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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Melbourne, Fl. U.S.A. May 3,2000 Space Shuttle Atlantis Gets Help From ACCU-FREEZE The space
shuttle Atlantis was on the launch pad ready to go on mission ST-101. A
last minute systems check revealed a fault in the Power Drive Unit (PDU, see
attached news story Florida Today April 11,00). The PDU is a hydraulic
power pump which controls the shuttles' rear rudder or air brake. A failure
of this unit during flight could have catastrophic consequences. Repairing
this sensitive system meant scrubbing the launch and rolling the shuttle
back to the Vehicle Assembly Building and draining out the hydraulic lines
to replace the PDU. This would delay the launch for weeks and cost untold
dollars. An engineer from United Space Alliance then came up with the idea
of freezing the hydraulic lines feeding the PDU while the shuttle was still
in the launch position. This would enable the repairs to be made without
draining out the entire system and in turn keeping the launch on schedule.
Now the question was how ? This kind of repair had never been attempted by
shuttle engineers. Shuttle
engineers hit the "web" and to their luck found COB Industries Inc. in
Melbourne Florida, only an hour away. COB has been manufacturing pipe
freezing systems for industry for over 25 years for customers in the
plumbing, nuclear and fossil power generation, nuclear propulsion,
municipal water, and many other piping industries. The job was
to freeze six 5/8" hydraulic fluid lines. These lines were nested in the
base of the tail of the shuttle and access was at a minimum. The hydraulic
fluid was known to have a freeze point of approximately -150deg. F. The COB
"ACCU-FREEZE" system was chosen as the only viable choice. This system
utilizes a digital controller to regulate the flow of liquid nitrogen to
perform pipe freezes on 3/8"-12" ID pipe. Shuttle engineers needed to be
able to monitor and control the temperature of their pipes in order to
ensure that the freeze was being safely and consistently controlled. The
patented "ACCU-FREEZE" system is the only system in the world that meets
this criteria. Three days of testing commenced. Shuttle engineers and management needed to be sure that this new concept would work. After multiple successful freezes in front of shuttle management the engineers and COB were given the green light. On Wednesday April 12th on site and in drenching rain the six hydraulic lines to the shuttle PDU were frozen simultaneously. Due to the inclement weather the replacement had to be delayed, this required the freeze to be held for over 24 hrs. The "ACCU-FREEZE" system performed without a hitch. On Thursday, April 13th the PDU was replaced with a spare from the space shuttle Columbia. Never before had the shuttle program performed an emergency repair of this nature on the launch pad.
COB Industries, Inc.
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Copyright © [2004] [COB Industries, Inc]. All rights reserved | |
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