If Challenger had liquid RBs ....

[georgeniebling]

Yes, I know that the same problem would prolly not have occured but .... if the CHallenger stack had liquid boosters (hence they could have been "turned-off" prior to the catastrophic sequence ....<br /><br />what would have happened then?<br /><br />RTLS Abort? or were they still too low?<br /><br />Just a curiosity question .... I guess what I'm asking is: in that failure mode (o-ring failure and etc) would liquids have made any difference?<br /><br />

 

[ascan1984]

Hmm. That is a very very good question. I would have to say that as all abort senarios exist after SRB separation that they would probable be looking at an ocean ditch senario but that is only a guess. The very wise shuttle guy should be able to help but that is just my too cents. I hope you fint the answer. I am very curious as well. But hthis may help<br /><br />http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-93/REF86.htm

 

[chriscdc]

Could it keep the shuttle main engines running in order to get more height before attempting the abort. How does such an abort take place? Does the shuttle disconnect from the fuel tank and do a back flip to normal flight? Would it have enough speed to start the glide immediatly or would it nose dive first? Would the pilot be flying the bird or would the computer?

 

[georgeniebling]

SG ... in reading the responses a question I hadn't previously come up with concerning RTLS ...<br /><br />what are the projected g-forces involved in the "flip" move?

 

[najab]

><i>what are the projected g-forces involved in the "flip" move?</i><p>The forces are actually very low, since the vehicle is mostly out of the atmosphere it is not a loop, as much as it is a rotation around the Y-axis.</p>

 

[llivinglarge]

(SG, good to know how realistic the Shuttle sims are... That guy just killed himself and his crewmates. GAME OVER!)<br /><br />How did STS-51F perform its ATO?

 

[CalliArcale]

An ATO (Abort To Orbit, for those who don't know) is basically just a suboptimal orbit at the end of the ascent.<br /><br />I looked up STS-51F at the NASA Historical Archive for Manned Spaceflight. It actually had <i>two</i> aborts -- an RSLS and an ATO. RSLS is where the launch is aborted after SSME ignition but before SRB ignition. In this case, the engines were shut down at T-3 seconds due to a problem with a coolant valve in SSME#2. That was on July 12, 1985. They managed to make it to liftoff on July 29, but this time the #1 engine gave them problems, shutting down at T+five minutes, 45 seconds. They climbed to a lower-than-intended orbit with only two engines. It was decided that this orbit, although not optimal, was adequate for the mission and with a bit of replanning to insert some extra orbits at the end of the mission, they were able to complete all of their objectives.<br /><br />Read about STS-51F here.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>