calius@SU-STAR.ARPA (Emilio Calius) (02/13/86)
I believe that the message about the SRB destruct charge being located
in the nose cone is incorrect. The standard destruct mechanism in solid rockets
such as Minuteman, Peacekeeper and the Titan III boosters, which I think also
applies to the Shuttle SRB's, is a linear explosive charge. It usually looks
like a strand of spaghetti (long, thin & white) and is emplaced in the cable/
auxiliary tubing "tunnel" or "tray" along almost the entire length of the solid
rocked motor. When detonated, it acts something like a zipper, and the internal
combustion pressure (over 1000 psi) does the rest.
The box in the SRB nose cone labelled Range Safety System is the control
box which receives the Range Safety Officer's signal and activates the charges.
Emilio P. Calius
Aero/Astro, Stanford Univ.
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