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**Pat Flannery** · August 13th 07, 01:37 AM posted to sci.space.history,sci.space.policy

wrote:

Thought it was notable that during the launch , the on-board video
broadcast did not show SRB seperation, (although we got ET sep) think
NASA found it to boring to broadcast? All viewers got was a long
range ground view of the SRB sep.. Does this video exist or were the
cameras not broadcasting?................Doc

I thought that it was broadcast but they weren't showing it (at least on
CNN), because they were showing the ground view of the separation
instead, due to the clear skies permitting them to photograph the
Shuttle well from the ground during ascent.
It should exist though as the rest of the ET camera ascent video was of
excellent quality.
What threw me was the early NASA statement that the debris events were
possibly ice shedding from the ET, because the temperature at launch was
near 100 F., and if ice can form on the ET foam in heat like that you
have a problem.
From what I've hearing and reading today, the foam seems to be related
to the PAL ramp again, and bounced off the bipod ramp and struck the
Shuttle belly at a pretty good velocity.
They are saying the foam chunk was about the size of a grapefruit, which
is pretty substantial.
The reports keep making reference to the impact being seen by radar
imagery, but the ABC News report on television did show video footage of
it occurring from the ET camera. There is some reference to debris being
seen behind the Shuttle after the impact due to the foam breaking up, so
maybe that's what the radar showed.

Pat