Dan pointed out a particularly absurd quote regarding our state’s constitution (click the link to read it), but I think I can top it.  From AL.com:

A freight train carrying segments of the solid rocket booster segments for the space shuttle derailed Wednesday after a bridge collapsed, authorities said. Six people were reported injured.

The solid rocket booster and its reusable motor are NASA projects managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Marshall spokesman Dom Amatore said a team of investigators from NASA and the solid rocket booster contractor ATK Inc. were sent to the train accident site to inspect the booster segments for damage.

Eight booster segments for two different boosters were on the train, Amatore said.

“The pieces are inert. They don’t pose a danger because the igniter fuel is put in place” at Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, Amatore said.

First of all, unless they were shipping empty cases - which they wouldn’t because the solid propellant grain is loaded in Utah - the motors WERE NOT INERT.  Amatore’s assertion is patently false.  Each four segment motor contains roughly 1.1 million pounds of AP/PBAN/AL composite solid propellant.  The propellant can and will ignite when exposed to a sufficient heat source.  For the NASA spokesman at Marshall to make such a technically inaccurate statement is (biting my virtual tongue) unfortunate.

And while I have my rocket scientist hat on, “igniter fuel” is not put in at the Cape.  Yes, motors are typically shipped sans igniters (the components that “light” the motor).  But, the phrase “igniter fuel” is inaccurate.  The igniter material is a typical solid propellant that contains both fuel and an oxidizer.  To say “igniter fuel” betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about the motor and is a phrase I would expect to hear from a non-technical individual, but not a NASA spokesman.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Rants, Space. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.