Cost To Reward Inventor, Contractors: Priceless

ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: While it sadly didn't happen until a year before the retirement of the fleet, one of the most daunting problems in NASA's Space Shuttle program has finally been solved -- with technology nearly two centuries old.

Persistent problems with fuel level sensors in the shuttle's external fuel tanks have scrubbed several launches over the past 20 years, and the government's prime contractors have failed to solve the problems, despite the imposing engineering credentials of their in-house staffs.

Those sensors allow an automatic engine shut-down in the event the shuttle's hydrogen fuel supply runs low. It's critical that the engines not be run into starvation while throttled up, or an explosion could occur. If the sensors provide a false alarm, and shut down the engines after liftoff, the mission would have to be aborted, at considerable risk and expense.

NASA is now sheepishly admitting that the problem has been solved by plumbing contractor John Fuller of Linden, AL. Of his innovation, he says, "Sometimes, what's really needed is just a few steps back, a stroke of the chin, and some good old common sense, not a supercomputer."

Fuller's innovation involves adapting a standard toilet bowl float to the external fuel tanks, and using it to trigger a small, hermetically-sealed switch, originally used in the low-fuel sensor circuit on a 1983 Datsun. The only part for the adaptation not available from Home Depot or NAPA is a 13' length of 1/4" threaded rod, needed to locate the float near the middle of the huge tank. The total cost for parts, including the extra-long float rod, is approximately $27 per launch vehicle.

Budget-conscious NASA managers became excited at the possible cost savings the moment Fuller walked in the door of the Marshall Space Flight Center and showed his drawing to the receptionist. To evaluate it fully, a special super-cooled centrifuge was built adjacent to Marshall, at a cost of six billion dollars. Test results were so encouraging that Fuller was able to obtain liability insurance for his device for less than $40 million each.

Despite his achievement, Fuller remains humble. "This is all very exciting," he says. "One day you're up to your elbows in somebody else's dookie, and the next day you're a semi-retired aerospace contractor. It's all happened so fast."

Fuller made his comments on the deck of the Queen Mary II in waters off Nassau, Bahamas, during a seven-day, $600,000 luxury cruise arranged by NASA to honor contractors who contributed to program cost reductions.

FMI: www.nasaplumbersfriend.gov