Rene-NASA-Mooned-America

The Numbers Game / Chap. 9 p. 76
history that recoiled from being hit by a bullet by moving into the direction from which the
bullet came. Indeed, I saw a government MD on TV declaring that living objects frequently
recoil toward the bullet. That Commission apparently also pointedly ignored the fact that a
bolt-action Carcano rifle, the alleged weapon of assassination, cannot be fired (period) as fast
as the shots recorded on the radio sound track.
Similarly, the Rogers Commission ignored the visual evidence that everyone saw first
hand. We saw, within seconds of the explosion, a magnified film clip that showed a stabbing
bolt of flame lancing across the separation distance between the solid fuel booster (SSB) and
main cryogenic fuel tank. It crossed the gap and vaporized the thick foam that insulates that
tank, thus exposing the incredible cold metal walls to an awesomely hot flame.
In that instant, thermal stress destroyed the tanks integrity allowing the liquid fuel to
escape. This, in turn, upset the balance in pressure on the tank's common diaphragm that
separates the liquid hydrogen from the liquid oxygen. The diaphragm shattered allowing
both liquids to mix. Yes, the flame from the booster was present, but it wasn't necessary to
trigger the explosion that followed. Static electricity from the released gasses would have
provided ignition in any event. That bolt of flame originated near the top of the SRB not the
bottom! They would have had a much more credible supposition if they had told us it was
the top joint.
The lancing flame we saw on TV originated too high up to have been a joint. It pierced
the booster on a line drawn between the center of the booster and the main tank. This means
that the inner ceramic liner of the booster wall was chipped (spalled) at just that point. Had it
erupted from anywhere else on the perimeter it could not have hit, and therefore, eaten
through the insulation to destroy the main tanks.
Although ceramic lining material is tough stuff it has one drawback: it spalls easily.
You can scour and clean the porcelain (ceramic coating) on your stove forever, but don't tap
it with a hammer, especially on the metal side. If you do, the porcelain will instantly spall
away from the metal leaving a small round section bare of ceramic covering. On a kitchen
stove this is only a cosmetic problem, but in a solid fuel rocket it's disastrous. The instant the
fire line hits that level the spall will fall free leaving the bare metal wall to disintegrate.
Then a spear of fire, driven by the internal pressure, will leap out radially from the wall.
As I reviewed the information at hand on this disaster, I found myself wondering if
someone had deliberately destroyed that shuttle. It wouldn't have been very difficult. In fact,
it would have taken just one well-placed rifle bullet.
Try this conjecture on for size. Some place in this big world, there is a small group of
religious fanatics that are determined to keep man out of space, because "the heavens belong
to God". They could arrive in a van with a raised cap and park there, with ten thousand
others, for the big lift-off. Let's assume a sharpshooter smacks a single round off the
booster's edge just where a line drawn between the common centers of tank and booster
would intercept. He does this after ignition, but before the hold-down latches release. The
ceramic liner of the booster wall spalls. However, the spall is held in place by the solid fuel.
The sound and fury of the Challenger's engines would mask a silenced rifle shot. Even a
person right next to that vehicle wouldn't have heard it. That's quite a supposition, isn't
NASA MOONED AMERICA! / Rene