Faulty Shuttle Parts Scheme Is Probed
The federal government is investigating a Florida company accused of selling faulty electronic parts for the space shuttle and Pentagon weapons systems, a published report said Saturday.
The New York Times, citing a Pentagon memorandum and unidentified government officials, said Impala Electronics Inc. of Tampa was under investigation on charges it switched labels on resistors.
The memo and the officials said the “re-marking scheme” involved buying “inferior quality” resistors and changing codings or markings used to describe their history or reliability, the newspaper said.
Resistors are used to regulate currents in electronic systems. There was no evidence the resistors have caused problems on shuttle flights.
Nine of 10 Impala resistors tested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration failed, but officials did not believe there was any danger to shuttle missions.
Impala does not make resistors but buys and distributes them.
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