kjm@ut-ngp.UUCP (Ken Montgomery) (02/06/86)
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I remember from somewhere that all US manned space flights have lifted off
in a head-down position so the astronaut(s) could use the horizon as an
emergency backup attitude reference.
The previous almost-burnthrough of an SRB occured in the nozzle liner.
(A Morton-Thiokol spokesman, when questioned about that incident, claimed
that there were still 15-20 seconds of safety margin left.) The right SRB
on the Challenger almost certainly failed much higher up. Thus I suspect
the two problems are unrelated.
--
The above viewpoints are mine. They are unrelated to
those of anyone else, including my cat and my employer.
Ken Montgomery "Shredder-of-hapless-smurfs"
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