msnbc (Oberg): Remembering the shuttle's start

Remembering the shuttle's start

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12243173/#060412b

James Oberg

April 12, 2006

The very first space shuttle mission, on April 12, 1981, almost ended
soon after it began. Fortunately, the unexpected problem was not observed
when it occurred, so the crew and mission control didn't know how frightened
they should have been.

From Jim Oberg:
Remembering the shuttle's start

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12243173/#060412b

James Oberg

April 12, 2006

The very first space shuttle mission, on April 12, 1981, almost ended
soon after it began. Fortunately, the unexpected problem was not observed
when it occurred, so the crew and mission control didn't know how frightened
they should have been.

Nice article. Two key points I would add:

- The reason that the body flap didn't fail was because it had been
designed to the safety margin of the more demanding entry loads. Had
it been designed for ascent only, analysis showed that it would not
have held together.

- The cause of the problem was that the acoustic suppression water
spray had been targeted too low in the blast field. The fix used for
STS-2 and subsequent was to have the water spray initiated much closer
to the nozzle exits.

(Ref: http://www.aiaa-houston.org/cy0506/e...vf-05apr06.pdf)

Another interesting point is that today Bob Crippen mentioned this very
issue, however he stated that the shock had cracked a forward strut. I
found this to be a curious comment since I had never heard of that
before.

Also, when asked what chances he gave himself for surviving that
mission, he said that he felt that it was "Pretty good, 70, 80
percent". Wow.


~ CT

(Ref: http://www.aiaa-houston.org/cy0506/e...vf-05apr06.pdf)

I found the presentation slides:
http://www.aiaa-houston.org/presenta...iders_View.pdf

See especially p14&15 for this particular issue. Lots of other good
info in that brief.


~ CT

"Stuf4" wrote
Another interesting point is that today Bob Crippen mentioned this very
issue, however he stated that the shock had cracked a forward strut. I
found this to be a curious comment since I had never heard of that
before.

I didn't remember this FRCS either, but it is described
explicitly in the STS-1 mission report that I looked
up (using google). So our insights and memories
DO degrade with time, as we'd feared. All the more
reason to try and wring our minds dry before we're
too far gone.

Thanks for your additions.