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304 Suppressed Inventions and Other Discoveries
Borman also complained about the windows that kept fogging up on
his Gemini 7 mission and again on Apollo 8. North American, for four
straight years failed to find a solution for such a simple problem as window
fogging yet he couldn't find anything seriously wrong with them.
That's about par, isn't it
Borman was stationed at Clark Air Force base in Manila during 1952
and part of his duty was to inspect a huge warehouse that stored heavy
equipment, supposedly ready to roll on an instant's notice. His inspection
revealed that, "there wasn't a vehicle or a piece of equipment that wasn't
in deplorable shape—most of it unusable without major overhauls. The
stuff had been there since the end of the war and obviously hadn't been
touched since." 32
The Captain in charge asked Borman to certify that it was in good condition
and he refused. The code of West Point of "Duty and Honor" took
precedence. However, when a Colonel insisted that he sign-off as in good
condition he caved in. "Honor" be dammed. The new moral code is apparently
totally dependent upon the rank of the officer who gives the order
Go along to get along.
Next Borman, still the politician that Collins first pegged him for, tells
perhaps the greatest lie of his life. He concludes, "We didn't sweep a single
mistake under the rug, and to this day I'm proud of the committee's
honesty and integrity. " 33 Presumably Mr. Borman, had his fingers crossed
when he wrote that!
The committee was still in the middle of its stately review process
when on April 7, 1967, a House subcommittee was also convened to
investigate the fire. The next day a dismayed New York Times fired off a
lead editorial. They used the words, "Even a high school chemistry student"
(knows better than to play with 100 percent oxygen). The editorial
went on to accuse those in charge of the Apollo project of "incompetence
and negligence. " 34
The 204 Board concluded with a real wrist spanker of a statement
against NASA:
A sealed cabin, pressurized with a pure oxygen atmosphere without
thought of fire hazard; an overly extensive distribution of combustible
materials in the cabin; vulnerable wiring carrying spacecraft power;
leaky plumbing carrying a combustible and corrosive coolant; inadequate
escape provisions for the crew, and inadequate provisions for rescue
or medical assistance.
Both committees would prove about as useful as a screen door in space
(and about as effective as the politicians who manned the Warren
Commission's investigation of the Kennedy assassination a few years