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296 Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries
One would think that intelligent men with the "Right Stuff' would precisely
know the pressures used. But either way, there were astronauts
locked inside—practicing for their first Apollo mission. After the accident
NASA claimed the test was SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). In
either case an idiot was in charge.
If it was SOP, then the idiot was the official who instituted and
approved this test program. If not, then it was the low level idiot in direct
charge of the test who gave the order to proceed. I have no fear of a libel
suit because of this accusation. The only legal defense in a libel suit is
whether what you said was the truth, as determined by a jury. If you were
on a jury and watched steel wool explode in a 16.7 psi 100 percent oxygen
atmosphere what would you decide
I find it hard to believe that this test was SOP. In fact, I suspect that it
wasn't, simply because two men with the "Right Stuff' can't agree. NASA
telling us after the fire that it was always done that way, doesn't prove a
thing. NASA, like all political organizations, can always be counted on to
say anything to better their position. Using pure oxygen at this pressure,
once the panels were live, means that every launch was always one small
spark away from disaster. Combustion in 100 percent oxygen even at low
pressures, is extremely rapid. At higher pressures it becomes explosive!
HIGH PRESSURE OXYGEN
Consider this standard procedure: Burning a substance using high pressure
oxygen is precisely the method used to determine the number of calories
in that substance. The test procedure requires placing the sample in a
strong steel pressure vessel called a "Calorimeter Bomb." The "Bomb" is
placed in an insulated container of water holding a known quantity of
water at a known temperature. There is an electrical sparking device inside
the bomb and sufficient high pressure oxygen is added to insure complete
combustion of the material.
Even relatively wet foodstuffs are quickly reduced to ashes once the
electric spark initiates combustion. This process produces high pressures
in the steel chamber. That's why it's called a Calorimeter Bomb. The heat
transfers to the surrounding water and the rise in temperature using known
parameters results in the quantity of calories (energy) in the substance
tested.
To get back to the discussion, every time an electric switch is thrown
the induction of the electric current causes a tiny spark to jump between
the two switch contacts. If the unit is explosion proof (like the switches
motors, and lighting fixtures used in hazardous or explosive locations),
that spark is safely enclosed in a hermetically scaled container. If not anything
near it that is combustible can burn.