DKING@RPICIE.CSNET (Dave King) (02/13/86)
This seems like a silly question, but I haven't seen it discussed before ... During a shuttle launch, is there someone assigned to watching the video coverage who has the ability to abort the mission if he sees something go awry? In particular, if the SRB on the "camera side" of the Challenger had developed a clearly visible flame out of a seam, and this occurred, say, 10 or 15 seconds before the explosion, would there have been someone specifically assigned to watching that would have been able to push the button? The reason I ask is that I haven't heard anyone, in the media or elsewhere, say "If only it had been on the near side." If there is no such observer, then I see this as a serious oversight. All the telemetry in the world is great, but you can't monitor everything, and why take the chance on overlooking something obvious (like a flame out the side of an SRB)? Imagine how NASA would look if the SRB failure HAD taken place right in front of the camera, and the accident still occurred! If there IS such an observer, then is the geometry of the flight path such that we could have more than one camera angle in the future; that is, could we move toward a more ideal situation where several camera angles were being monitored simultaneously? Dave King RPI Center for Integrated Electronics
mrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (02/17/86)
In article <8602131946.AA04194@s1-b.arpa> DKING@RPICIE.CSNET (Dave King) writes: > > This seems like a silly question, but I haven't seen it >discussed before ... > During a shuttle launch, is there someone assigned to watching >the video coverage who has the ability to abort the mission if he >sees something go awry? In particular, if the SRB on the "camera >side" of the Challenger had developed a clearly visible flame out >of a seam, and this occurred, say, 10 or 15 seconds before the >explosion, would there have been someone specifically assigned to >watching that would have been able to push the button? > >Dave King >RPI Center for Integrated Electronics What button? The problem with this scenario is, even if they had seen large green multi-legged creatures on the SRBs, there is no way to abort while those candles are burning. --MKR
space@ucbvax.UUCP (02/20/86)
You make a good point (about visually monitoring the launches by an officer who can start an abort sequence). The need for video monitoring, not just telementry, was dramatized seconds after the disaster, when the CapCom said "we appear to have major malfunction." I thought that was a pretty sick parody of Federalese, till we realized that the poor guy didn't have a video monitor of the TV feed! To paraphrase your question: Does ANYONE at NASA watch (really watch) the launches? And if so, what could they do if something was obviously wrong.... ? mike k