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Space station power problems confuse crew, delay missions
Astronauts search for causes of Discovery's malfunctions
BY LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — NASA scrambled Wednesday to deal with two power problems at the international space station that could delay future missions and make it even harder to finish building the orbiting outpost before the space shuttles must be retired.
Both issues competed for the precious little spacewalking time that's left in Discovery's mission, which already was extended a day after the first problem cropped up last week. Spacewalks were scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.
Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock were getting ready Wednesday to spend the mission's fourth spacewalk thoroughly inspecting a malfunctioning rotary joint that keeps the station's solar panels turned toward the sun.
But that task may be pre-empted if NASA can figure out how to repair a giant solar wing that ripped as it was being unfurled on Tuesday. The
tear forced the space agency to halt the process before the wing was fully extended.
Until at least one of the problems is resolved, the station won't be able to generate enough power to support new equipment, such as a European lab that is supposed to be delivered by Atlantis in December. Delaying that mission would set back other deliveries, including the planned February installation of a new Japanese lab.
NASA is up against a quickly nearing 2010 deadline to complete the space station and retire the three remaining shuttles.
The solar wing damage marred an otherwise very successful day. Two of shuttle Discovery's crew had just finished a seven-hour spacewalk to install the beam that holds the wings. Deploying the damaged wing's twin went off without a hitch.
Astronauts took pictures of the wing tear, but NASA engineers couldn't tell what caused the damage, space station flight director Heather Rarick said late Tuesday. The crew
was asked to take more pictures on Wednesday.
"Until we know what we think the cause is, maybe until we get some better pictures, I don't think we really have any solid leads on how to fix it yet," Rarick said.
Earlier Tuesday, space station program manager Mike Suffredini said spacewalking astronauts could cut whatever might be snagging the solar wing, like a hinge, and possibly sew up the tear.
NASA also wasn't sure about the cause of the rotary joint problem. Steel shavings were found during a spacewalk this past weekend in the joint on the right side of the station.
Until NASA figures out what's grinding inside the gears and fixes it, the right joint will remain in a parked position as much as possible, limiting power collection.
On Thursday, Parazynski and Wheelock plan to remove 21 protective covers from the joint and search for whatever's causing the problem. They also may clean up some of the debris.
》NASA
Congress to view aviation survey results; safety problems could affect airline profits
BY RITA BEAMISH ASSOCIATED PRESS
course, NASA Michael Griffin
Reversing Administrator pro mised Congress on Wednesday he would publicly disclose results of an unprecedented federal aviation survey which found that aircraft near collisions, runway interference and other safety problems
some 24,000 pilots.
In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Wednesday, Griffin said he has directed release "as soon as possible" of all the research
"I regret any impression that NASA was in any way trying to put commercial interests ahead of public safety. That was not and never will be the case."
occurred much more often than previously recognized.
MICHAEL GRIFFIN
NASA Administrator
data that does not contain what he described as confidential commercial information.
NASA had said previously that it was withholding the information because it feared it would upset air travelers and hurt airline profits. Citing an insider familiar with the research, The Associated Press reported last week on the survey of
"One of the most important NASA principles is to ensure the dissemination of research results to the widest practical and
In an odd twist, Griffin raised doubts in his testimony about the reliability of his own agency's research by telling lawmakers that NASA does not consider the survey's methodology or data to have been sufficiently verified.
appropriate extent," Griffin wrote.
NASA's assertion that revealing the survey findings could damage the public's confidence in airlines and affect airline profits. NASA cited those reasons in refusing to turn over the survey data to the AP, which sought the information for more than 14 months under the Freedom of Information Act. Griffin has directed his agency to reconsider its denial of the data to the AP.
"I regret any impression that NASA was in any way trying to put commercial interests ahead of public safety." Griffin wrote. "That was not and never will be the case."
Griffin also expressed regret over
On Tuesday, Griffin bowed to a request from the lawmakers and sent copies of the raw data — contained on four CDs — to the House Science and Technology Committee.
Officials who have worked on the survey said it contained no pilot names or airline names. The questionnaire asked pilots to state how many times in the previous 60 days they had encountered a wide range of aircraft problems and safety issues.
CAPT. JAMES E. WISE "THE NAVY CROSS" EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM IN IRAQ AFGHANISTAN, AND OTHER CONFLICTS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5,2007 7:30 PM AT THE DOLE INSTITUTE BOOK SIGNING TO FOLLOW LECTURE
Boy plays with matches, starts devastating wildfire
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY DAISY NGUYEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The boy admitted to sparking the fire on Oct. 21, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said Tuesday. Ferocious winds helped it quickly spread.
LOS ANGELES — Officials blamed a wildfire that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week on a boy playing with matches, and said they would ask a prosecutor to consider the case.
ROBERT J. DOLE
INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
The University of Kansas
www.doleinstitute.org
This southern California home lies in ruins after wildfires blackened thousands of acres and damaged hundreds of homes. Officials blamed one fire that destroyed 21 homes last week in Aqua Dulce, Calif., on a boy playing with matches.
"He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," Hecht said in a statement.
NATION
Police did not release the boy's name. Los Angeles County fire Capt. Michael Brown only would say Wednesday that he was younger than 13.
All but four of the blazes are now fully contained. Firefighters on Wednesday continued to cut lines around the remaining fires and kept a close eye on the weather.
Authorities arrested five people for arson during that period, but none have been linked to any of the major blazes.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Deputy Maribel Rizo said prosecutors were yet to determine if the boy's parents would be held accountable for any financial losses caused by the fire. Rizo did not know when prosecutors would be given the case.
The boy was released to his par-
one person died of a fall.
Investigators have blamed an arsonist for setting a destructive wildfire in Orange County that blackened 28,500 acres and destroyed 16 homes. Authorities were seeking the driver of a white Ford F-150 pickup truck.
The home was not damaged in the fire, Brown said.
Arson investigators first talked to the boy's parents on Oct. 22 after determining the blaze began the day before in the back yard of their Agua Dulce home, Brown said.
Investigators initially considered a downed power line as the source of the fire, but never officially listed it as the cause.
ents, and the case will be presented to the district attorney's office. Hecht said. It was not clear if he had been arrested or cited by detectives.
The blaze, which spread quickly through the neighborhood, was among 15 or so major wildfires that destroyed some 2,100 homes and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles to the Mexican border last week. Seven deaths were blamed directly on the fires, six evacuees died of natural causes and