Camera on a Stick Saves Shuttle Launch
Stories about NASA using clever, inexpensive ways to solve problems because besides being smart ideas in themselves, they're a good demonstration of how markedly inefficient the government can be otherwise. Take the most recent example: the space shuttle Discovery was set to go off yesterday at around 3:30 in the afternoon after two launches were scrubbed due to bad weather. On Monday, an inspection of the shuttle revealed a 4 to 5 inch crack in the foam insulation that protects the liquid oxygeen feed line going from an external fuel tank into the shuttle. How bad was the crack? Engineers wouldn't know until they got a closer look (begging the question of how they managed to see the crack in the first place) and the time of the launch was in danger of further delay. Here's the clever part: instead of building a tower high enough to take a close look at the crack, NASA brought in the Micro Inspection Team (a group of contractors) and their borescope, a camera mounted on a 6-foot-long piece of flexible tubing. Using the borescope to get a closer look, the team determined that the cracks were in the foam only and OKed the launch. Discovery is currently in orbit with plans to dock with the International Space Station tomorrow.
