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From: hobrien@pluton.matrox.com (Hugh O'Brien)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Fire near tail of shuttle after landings.
Message-ID: <1991Apr11.223534.12896@pandora.matrox.com>
Date: 11 Apr 91 22:35:34 GMT
Sender: news@pandora.matrox.com (Usenet Administration)
Organization: Matrox Ltd.
Lines: 27

Hi Folks,

    Sometime in 1985 I remember seeing a shuttle landing on TV where
there was a clean flame emanating from near the base of the tail 
after the orbiter had come to a stop.  If my memory serves me correctly,
it was 4 to 6 feet long.  It looked exactly like the flame from a 
butane lighter. 

    I was completely freaked out, I was half-expecting the shuttle to
blow-up any second.  I cringed when the ignorant (stupid?) announcer
on TV commented on it by saying, "Well look at that, the shuttle got
so hot on reentry that it's on fire."  He said this in a jovial way,
not taking it seriously.

   Recently I saw another landing where there was a nasty trail of
smoke coming from the same section of the tail.  The smoke persisted
for the full five minutes that I watched.

   What gives?  Did some sort of gas/hydraulic line rupture?  How come
nothing like this was ever mentioned in the layman press?

                          I have been pondering this for years.  

         
                                         Hugh O'Brien

                                         USENET: hobrien@matrox.com