Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, knows something about explosives. He became a multimillionaire in that industry.
And he said Thursday that cosmonauts on the space station Mir are using a "very unstable" explosive to help generate oxygen - and are lucky that a Feb. 23 mishap with it brought only a fire and not an explosion that could have killed them.That was just one of numerous concerns raised by House Science Committee members, consultants and the NASA inspector general in a hearing Thursday on whether it is wise to continue U.S. participation with Russia in the trouble-prone Mir.
But NASA officials said the station is as safe as expected, saying the withdrawal of U.S. participation would deny it the experience and lessons needed to more safely and economically develop the future International Space Station.
But Cook said he is concerned about use of oxygen-generating "candles" containing lithium perchlorate on Mir. When they are ignited by friction - such as from a cosmonaut twisting a screw into the canister - chemicals degenerate to produce oxygen.
But on Feb. 23, such a lighting attempt instead ignited a fire described as being a 4-foot long blow torch with temperatures reaching 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
"I submit that wouldn't be too far from a deflagration or a detonation explosion of that material," Cook said, adding that lithium perchlorate is "very unstable" and can be ignited with changes in temperature and pressure.
Cook said he's heard stories from NASA that cosmonauts sometimes even dangerously use an ordinary hammer and nail to light the canisters when the normal procedure fails. And, he added, he's concerned 2,400 such "candles" have been used recently on Mir.
But Frank Culbertson, manager of NASA's Mir program, said NASA believes such candles are safe and have been used for years in Russian submarines without problem. He said the Feb. 23 fire was also likely caused by lack of proper attention - but a definite cause has not been determined.
Cook complained, "The bottom line is that seven months after that event, authorities say they still don't know exact cause of the fire . . . and it could be the temperature and pressure are just being elevated beyond what it is supposed to be."
NASA Inspector General Roberta L. Gross raised even more serious concerns. For example, she said, U.S. astronauts are not trained in how to operate an escape capsule, which could be disastrous if other cosmonauts were killed or stranded.
She said systems to remove carbon dioxide have had continuing prob-lems; leaks of glycol have contaminated air and water; fatigue has caused problems; and such problems "are occurring at a time when the Russian government may not be in a position to provide adequate financial and technical sup-port."
Also, she said many at NASA believe its system to ensure safety is not independent enough and may be pressured to allow flights to proceed when safety is not sufficient.
Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc., said he cannot "accept descriptions of fires, collisions, depressurization, tumbling in space, computer failures, declining science content or breathing ethylene glycol and carbon dioxide while living in a sauna as mere anomalies."
He added, "I can't conclude from what I've seen so far that the benefits of visiting Mir are still commensurate with increasing risks."
Culbertson disagreed, saying many of the problems have been overblown in the press. He added many people do not understand that "many items are operated until failure . . .. If it doesn't affect safety, it is allowed to function until it fails."
He said NASA views working with Mir as a test program - as was Gemini was for the Apollo program - to economically learn many basic lessons for the International Space Station before actually launching that expensive program.
"We should take advantage of every hour on it that we can beg, borrow or steal," he said.
Culbertson also said that after looking at Mir constantly, "our conclusion is that the program can continue at an acceptable level of safety risk that is no greater today than was present in the past."