schwrtze@acf8.UUCP (E. Schwartz group) (02/03/86)
After having worked on real-time data aquisition systems that read sensors and
interpret the data performing actions on the results, it occurs to me that the
shuttle systems are perhaps only marginally better off then what I worked on,
in the sense that you only have so many milliseconds to analize the data
coming from 'n' sensors. I understand the shuttles first design was to have
twice as many sensors as the current one. Weight considerations and risk
factors eliminated the 50%. Besides the onboard computers only look at a small
subset of the data, most of the rest of it is sent by a Harris machine down
to Houston for display and archival purposes. Maybe a future shuttle should
have more sensors and perhaps rely on very fast ground based machines to crunch
away during launch/reentry. How about TV cameras pointing along the sides of
the SRB's coupled with heat sensors that are watched inside the crew
compartment. Maybe a camera might have given the crew time to ditch, I
understand there was a 10sec period before the explosion where there was a
power drop. A CRAY on the ground could have sensed the loss and advised
people on board to look closely at the state of the craft.
We will never forget what happened and it must not happen again.
Hedley Rainnie.
hedley@alaya.arpa
{seismo|allegra}!cmcl2!alaya!hedley