Page 175 - MY STORY

Our contracted research and development (CRAD)

programs were overseen by another manager within M&P,
which caused me some angst, especially if the contracted
activity was in my world of metals and ceramics. I was

able, after some serious discussion, to get authority to be
on the signoff list so I could review and approve report
release before it got to the customer community. They did

not know how much of a taskmaster I became, thank
goodness.

(SKYLAB) AIRLOCK PUMP CORROSION

I attended a meeting of the NASA Orbital Workshop

Skylab Airlock program to better understand a problem
they were having with corrosion of the coolant pump that
circulated cooling water in astronaut’s suits (and onboard

equipment) when doing activities in space outside the
workshop.

The coolant was non-potable bacteria resistant water,
using silver particulate to prevent bacteria growth.
Unfortunately, the pump interior was made of a myriad of

metals, and when coupled with the electrically conductive
silver loaded coolant, behaved like a battery, with
significant galvanic transfer of metals from one place to

another. After a few hours of operation, the pump was so