Shuttle Launching Pad Fire Simulated
- Share via
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA technicians simulated a launching pad fire and explosion Wednesday of the shuttle Atlantis and its nuclear-powered payload, the $1.4-billion Galileo Jupiter probe, in a critical test of emergency procedures.
According to the disaster scenario, Atlantis’ astronauts escaped but the shuttle and its cargo were lost in a conflagration that released a small amount of radiation, NASA spokesman George Diller said.
Meanwhile, engineers resolved a potential problem with Galileo and cleared the probe for its trip to the pad early Friday for blastoff on Oct. 12.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
