[net.columbia] SRB destruction

gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) (02/05/86)

> One aspect of the SRB self-destruct mechanism which has bothered me the
> most is the fact that a single action will destroy BOTH SRB's ........

    I have read a lot of interesting on the SRBs which really surprised me.
  First of all if one SRB is destroyed then both are. I think they send a
  signal to each but if one receives a destruct signal then it sends a
  signal to the other one incase the other SRB didn't recieve the orginal.
  (I my be wrong but that's what I remember the reporter saying.)
    Another interesting fact is that in the SRB the fuel is burning the
   entire length of the rocket. When they send a destruct signal to the
   SRBs it DOES NOT BLOW UP THE WHOLE THING!! I never realized this.
   What is does is blow off the top of the rocket. Now with the fuel
   burning the entire length it ends up burning at both ends. This
   stops the forward motion of the rocket and it falls to the ocean.
   If it survives the fall and they can find it, NASA will be able 
   to tell alot from it. As of Wed. Feb 5 NASA has said they think
   they found one of them but needs a closer look.




					Jerry Ruhno
					epsilon!mb2c!gbr

karn@petrus.UUCP (Phil R. Karn) (02/05/86)

It is depressing to see the sheer volume of misinformation coming from
people who really ought to know better. Before you answer somebody's
question with an air of authority, check your references! Then quote
them.

This applies almost as much to the news media as it does to this group.
Two errors in particular come to mind:

1. Contrary to the New York Times, nitrogen tetroxide is NOT such an "exotic
material that it isn't listed in the Merck Index." The writer may have been
confused by the fact that what rocket engineers call "nitrogen tetroxide" is
actually a equilibrium mixture of N2O4 and NO2, nitrogen dioxide. The former
is colorless, the latter reddish-brown, and the proportions depend on
temperature.  Chemists are more likely to call it "nitrogen dioxide", which
definitely *is* in the Merck Index.

2. The range safety systems on the SRBs do NOT "blow the ends off".  A look
in any of the many detailed press kits given out by NASA and Rockwell would
reveal that the range safety system consists of a linear shaped charge
running almost the entire length of the SRB inside a cable duct. Detonating
this charge splits the case open lengthwise.  Linear shaped charges are
used in a number of places around the shuttle vehicle, not all of them
for destruct systems. For example, most of the SRB nozzle is routinely
cut off by a linear shaped charge before the booster hits the water
in order to reduce the impact loads.

rck@ihuxx.UUCP (Kukuk) (02/06/86)

> 
> > One aspect of the SRB self-destruct mechanism which has bothered me the
> > most is the fact that a single action will destroy BOTH SRB's ........
> 
>     Another interesting fact is that in the SRB the fuel is burning the
>    entire length of the rocket. When they send a destruct signal to the
>    SRBs it DOES NOT BLOW UP THE WHOLE THING!! I never realized this.
>    What is does is blow off the top of the rocket. ...
> 
> 					Jerry Ruhno
> 					epsilon!mb2c!gbr

NBC Nightly News on Tue., Feb 4, described the SRB destruct mechanism as
being made up of a strip of RDX running down the outside length of each
SRB.  This placement is intended (so stated Bob Bazell) to split each
SRB lengthwise.  Who's right?

					Ron Kukuk

klr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) (02/07/86)

In article <463@mb2c.UUCP> gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) writes:
>
>> One aspect of the SRB self-destruct mechanism which has bothered me the
>> most is the fact that a single action will destroy BOTH SRB's ........
>

>    Another interesting fact is that in the SRB the fuel is burning the
>   entire length of the rocket. When they send a destruct signal to the
>   SRBs it DOES NOT BLOW UP THE WHOLE THING!! I never realized this.
>   What is does is blow off the top of the rocket. Now with the fuel
>   burning the entire length it ends up burning at both ends. This
>   stops the forward motion of the rocket and it falls to the ocean.
>   If it survives the fall and they can find it, NASA will be able 
>   to tell alot from it. As of Wed. Feb 5 NASA has said they think
>   they found one of them but needs a closer look.
>
	As of late last night, NASA thinks that they may have actually
	located BOTH of the SRBs.  One is in relatively shallow water,
	and the other is over 1000 feet down.  I hope that they have
	infact located them both, and that they can be salvaged.  It
	would ansewer the question of whether the right SRB did
	actually burn through, and why.  The answer to that question
	might move us a little closer to a resumption of shuttle
	launches.

	Kurt Reisler
	..!seismo!hadron!klr

		The Dream is, and must remain, alive!

lmc@cisden.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (02/08/86)

>                                 When they send a destruct signal to the
>    SRBs it DOES NOT BLOW UP THE WHOLE THING!! I never realized this.
>    What is does is blow off the top of the rocket. Now with the fuel
>    burning the entire length it ends up burning at both ends. This
>    stops the forward motion of the rocket and it falls to the ocean.

Nuts. ibid.


Lyle McElhaney
...hao!cisden!lmc

tj@alliant.UUCP (Tom Jaskiewicz) (02/08/86)

In article <463@mb2c.UUCP> gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) writes:
>    I have read a lot of interesting on the SRBs which really surprised me.
>  First of all if one SRB is destroyed then both are. I think they send a
>  signal to each but if one receives a destruct signal then it sends a
>  signal to the other one incase the other SRB didn't recieve the orginal.
>  (I my be wrong but that's what I remember the reporter saying.)

Nope.  They are both listening for the same destruct command on the same
radio frequency.  You can't selectively destroy just one of them.
-- 
####################################################################
# uucp:  decvax!linus!alliant!tj ## Bernese are mountains of love. #
####################################################################

zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP (Kenneth Zarifes) (02/12/86)

> people who really ought to know better. Before you answer somebody's
> question with an air of authority, check your references! Then quote
> them.
> 
> actually a equilibrium mixture of N2O4 and NO2, nitrogen dioxide. The former
> is colorless, the latter reddish-brown, and the proportions depend on
> temperature.  Chemists are more likely to call it "nitrogen dioxide", which
> definitely *is* in the Merck Index.
 
Chemists are more likely to call NO2 "nitric oxide".  Check your references.

-- 

{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes          --Ken Zarifes

kenny@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU (02/14/86)

/* Written  3:45 pm  Feb 11, 1986 by zarifes@bnrmtv.UUCP in uiucdcsb:net.columbia */
 
Chemists are more likely to call NO2 "nitric oxide".  Check your references.

{hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!zarifes          --Ken Zarifes
/* End of text from uiucdcsb:net.columbia */

Nitric oxide is NO.  NO2 is "nitrogen dioxide" or "nitrogen peroxide."  (Why don't people look these things up before posting?)

Kevin Kenny
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UUCP: {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!kenny 
CSNET:	kenny@UIUC.CSNET
ARPA:	kenny@B.CS.UIUC.EDU	(kenny@UIUC.ARPA)

"Yes, understanding today's complex world is a bit like having bees live in
your head, but there they are."

pritch@osu-eddie.UUCP (Norman Pritchett) (02/15/86)

In article <463@mb2c.UUCP> gbr@mb2c.UUCP (Jerry Ruhno) writes:
>    I have read a lot of interesting on the SRBs which really surprised me.
>  First of all if one SRB is destroyed then both are. 

If the range safety officer were given selective control over which to
destroy, what happens if he gets them confused.  Actually, does anyone know
if the range safety people get direct visual contact of the shuttle or do
they only get radar contact?
-- 
Norm Pritchett, The Ohio State University
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