PPE: Respirator Usage and Safety. A respirator is a personal protective device that is worn on the face. It covers the nose and mouth and is specifically designed to provide respiratory protection by forming a tight seal against the wearerâs skin. Respirators vary in their level of protection and efficiency to filter out airborne particles.
In 2003, Columbia disintegrated over Texas while returning from a 16-day trip to space. Later analysis found that a small bit of foam insulation that broke off an external fuel tank during launch had torn a hole in the orbiter's wing and led to the disaster. Gene Grush recounts the events from NASA's perspective.
Delta finally explained how one power outage grounded an entire airline. Earlier this week, Delta passengers worldwide were stranded as a computer failure completely screwed up operations. The ensuing chaos provided a good look at how the robots are actually going to kill us, but also raised some good questions: how does one power outage ground an airline, and how fired is the sysadmin? The Week spoke to Deltaâs COO, Giles West, to try and understand what happened to take the entire network offline.