive has to be pre

  • dead when I shot him!

Slashdot Top Deals

Kleeneness is next to Godelness.

Close