Jan 2 1979
From The Space Library
Wire services reported that an explosion that damaged a Space Shuttle engine during test firing at Bay St. Louis, Miss., on December 27 might delay the first Shuttle launch, now scheduled for the end of September. Further tests would await determining the cause of the accident-apparently failure of a valve in a high-pressure pump feeding oxygen to a combustion chamber. The engine had completed 255 seconds of a 52-second test firing when the pump exploded, damaging the engine, and NASA would also need 3 to 4 weeks to repair damage to the test stand. Last September, when NASA announced delay of the first launch, originally scheduled for March, Associate Administrator John R Yardley warned of further delays "if unforeseen problems arise or the tests are not entirely successful." (NY Times, Jan 2/79 [UPI], A-13; W Post, Jan 4/79 [AP], A-2)
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