Rocket-builders had doubts about flight

Press, 21 February 1986, Page 6

Rocket-builders had doubts about flight

NZPA-Reuter Washington A Presidential commission investigating the shuttle Challenger disaster has said that rocket engineers advised against the launching and that three top N.A.S.A. officials were never told of their fears. A commission spokesman, Mark Weinberg, read a statement from the chairman, William Rogers, saying the panel had learned in its investigation that engineers for the shuttle booster rocket builder, Morton Thlokol, of Wasatch, Utah, had reservations about - the launching because of unusually cold weather. Mr Rogers said the commission had learned that Thiokoi, on the day before the launching, “had recommended Challenger not : be launched due to weather conditions but later the same day reversed its decision. “A number of engineers at Thiokol still strongly urged against the launch.” They were worried that

below-freezing temperatures might damage synthetic rubber seals used on the rocket

The shuttle director, Jesse Moore, told a Senate sub-committee yesterday he was unaware of the engineers’ concerns. He said that if he had known he would have sougnt more information before approving the launching, on January 29, which was agreed to in a telephone conference by Thiokol senior managers. Mr Rogers said the commission had also learned that “at least three key N.A.S.A. officials had not been notified and did not know of the recommendation of Thiokol not to launch or the events leading up to Thlokol’s change. in mind.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials have maintained they gave the go-ahead for the launching after observing all safety precautions, but suspicion about the cause of the

explosion has centred on the failure of the O-ring seals on the right booster rocket, which may have been weakened by the unusually frigid weather. N.A.S.A. said the minimum safe temperature for the launching was about —I deg. when the Challenger took off the recorded air temperature was 3.3 deg. But during the night before the launching temperatures at the Kennedy Space Centre dropped below freezing.

At Cape Canaveral, Florida, underwater searchers confirmed they had found debris from the booster rocket that is the chief suspected source of the explosion. "We now have confirmation, that this is part of the right S.R.B. (solidfuel rocket booster),” said Colonel Edward O’Connor, of the Air Force, who is head of the Atlantic Ocean search. “I’m confident we are going to find all of (it),” he said.