Jun 19 1981
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (1MB PDF)
NASA Headquarters released an official report on the investigation of the March 19, 1981, accident at KSC that killed two employees of Rockwell International, who went into the Shuttle's aft compartment while it was filled with gaseous nitrogen. It had been determined that an all-clear signal was given too soon.
Primary findings by an investigative board headed by Charles D. Gay, KSC director of expendable-vehicle operations, were that test procedures lacked adequate steps to clear a vehicle or pad for hazardous operations, or to partially or completely reopen the vehicle or pad for resumption of normal work; also, that a breakdown occurred in the operational command/coordination process. The report of more than 400 pages included 19 pages of findings, observations, and recommendations to prevent similar accidents in future. (NASA Release 81-85; W Post, June 20/81, A-5)
NASA said that astronaut Alan L. Bean, fourth man to set foot on the Moon, would resign effective June 26 to devote full time to his career as a painter. Bean, selected in the third group of astronauts in the fall of 1963, flew on the second moon-landing mission, Apollo 12, in November 1969, exploring the Ocean of Storms with Charles (Pete) Conrad, Jr., as Richard F. Gordon circled in the command module. He captained the second Skylab mission in July-September 1973 and was backup spacecraft commander for the 1975 U.S.USSR Apollo-Soyuz mission. He noted that in his 18 years as astronaut he had seen sights no artist had ever viewed firsthand, and he hoped to record his experiences through his art.
Bean's time in space-1,671 hours 45 minutes-made him first among active U.S. astronauts and fourth of all in total spaceflight time. He was currently head of astronaut-candidate operations and training. His resignation would leave in the corps only one of the 12 U.S. astronauts who had walked on the Moon: John W. Young, chief of the astronaut office and commander of shuttle Columbia's first flight last April. (NASA Release 81-87)
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