Air Force Space Command released the results of its investigation into the May 8 mishap on Thursday.

The accident investigation board, convened by Gen. Richard B. Myers, AFSPC commander, also found that the structural condition of the room where the satellite is kept, and the lack of a process to discover holes in the room, contributed to the mishap.

On May 8, mission Delta II/GPS IIR-3 was stacked at Launch Pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., when rain from a heavy thunderstorm leaked through several openings in the White Room, which houses the space vehicle. This larger-than-normal quantity of water that made its way into the GPS appears to have come from an open fastener hole caused by a sheared screw on the White Room roof structure.

After getting into the White Room, the rainwater fell onto the rain shield protecting the GPS satellite, SVN-50. Once a quantity of water had collected and pooled, the rain shield could not hold the water and collapsed, dropping water onto the air conditioning shroud hard cover.

Water then leaked through hinge seams and quick-release pin holes in the hard cover and onto the satellite. Water contaminated the satellite, making the systems suspect, and requiring its removal from the booster for inspection and repair.

Mishap costs are not yet determined, but are expected to be at least $2.1 million.

"We believe there is clear and convincing evidence to show that the satellite was damaged by rainwater because the procedures for fabricating and installing the rain shield weren't followed," said Col. Edwin E. Noble, AIB president and 21st Logistics Group commander here.

The rain shield is fabricated from waterproof material that comes in strips 4 feet wide, which are overlapped and taped together using aluminized tape. Procedures require the seams on the rain shield to be taped on both sides of the shield -- the top and bottom.

"In this case, the seams were only taped on top, which proved to be inadequate to protect the satellite," Noble said. "The structural condition of the White Room -- since it is not air or water tight -- also contributed to damaging the satellite. These conditions were well-known and the risk of this condition has been accepted by all parties for several years."

Air Force Space Command, in concert with the Space and Missile Systems Center and Lockheed Martin, is taking actions to address the findings of the investigation.

MilSpace - SpaceDaily Special Report

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