Posts: 3756
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 08-24-2024 02:26 AM               

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The Solid Rocket Boosters that will help launch STS-1 are rolled out of the VAB on August 15, 1980. The crawler-transporter will carry the Mobile Launch Platform a short distance out of the VAB as part of a test to see how much the 700-ton boosters will flex under the cold-induced contraction of the external tank when fully fuelled. The broad stiffener beam connects the SRBs at the forward external tank attach point. The two hydraulic beams at the aft attach point induce bending motions, which are measured by load sensors at various points along the twin boosters.

Posts: 120
From: Irvine, CA USA
Registered: May 2014

Posts: 555
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 08-24-2024 09:22 AM               

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Flexing shouldn't have been, and probably wasn't a problem in o-rings. Bending might well have been a problem in structural components, hence the test. And yes, you don't test something and then use an untested component, so why wasn't it a flight article?

Stiffness and frangibility at sub-zero (untested) temperatures and conditions caused the Challenger disaster. Not bending of functional o-rings in optimal conditions.