|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Space Shuttle Welder Perfect for Repair Job
By Chris Kridler
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 08:00 am ET
15 August 2002
|
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Jerry Goudy, the man who fixed the cracks in space shuttle Atlantis' fuel-pipe liners, is a welder's welder. His dad was a welder. Goudy, 43, of Rockledge, Fla., started welding when he was 15. He's welded everything from camper tops to coal-mining equipment in his native West Virginia. He teaches welding at Brevard Community College. He's even dreamed about welding the orbiters. After extensive training, he could almost do it in his sleep. "I was one man on a team of tremendous, tremendous men," he said at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, when he talked to the press about the challenge of coming up with a way to fix cracks in the metal liners of the main engines' hydrogen fuel lines. Actually, Goudy has been the main welder of the cracks in all of the space shuttles, although backup welders also are learning the process. He has special certification to do the work, which is expected to continue next week when he begins on Endeavour. The day after the first cracks were found, Goudy, who works for contractor United Space Alliance at the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot, got a call to discuss the possibility of a welding repair. It wasn't until the end of July that NASA announced that welding was the first choice for repairs, but Goudy already was well on his way to being able to accomplish the task. Goudy worked with people at various NASA centers to test the materials and processes that would lead to a repair for the flow liners, most of which are made of the nickel-iron alloy Inconel. Columbia's liners are made of stainless steel, and it looks as if he will weld those, too, he said, after further training. "By running over 400-plus welds, we've created a tremendous database," Goudy said. "We submitted bad welds, good welds . . . We tried to simulate any mistake that could occur during the welding process." As a result, the team developed procedures for further welding repairs. The cracks run in different directions. Sometimes Goudy, who's naturally left-handed, has to switch hands. He also has to weld in different positions, twisting his arms as he reaches into the foot-wide pipes, melting Inconel filler into the tiny cracks. But he's been told that if he needs time off to avoid fatigue, he's got it. "They've been tremendously supportive in all of that," Goudy said. "Everybody, for me to perform these welds, have taken all the burden away from me . . . They've made sure that physically I was OK, even though I had the flu the whole time and I had all kinds of challenges in that area." Despite all the hours spent on the welding effort, he's enthusiastic. "I can't express to you what a tremendous honor that it is to be able to do what I'm doing now," Goudy said. Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2002 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
|
|
|
|
|
