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From: john@frog.UUCP (John Woods, Software)
Newsgroups: net.columbia
Subject: Re: Challenger SRBs
Message-ID: <339@frog.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 31-Jan-86 11:43:21 EST
Article-I.D.: frog.339
Posted: Fri Jan 31 11:43:21 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Feb-86 01:10:13 EST
References: <4270@mhuxd.UUCP>
Organization: Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA
Lines: 28

> The videotapes of the Challenger explosion showed the still-burning
> solid rocket boosters corkscrewing away...at least one of them descended
> by parachute.  Yet today, NASA said that they were destroyed by the range
> safety officer because one of them was headed toward a populated area.
>
I heard conflicting reports of "they were destroyed" and "one was destroyed".
Typical of the quality of our "news" media, I suppose.  The TV picture of the
parachute didn't look like an entire SRB, so it could have been the nose cone
of a destroyed SRB whose parachute managed to work.

> [are] the SRBs...capable of independent guidance?
> 
I doubt it.  They would need independant stabilizers which would only add
weight that is unnecessary normally.  Also, I believe that the boosters
can't be detached while they are firing; I suspect that NASA just hoped that
nothing serious would go wrong with them [[[ There are extremely knowledgable
people on the net here, I hope that one of them will correct my no-doubt
confused notions ]]].  I never did trust the SRBs all that much...

--
John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (617) 626-1101
...!decvax!frog!john, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw%mit-ccc@MIT-XX.ARPA

This space dedicated to Challenger and her crew,
Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith Resnik,
Ronand E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Crista McAuliffe.

"...and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God."