Apr 17 1976
From The Space Library
The $62-billion Space Shuttle, "America's only remaining space spectacular," might come apart at the seams because of unsafe nuts and screws, Jack Anderson and Les Whitten reported in the Washington Post. Discussion at NASA as early as Apr. 1973 had centered on the menace of substandard screws; in July 1973, Johnson Gage-a Bloomfield, Conn. firm-had sent NASA a warning based on tests of individual screw and nut threads stating that the standards "provide for a loophole that allows [NASA to] accept outright junk." Computer tests had revealed that millions worth of faulty threads reached Rockwell International Corp., principal Shuttle contractor, because of low standards and it was feared the inferior screws had gotten into Shuttle equipment. Although company engineers were worried about the standards and the resultant products, the company bought fasteners from outside suppliers and could not control quality from 6000 vendors in 47 states, company minutes said. Industry had fought to keep the low standards rather than pay the estimated $120 million cost of retooling; the American National Standards Institute, led by industry, had blocked every move for tighter standards, Anderson and Whitten charged. (W Post, 17 Apr 76, B-11)
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