Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 9

Key to THURSDAY. January 30, 1986 9A IN BRIEF Trading pause honors dead FLORIDA TODAY Wires boosters Solid rocket aIq Challenaer: Detonation of boosters 'necessary' By George White FLORIDA TODAY Ik Spacogoing power plant Wise. J. iLKr' I (SRBs) The SRBs are two large solid propel-lant rockets which provide most of the power required by the Shuttle during liftoff and the first two minutes of flight. 149 ft One of the two Solid Rocket Boosters that split away after the explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger was heading toward a populated area when it was detonated Tuesday, NASA officials say.

Because of the danger to life on the ground, both SRBs were destroyed about 30 seconds after the explosion, NASA public affairs officer Mitch Vames said Main parachutes The external tank (ET) The disposable ET is the largest piece of the Shuttle vehicle. The three main engines on the Orbiter base are fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from the ET. Approximately 8 minutes into the launch, all of the propel-lants in the ET have been consumed by the Orbiter and it is released over the Atlantic. It is the only component of the Shuttle not reused. NEW YORK The bustle of business on Wall Street halted for one minute Wednesday in memory of the seven Americans killed aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

A bell clanged twice at 11 a.m. to stop business on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Trading stopped instantly, tickers froze, and the shouts of traders faded away. For one minute, the only sound on the floor, was that of a lone telephone ringing. Traders stood motionless, some with heads bowed.

The bells clanged again at 11:01 a.m., and trading resumed. Similar observances were held at the American Stock Exchange, the New York Commodity Exchange, the New York and Chicago Mercantile exchanges and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. One minute of silence was observed following the deaths of three astronauts on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in 1967. Teachers Propellant Hydrogen tank Oxygen tank Launch weight: 1,300,000 lbs. Launch thrust: 2.650,000 lbs.

Wednesday. "Both the boosters had arming devices on board which can be. detonated if the SRB veers off course and starts heading toward a populated area," Vames said. "In this case, one of them was heading toward the Launch weight 1,663,000 lbs I r-12M -154 coastline." Varnes refused to say where the boosters were heading, saying, "We don't want to pinpoint that area." A range safety officer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta Sieve Madden. FLORIDA TODAY "The ships are usually about 6 to 8 miles from them when they hit," he said.

The SRBs, which stand 149 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter, float vertically until attachments are placed on them by recovery divers to pump water out. the SRBs separate from the Shuttle and start toward the Atlantic Ocean about two minutes into the flight, when the spacecraft is at about 27 miles altitude, he said. Even with parachutes, they hit the water at about 60 mph, Varnes said. ulated area, Vames said. "Actually, only one was heading toward the coastline, but the SRBs are sort of cross-wired where if you destroy one, you have to destroy both." This was the first time the SRBs have been destroyed during a launch, he said.

But, "Of course, every other launch was normal." Two NASA-owned ships, the Liberty Star and the Freedom Star, stay about 150 miles off shore from Port Canveral waiting near a safety zone cleared for the recovery effort. Under normal conditions, tion made the right decision to destroy the SRBs when they began heading toward a pop- to wear armbands NASHVILLE, Tenn. A resolution approved Wednesday by the Tennessee Legislature urges teachers across the state to wear armbands "or other tokens of mourning" on Feb. 5 in memory of Christa McAuliffe. The resolution said McAuliffe the Concord, N.H., teacher who was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded Tuesday had "stalwart and indefatigable spirit and was truly in the highest and finest tradition of the teaching profession." The state Senate and House unanimously approved the resolution.

Fund Ex-NASA engineer claims design flaw spelled doom THE THEORIES Unanswered questions give rise to speculation By Dave Goodwin FLORIDA TODAY PENSACOLA Efforts to set in memory COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The U.S. Space Foundation has established a fund in memory of the seven Challenger astronauts, with proceeds going toward replacing the $1.2 billion space vehicle. The foundation has pledged $10,000 toward lighten the weight of a Shuttle component may have resulted in a structure failure that spelled doom for Challenger and its crew, a retired NASA engineer said Wednesday. "The hurry and the money tend to be the things talked about the most," said Dave Pen- Faulty booster If a solid rocket booster segment didn't fit properly, a "hot spot" with flame shooting out could have formed, damaging the rocket to which it was strapped.

"I think that trying to design this lightweight structure may have been what did us in." Dave Pendley, ex-englneer the fund, MacLeod said. The Space Foundation, established in 1983, is a non-profit charitable, scientific and educational organization. Address: Space Shuttle Fund, P.O. Box 51-L, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80901.

flight. After viewing videotape of Tuesday's Shuttle tragedy, Pendley says it probably was the large external fuel tank that failed, not the two solid booster rockets attached to its sides, nor the main engines of the Shuttle Orbiter. As the Shuttle zoomed at high speed through the thick atmosphere, wind resistance probably buffeted against the Shuttle parts, wrenching them one against the other, Pendley said. Pendley speculated; that either the tank itself ruptured or the structure holding it to the orbiter broke andor fuel lines from the tank to the orbiter were pulled apart. That could have resulted in propellant leaks, fires and small explosions and allowed mixing of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from inside the external tank causing the big explosion.

dley, 60, of Pensacola, who used to work in Houston. "But I think we had something far more fundamental. I think that trying to design this lightweight structure may have been what did us in trying to get the most performance for the least amount of weight." Pendley worked for NASA between 1961 and 1979, starting with the Mercury program and continuing through Gemini, the 1967 Apollo fire that killed three astronauts. Cold damage Questions have been raised about icicles that were seen hanging from the launch pad. Also, low temperatures may have affected the rocket fuel.

Justice: No civilians In space TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg said Wednesday that NASA should abandon its program of sending civilians into space, which he called a "public relations" ploy to boost the space agency's budget. Goldberg, a former United Nations ambassador who is a visiting professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, said the presence of Christa McAuliffe on the Challenger underscores the need to limit space flights to trained astronauts. He said a teacher, journalist or congressman can make little contribution to the primary mission of the space program. W.Va.: Commander confident On the Shuttle program, he operated in failure analysis and It was something NASA set Apollo and the Shuttle programs.

He did investigative work in the safety office after crew safety, and was mission, entists had been worried about engineer for the first Shuttle testis for years, he said. By Michael Lafferty FLORIDA TODAY faulty solid rocket booster. A hydraulic pump breaking apart. Icicles or debris. A damaged strut.

Cold weather. Only possibilities as to why Challenger exploded into a ball of flame will exist until NASA completes its investigation. And even when the investigation is finished, the film," data, prelaunch( paperwork and pieces that' remain of Challenger, its external tank and solid rocket boosters may not solve the mystery. But the possibilities are there. George DeDeuged, who for years worked with solid rocket boosters used to power Titan rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, said the boosters were shipped in segments and sometimes did not fit together perfectly.

The result could be a "hot spot" with flame shooting out of the booster and damaging the rocket to which it is strapped," the retired facilities manager for Pan Am World Services said. Another man with solid rocket booster experience, Norl Hamilton of Fort Myers, said the cold weather may have affected the solid rocket fuel, causing it to burn slower or crack. Questions also have been raised about icicles that were seen hanging from the launch pad where Challenger was perched, though NASA spokesman Jim Mizell said a careful inspection of the pad was made before launch. To Sam Beddingfield, who recently retired as deputy chief of NASA's Shuttle projects office, it was clear that the external tank came apart. Beddingfield said he noted unusual vapors at the Tragedy overshadows egg study By John Norberg and Jeannine Guttman FLORIDA TODAY Purdue University science student John Vellinger remembers thinking how perfect the day began.

His was a long jour Pump problem One of the Orbiter's fast-spinning turbo-pumps, which have been a problem in the past, could have come apart and thrown shrapnal into the external tank. CHARLESTON, W.Va. Jon McBride, scheduled to command the next space shuttle mission, said Wednesday that he feels "more confident about flying in the shuttle than driving on the highway." All the people who train for space missions are aware of the dangers, he said, but they don't dwell on the possibility of death. "You're ready for it," he said in a copyright interview with the Charlestono Daily Mail. "You just have to hope that flight is not the one time in a million that something happens." The 42-year-old Navy captain was pilot of a five-day flight on the Challenger in October 1984 and is slated to lead the next shuttle mission, which has been postponed indefi belief.

Two hours after the seven astronauts died Tuesday in the sky over Florida, Vellinger could not believe what had happened. His "CHIX IN SPACE," studying the effect of weightlessness on 12 developing White Leghorn chicken eggs, was a media hit last weekend at KSC. The mechanical engineering student first proposed it while he was a ninth grader at Tecumseh Junior High School in Lafayette, and this was to be the culmination of his work. The project hardware is gone now, and Vellinger doesn't know what will happen to his work. But all that was far from his mind Tuesday.

"Our project is really secondary compared to the lives that were lost," he said. "It's such a tragic moment for the families and all of America." The weather and setting were beautiful, Vellinger remembers, and the crowd in the VIP area where he stood was mostly upbeat. There was a lot of laughing, a lot of anticipation as the launch clock began the countdown. He watched as the Space Shuttle Challenger cleared the; launch pad, pushing white smoke beneath it. On board was a science project he'd worked on for the past five years and the seven astronauts he'd come to know.

When the Shuttle blew up in an orange blast 75 seconds later, Vellinger who'd never seen a launch before thought it might be normal. But he soon realized something terrible had happened, and the Purdue sophomore returned immediately to his hotel room near the space center and watched television news in dis ney from snowy Lafayette, but the trek had been worth it. The skies above the Kennedy Space Center were clear and azure; the Atlantic Ocean in the background was shimmering and calm. Vellinger, 20, felt assured his coveted space project designed to study the effects of spaceflight on the development bottom of the tank shortly betore the explosion. While not saying it defi nitely was the cause, Bed dingfield noted that one of the Orbiter's fast-spinning turbo- of fertilized chicken embryos was in safe hands.

Vellinger's project, dubbed pumps, which have been problem in the past, could have come apart and thrown shrapnal, into the external tank. "CHIX IN SPACE," was one of three student projects aboard the doomed mission. But none of the tragedy was foreshadowed Tuesday morning. Playalinda stays closed Playalinda Beach remained closed Wednesday following Tuesday's Shuttle disaster and nitely. "None of us wants to go up until they find out what the problem is, and that could take months" he said.

"We'll keep working on it until it's figured out." Texas: Project on Shuttle HOUSTON John St. John had a vested interest in the space shuttle Challenger: he designed a container to hold seed roots in liquid without spilling the fluid in a weightless environment. "The project can be made over again," the 15-year-old Friendswood High School student said. "It was just so sad to think they had all volunteered to go and were so happy and ready to be in space. Then this happened." St.

John, a ninth-grader, traveled to Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch, but had returned Monday night after learning the flight would be delayed. will remain closed until further notice, said Lin Jackson, Canaveral National Seashore assistant superintendent. The beach, which NASA keeps closed for security reasons as long as a Shuttle is on the nearest launch pad 39B GRIM SEARCH: From left, Tony Rosso, Darlis Whitaker and Donald Kean, battalion chief and director of Brevard County's Emergency Management department, comb the beach Wednesday near Garfield Avenue in Cape Canaveral. Their target: Debris from Tuesday's tragic explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger. would have reopened shortly after Challenger's launch had it been normal.

But because of Challenger's explosion 75 seconds after liftoff, the beach stayed closed, Jackson said. NASA has not said why the beach is being kept off limits S.C.: Press-in-space on hold COLUMBIA, S.C. The Journalist-in-Space Program was put on hold Wednesday for at least two weeks, the project's director said. "We have taken steps to freeze the process at this point," said Eric Johnson, who has been overseeing the selection process at the University of South Carolina. Johnson, hired by the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication to direct the project, said his office was prepared to send the 1,703 applications out to 20 journalism schools, four in each of five regions.

but presumably it is to search for Shuttle debris or other clues. Park rangers and helicoptor crews searched the beach Wednesday but came up with nothing, Jackson said..