Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!ncar!groucho!steve From: steve@groucho.ucar.edu (Steve Emmerson) Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: What happened? Could risk be higher? Message-ID: <5485@ncar.ucar.edu> Date: 29 Nov 89 16:04:24 GMT References: <5082@jane.uh.edu> Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu Lines: 18 ST9@jane.uh.edu (Rich Bainter AKA Pug) writes: >... >I was told recently by a person who *might* know that the reason they pushed so >hard for a shuttle capsule escape system was that the crew of the challenger >had not only survived the explosion but that they were alive for the two >minutes until the shuttle hit the ocean. ... Yes, there is apparently evidence to support that hypothesis. As I recall, a valve on an emergency oxygen supply was turned on -- at least. I believe there was more evidence, but my memory fails me. The TROPIC magazine of the Miami Herald had (in my opinion) a rather good article on this and related subjects about a year or two ago. One interesting item, as I recall, was the inability of the public coroner's office to examine the remains -- the guards wouldn't allow it. --Steve Emmerson steve@unidata.ucar.edu