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From: fisher@dvinci.DEC (Burns Fisher, MRO3-1/E13, 231-4108)
Newsgroups: net.columbia
Subject: Water System on the pad
Message-ID: <2593@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Jul-84 09:35:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2593
Posted: Mon Jul 16 09:35:07 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Jul-84 06:28:51 EDT
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 30


My recollection of things about water cooling/shock-wave-suppression is as
follows:

1)  The Saturn 5 without question had water cooling at its base.  I remember
    seeing it start up a few seconds before ignition.

2)  Even on mission 1, the shuttle had SOME water.  I believe that ugly water
    tank you can see in almost any picture of the pad supplies water too this
    system.  Note that that tank was there for the first launch.  I don't know
    if the original intent of this water was cooling the pad or shock sup-
    pression or both.

3)  After the first launch, as others have said, the shock-wave-from-the-SRBs
    problem was discovered (or at least quantified), and it was determined that
    more suppression was needed.  At this point, the "water balloons" mentioned
    in other notes were added.  I don't know if the original flowing water was
    modified to help the shock-wave problem or not.

Interesting question:  did the Saturn 1B have any cooling water?  I suspect not
since it sat way up on that "milk-stool" launch platform.

Burns Fisher 


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