Jan 6 1984
From The Space Library
The Washington Post reported that Air Force Lt. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, NASA associate administrator, said that coded software instruction cards on both computers on the Space Shuttle Columbia's last voyage (STS-9) were contaminated, delaying Columbia's landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California by eight hours. The instruction cards were shaken from their printed circuits when the Shuttle pitched up and down just before reentry; however the up-and-down maneuvers would not ordinarily loosen the software cards unless there was something wrong with them.
Abrahamson said that postflight analysis of the cards at IBM's Owego, N.Y., plant, where the computers were built, showed that one card was contaminated with solder and the other had a carbon chip coated with gold that should not have been there. Abrahamson pointed out that "the most disturbing thing.. . is that both computers were contaminated. I do not like the idea that we flew 10 days in space with contaminated computer parts" The six-man crew, commanded by astronaut John W. Young, was able to land the Shuttle and its $1 billion European Spacelab safely by relying for navigation on three standby computers. (W Post, Jan 6/84, A-8)
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