Engineers at NASA鈥檚 Stennis Space Center in Mississippi left 鈥24 square inches鈥
of a tape used in engine assembly inside a new space shuttle engine, NASA admitted
last week. During a test firing, the tape blocked the fuel injection system and parts
of the engine melted. Steps will be taken to prevent such occurences in future, says
associate administrator Joseph Rothenburg. But critics won鈥檛 be impressed with
NASA鈥檚 use of 鈥渟quare inches鈥: it was confusion between imperial and metric units
that downed the Mars Climate Orbiter.
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