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From: john@gcc-milo.ARPA (John Allred)
Newsgroups: net.columbia
Subject: Re: highlights of the Challenger disaster
Message-ID: <475@gcc-milo.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 25-Feb-86 10:11:00 EST
Article-I.D.: gcc-milo.475
Posted: Tue Feb 25 10:11:00 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Feb-86 21:24:41 EST
References: <332@zeus.UUCP> <3312@hplabsb.UUCP>
Reply-To: john@gcc-milo.UUCP (John Allred)
Organization: General Computer Company, Cambridge Ma
Lines: 27

In article <3312@hplabsb.UUCP> bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) writes:
>> An AP wire story by Howard Benedict recounts a report presented by NASA
>> spokesman Jim Mizell, which gives the following chronology:
>> 
>> ...
>> 
>>   -- At 62.484 seconds, the shuttle's computers tried to compensate for the
>> difference by moving the right wing flap.  Mizell said the flap was moved so
>> abruptly that it created a "spike" in radio data, indicating that the flame
>> must have broken through the right-hand booster in explosive fashion.
>
>This doesn't sound right.  1)  I'm not sure that the shuttle has flaps, it
                                                                  ^^^^^

The proper term is "elevon", a combination of "elevator" (which controls pitch)
and "aileron" (which controls roll).  There is one elevon on each wing.  The 
elevons can work in tandem or separately, depending on what type of correction 
is required.

When the right elevon was commanded to move, Challenger was trying to keep its
then current flight attitude by performing a roll.  This suggests that the 
initial burn thru on the right SRB was to some extent off the SRB/external tank
plane.
-- 
John Allred
General Computer Company 
uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-milo!john