Michael,
The Politically Correct term is "Propulsion Incident." More seriously, there were almost certainly cables and wires with damaged insulation which nevertheless worked fine where they were. Now imagine them flexing or being disturbed, as would be the case if they attempted to deploy the solar arrays. For that matter, suppose only one array deployed. That would have prevented the spin stabilization which was being used. There were a lot of hard choices made, but they were done with considerable thought and with the benefit of much experience and consultation.
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Michael Tondee Sent: 14 October, 2009 20:32 To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
I guess I need to go back and read the archives because what I remember reading didn't give me any hope AO-40 would ever be back. Wasn't there something about that they believed the spacecraft was leaking corrosive fuel? Doesn't sound to conducive to any type of recovery of anything where electronics are involved.. I also thought there was talk of a "catastrophic explosion". Michael, W4HIJ _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb