In a message dated 99-08-09 23:57:57 EDT, spike66@ibm.net (Spike Jones) wrote:
> For those of you who were in on the conversation at Extro4 regarding
Mea culpa . . . just shows to go you that error forcefully asserted (by me, for instance) can be believed for a short time, at least, by even a very well informed and smart person (Spike, for instance). I guess I've spent more time being amazed by the SSMEs than the SRBs over the years . . . I've also always thought of the SRBs as just scaled-up (and segmented) center-burning Estes model rocket engines, and therefore have a hard time envisioning the juncture between the solid fuel element and the nozzle assembly: The flexible joint between the fuel element and the nozzle must encompass some truly amazing materials science, since the geometry of the bottom of the combustion plenum will be changing (enlarging) as the fuel element burns out toward the perimeter of the SRB body . . . these monkey-men certainly are clever . . .
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Civilization is protest against nature;
progress requires us to take control of evolution."
-- Thomas Huxley