clements@cs.utexas.edu (Paul C. Clements) (11/18/89)
In Henry Spencer's most recent Aviation Week summary, for which I am always grateful, he/they mentioned that NASA was wondering about a 30-cm deflection in Columbia's body flap that occurred during the last launch. The possibility was raised that if engineers can't explain it, the LDEF retrieval mission may be delayed. Does anyone know if this has been resolved yet, and if so, how? Also, does NASA think that the motion was commanded by the flight control system or was the result of outside forces? pc