CRISPIN@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA@caip.RUTGERS.EDU (01/29/86)
From: Mark Crispin <Crispin@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
After watching the disaster several times on TV and talking
with several other people, here's mine:
A crack developed in the casing of the left-hand solid fuel
rocket (as seen in the TV footage of the explosion). Perhaps it
was caused by the below-freezing temperatures and sudden
subsequent heating stressing the metal until it fatigued and
cracked. The solid fuel has an empty cone up the middle, to give
more surface area when it burns and the crack developed in the
casing into the solid fuel from this cone.
The solid fuel ruptured and caused the primary explosion in
the left-hand solid fuel rocket -- this is visible by
single-stepping through the video recording frame-by-frame. This
ignited the liquid fuel tank; the resulting explosion blew it and
the shuttle to bits. Finally the other solid fuel rocket flew
off by itself for a bit.
The astronauts never had a chance; it all happened in 1/15
of a second. It may never be known for sure what happened.
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