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From: jonkatz@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Jonathan W. Katz)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Fire near tail of shuttle after landings.
Message-ID: <1991Apr12.022957.14349@gn.ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: 12 Apr 91 02:29:57 GMT
References: <1991Apr11.223534.12896@pandora.matrox.com>
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Lines: 17

In article <1991Apr11.223534.12896@pandora.matrox.com> hobrien@pluton.matrox.com (Hugh O'Brien) writes:
>   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 will probably be half correct with this answer.  What you saw was gas
venting from the APU's.  It is completely normal for you to see this.  

(I'm just not sure that it's the APU's)

Jonathan W. Katz
Purdue University
School of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering