Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Lost NOAA Satellite Blamed on Screw

A protruding screw is being blamed for the loss last year of a $77-million weather satellite. The NOAA-13 satellite was launched Aug. 9, 1993, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It operated as expected for nearly two weeks until an electrical short-circuit developed and its signal was lost when the batteries were depleted. A 12-member investigating board concluded that a protruding screw was the most probable cause for that short. The satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration orbit the Earth from pole to pole at an altitude of 540 miles.