chguest@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov.arpa (Charles Guest RCE) (09/16/88)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Well I figured that the subject might catch your eye.... No. I am not into conspiracy theories nor am I suggesting one here. A few weeks back I heard of or read somewhere that the challenger astronauts (or some of them anyway), may have survived the initial explosion long enough to accuate some sort of emergency oxygen or life support system. All I got was just a fleeting impression, nothing detailed. Did anyone else on the net hear anything like this? If yes is there some sort of publication, book, or magazine that would give me further details? Anything you may suggest will be of help. NASA public affairs at AMES (at least the person I spoke with) says it is BS, but I am not so sure. Thanks in advance. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCJG ************************************************************ * OVERAL AND ALL INCLUSIVE DISCLAIMER: * * (except for what I left out and meant to say) * * The above reply/article is my opinion **only* * * True and articulable facts had no bearing on * * the above statements. 8=) :-) :-> * ************************************************************
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (09/17/88)
In article <14956@ames.arc.nasa.gov> chguest@nike.UUCP (Charles Guest RCE) writes: >A few weeks back I heard of or read somewhere that the challenger >astronauts (or some of them anyway), may have survived the initial >explosion long enough to accuate some sort of emergency oxygen or >life support system... Sigh. Eugene, better put this one in your frequently-asked-questions compilation. The most relevant document here is the medical and forensic report from the team headed by (astronaut and MD) Joe Kerwin. The stresses involved in the disintegration of the orbiter and external tank were well within normal human limits, and are quite unlikely to have caused either death or major injury of the astronauts. (The external tank did not explode, it came to pieces and the propellants burned rapidly. The orbiter, somewhat damaged, was thrown out of control and was torn apart by the hypersonic slipstream.) The crew cabin survived as a single unit and hit the ocean slightly battered but basically intact. Several of the emergency air packs, intended to provide breathing during an emergency escape on the pad, had been activated. It appears vanishingly unlikely that this could have been caused by anything but human action. It is impossible to avoid concluding that most or all of the crew survived the orbiter breakup, and at least some of them were conscious for at least a few seconds afterward. Almost certainly they were killed by impact with the ocean, not by the accident itself. (There were no voice or other recorders running for more than a fraction of a second after breakup, the cabin was badly smashed by the water impact, and the bodies were under water for weeks before recovery, so it is hard to be positive of most of this.) One remaining uncertainty is whether the crew were conscious all the way down. The key question is whether the cabin held pressure. The emergency packs held *air*, not *oxygen*, and would not have prevented quick loss of consciousness at the breakup altitude. Consciousness probably would not have been regained before impact, once lost. Kerwin's team worked very hard to try to determine whether the cabin had held pressure, but ultimately could not be sure -- the impact damage was just too great. In particular, it was not possible to determine with certainty whether any of the windows had broken during the breakup. If one had to guess, the best guess [in my opinion -- Kerwin's team did not guess] is that the cabin lost pressure quickly and the astronauts rapidly lost consciousness, but certainty is not possible. -- NASA is into artificial | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology stupidity. - Jerry Pournelle | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu