Word: rocketeers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...right rocket is the chief suspect as the cause of the tragedy and investigators want to retrieve its debris for possible clues. Some officials have said the cause may never be found unless the booster can be examined...
Photographs show a puff of black smoke spewing from the rocket milliseconds after ignition and a spurt of flame pouring from the same area 15 seconds before the explosion...
...smoke and flame appeared near a joint between the bottom two segments of the solid fuel rocket...
...hearings did make it clear that there had long been doubts about the reliability of the seals at the three joints between the booster rocket's four main segments. Attention remained focused on the two large synthetic rubber O rings set in grooves and designed, like washers in a faucet, to keep the rocket's superhot gases from escaping out the joints...
...concerned enough about the possibility that the O rings might fail during lift-off to designate them as "criticality 1" items, components whose failure would doom the mission. Earlier shuttle flights had indicated that the second ring might be unseated from its groove by the great pressures on the rocket casing during lift-off, and could not always be relied upon as a backup should the first ring fail. Lack of a reliable backup violated a longtime NASA principle. The space agency formally waived the redundancy requirement for these seals in March 1983 to permit flights to continue. Meantime...