caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (02/13/86)
The Feb 10 issue of "Aviation Leak" states "... explosion was triggered by a rupture in the vehicle's right Morton Thiokol solid rocket at a point where two segments of the booster are joined during preflight assembly at the Kennedy Space Center ..." This issue contains several articles describing the design, safety limits, and developmental history of the SRB's. There is more going on with those SRB's than is generally known, including poorly understood oscillations and vortices in the hot gases within the boosters. As usual, there is >much< more going on that the networks have mentioned, perhaps because the anchormen cannot be bothered with such "technical trivia". If you want to get some meaty info about what's going on, you'll have to read this issue (and the next several of course).