NASA to check Toyota throttles

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62T0V620100330

NASA to help on Toyota probe

(Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators are turning to scientists from the NASA space and aeronautics agency for help analyzing Toyota electronic throttles to see if they are behind unintended acceleration, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

Separate from the work of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists, LaHood said, experts from the National Academy of Sciences will lead a study of unintended acceleration across the auto industry, a broader issue raised by congressional lawmakers at recent hearings on Toyota Motor Corp.

"We are determined to get to the bottom of unintended acceleration," LaHood said in an interview with Reuters ahead of the formal announcement on Tuesday.

The Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is just beginning its review of Toyota electronic throttles, which have come under heightened scrutiny following the recall of 8.5 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the past six months for unintended acceleration.
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[VJ]

"It is not rocket science!"

Weird... But ok, I can imagine Nasa has accurate tools to make measurements...

[Dr Mordrid]

What they have are large RFI testing facilities far beyond what the automakers use.

[Elie]

If that's the case, every car manufacturer in the world would have throttle issues.
I think they are taking this way tooooooo far!

[Dr Mordrid]

I did some checking and a lot of manufacturers have had electronic throttle problems in the last decade or so, even Caterpillar - though theirs was the reverse issue with the vehicle going slower than its setting. Somehow that seems logical for them.

[Dr Mordrid]

Details: the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), located at the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., has been asked to support the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its investigation. A formal Space Act agreement was signed Friday between NASA and the Department of Transportation, NHTSA's parent organization, with the DOT picking up the entire tab.