Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: SRB solutions
Message-ID: <1989Oct18.172311.22863@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <5474@umd5.umd.edu> <5149@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> <12973@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 89 17:23:11 GMT

In article <12973@s.ms.uky.edu> tindle@ms.uky.edu (Ken Tindle) writes:
>What I wonder is: are said sensors being read by the flight computers with
>the control program itself able to kick off the boosters?

Can't be done.  There is no way to "kick off" the SRBs until they burn out.
It's perhaps not theoretically impossible, but it would require considerable
redesign.  (For one thing, the SRBs would have to stay under some sort of
control for at least a few seconds to avoid problems like having their
exhaust hit the external tank, and they rely on the orbiter for control
at present.)
-- 
A bit of tolerance is worth a  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
megabyte of flaming.           | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu