Re: Credible Challenger Closure

That is indeed correct. Dr. Lucas (at the time a deacon in
Huntsville's largest Baptist church) was also the Director of Marshall
Space Flight Center and a protege of Wehrner von Braun. You will find
an online version of Dr. Lucas' sworn testimony here, but I can't
swear that it precisely matches the published report:

http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v4part5.htm#4

That *closed* hearing was held on February 13, 1986, at KSC. Please
notice that Dr. Lucas was very careful to never identifiy the flared
SRB as to right or left.

Weeks earlier, Dr. Lucas had immediately told the press that any
booster flares he had seen on video tapes were likely an effect,
rather than a cause.

Dr Lucas met with the Challenger Commission during a discussion that was aimed at including or ruling out any possible factors in the accident.

Dr Lucas knew of flaws in the SRB joint as early as 1977, and ordered his managers not to raise the issue of o-ring erosion at the Flight Readiness Review. This was a breach of NASA regulations. Dr Lucas was later removed as the Marshall director.

His suggestion that an external tank leak caused the joint failure was self-serving, and never considered other than a highly remote possibility. O-ring erosion was a recurring problem, and hydrogen tank leaks were essentially non-existant.


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