X-Git-Url: https://git.njae.me.uk/?a=blobdiff_plain;ds=sidebyside;f=2019%2F8a.plaintext;fp=2019%2F8a.plaintext;h=23b9dbd20db5bb051c94f67f257bade8f44d0b72;hb=1c711fcaa683414ec34bea0ea29269483f498343;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hpb=3ee00aa6e241bad0efe7ec600c26bdbfda2a2c00;p=cipher-tools.git diff --git a/2019/8a.plaintext b/2019/8a.plaintext new file mode 100644 index 0000000..23b9dbd --- /dev/null +++ b/2019/8a.plaintext @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +harry i put together a team of women from the computing division here at kennedy and we have spent +most of the last eighteen months combing through mission files and computer printouts looking for +more clues to the source of the oxygen tank explosion onboard apollo xiii and i think we have +finally worked out what happened the tank containing the source of the explosion was originally +installed in apollo x but removed for modification during that process it got dropped so it was held +back for further tests and a replacement fitted for that flight once it had passed inspection the +tank was returned to service and earmarked for odyssey further upgrades were carried out to allow it +to runoff ground power during fit out at twice the spaceship voltage and the higher power was used +to boil off excess oxygen during ground tests unfortunately it looks like the thermostatic switches +in the tank were overlooked during the voltage upgrade and our best guess is that they fused closed +during the boil off allowing the temperature to rise to over a thousand degrees you might think the +test engineers would have noticed that but since the tank operating temperature was supposed to be +somewhere well below zero the dial only went as far as plus eighty sono one would have noticed +operating that far out of normal range it is a miracle the tank lasted as long as it did and that +adds to the impression that this was a simple accident a chain of events that could not have been +foreseen but the computer file stella different story we found two versions of the upgrade report +which was written to detail the procedures for modifying the electrical system on the tank the first +gives a comprehensive list of the cabling switchgear and control systems that needed to be hardened +for the ground based voltage it lists every critical component except the thermostatic valves this +document was filed in the service records owe know it was the official record but the chief systems +engineer who signed it off says the signature on it is a badcopy of his own we found identical +copies in several mission files both in the manufacturers records and at kennedy where some of the +tests were carried out so it is clear that this was the official version used in the upgrade the +second version appeared to be the same document but it included the thermostatic valves on the list +of components to be changed and the temperature gauge limits were circled several times with an +exclamation mark next to the eighty degree ceiling it looks like our saboteur deliberately arranged +for the tank to be misconfigured in an effort to cause trouble for the mission although we cant be +sure they realised how dangerous this was when we put it together with all the other accidents it is +pretty clear this was another deliberate attack on the program we found the second version of the +report in a box under the floorboards in mikes place i suppose it is possible that mike had stumbled +across the document himself and was investigating it as part of his campaign to prove that the +russians were behind this string of problems but at the very least he is guilty of a major +misjudgement and if the astronauts had died he would have been tried for manslaughter as it is +together with the leak charges he will be going to prison for a very longtime of course the evidence +is still largely circumstantial we can definitely tie him to the leak to the newspaper forensics +matched the typewriter ribbon and type characteristics on his typewriter with the ink and +impressions on the letter to the editor but we still can not show conclusively that he directed or +carried out any of the sabotage attempts and we have not be enable to find anyone else who had both +motive and opportunity so he is our best suspect i am not sure we can entirely relax but with no +significant incidents on apollo xiv to xvi and with mike in custody i feel slightly less worried +about the remaining apollo flight we are still trying to crack that other enciphered document we +found in mikes place it has a very strange alphabet which i think must be significant but icant +quite see how to break it yet now that the nasa computing experts have more time i am hoping that we +should be able to decipher it and that it will shed some more light on mikes thinking more +importantly it might tell us what elseif anything he had planned meg \ No newline at end of file