Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Discovery's launch: Am I imagining things?
Message-ID: <1988Oct3.031950.28415@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1104@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> <4305@cadnetix.COM> <1903@datapg.MN.ORG>
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 88 03:19:50 GMT

In article <1903@datapg.MN.ORG> sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) writes:
>Oh, I think I get it.  Where the plumes meet, some of the flow can be
>forced upward (particularly at in thin atmosphere where there is less
>resistance?).

In thin atmosphere, in fact, the plume from even a single engine will
completely envelop the rocket.  I'm not sure this entirely accounts for
the recent reports, though, although it is pretty clear now that there
were no problems with the SRBs themselves.
-- 
The meek can have the Earth;    |    Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
the rest of us have other plans.|uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu