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Path: utzoo!utcsri!ubc-vision!alberta!cadomin!andrew
From: andrew@cadomin.UUCP (Andrew Folkins)
Newsgroups: net.space,net.columbia
Subject: Re: Shuttle Challenger Explosion?
Message-ID: <656@cadomin.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 5-Feb-86 14:24:16 EST
Article-I.D.: cadomin.656
Posted: Wed Feb  5 14:24:16 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 5-Feb-86 18:51:25 EST
References: <661@tekigm.UUCP>
Reply-To: andrew@cadomin.UUCP (Andrew Folkins)
Distribution: net
Organization: U. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Lines: 62
Summary: 

In article <661@tekigm.UUCP> timothym@tekigm.UUCP (Timothy D Margeson) writes:
>Hi,
>
>To anyone  in  a position  to  answer the  following questions, I
>request your assistance.
>
>I  have  a question  concerning the Challenger's last  payload. I
>have heard from an uncertain source that the Hubble telescope was
>aboard. Is this true? If so, why no mention of this great loss?
 
  The major payload was TDRS-B, the second tracking and data relay
satellite.  TDRS-C is not finished yet, and I believe there is a
backup so NASA may still get a full system.  The HST and the Galileo
Jupiter probe were scheduled to be launched in the next six months, 
what is going to happen to them is not known (especially as Galileo,
if not launched on schedule, will have to wait more than a year for
the next launch window).
 
>Second, the latest video tape images of the shuttles right engine
>show what appears to be fire  (flame)  coming from above the main
>nozzle,  about where you would expect to see the  nozzle join the
>booster body. Is this a correct assumption?

That's what I saw.
 
>Third,  what is the shape if the fuel vessels within the external
>tank shell?  How far towards the nose  of the tank does  the fuel
>extend? 
 
  The two tanks are ovoids, with the larger LH2 tank on the bottom and
LOX tank on top, extending just about to the top of the ET.  The only
space is underneath the shroud on top of the ET used to streamline the 
tank, about all this contains is plumbing.
 
>Fourth,  if the fuel does not extend to  the topmost area  of the
>external tank,  what occupies  the  space  from  whence  came the
>brightest of the flashes preceding the fireball?
 
 Sorry about another net.i.know.what.happened, but the explosion
seemed to occur when the flames reached the bulkhead separating the
LH2 and LOX tanks.  When the LOX tank ruptured, well, we all know
what happened. 
 
>Last, which fuel is on top. The oxygen or hydrogen?
 
See above.
 
>Thanks for all the responses in advance, and please, feel free to
>post the answers as I think everyone on the net  would appreciate
>hearing this also. E-Mail is fine also.

You're welcome for the response, but I really wish I was talking
about a less depressing subject.

-- 
Andrew Folkins        ...ihnp4!alberta!andrew    
 
"We humans think of ourselves as being rather good at reasoning, but at
best we perform about a hundred logical inferences a second.  We're
talking about future expert systems that will be doing ten million
inferences a second.  What will it be like to put a hundred years thought
in every decision?  Knowledge is power."  - Edward A. Feigenbaum