European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Friday february 7,1986rayo c a w it a i in w i a to i a w i in i a i i T. I challenger launch was not like others weather weight timing were different Cape canaveral Fla. Not technical changes and events preceding the launching of the challenger on the morning of Jan. 28 made the liftoff different from Alt others in the five year history of the space shuttle  significant Factor is that the time Between shuttle launching was the shortest Ever the challenger s liftoff coming just 16 Days after the Columbia flew into space on Jan. 12. Aerospace experts have speculated that the Quick Pace could have taxed ground Crews and led to worker fatigue. In addition the temperature that morn ing appears to have been the coldest the total payload was the heaviest and the shuttle itself one of the lightest. Finally the launching pad used for the challenger which exploded a Little More than a minute into its flight had never be fore been used for a shuttle launch. Known As 39-b, it differed structurally in some respects from the main pad. The numerous unusual factors on launching Day could conceivably have contributed individually or in combination to the explosion. For instance a report issued last year by the aerospace safety advisory panel which was set up after the 1967 Apollo fire that lulled three astronauts on the ground warned the space Agency that the Speed up of the shuttle program bad the potential to nuke operations dangerous. Our concern was the human Factor in All of these operations Gilbert a Roth the director of the panel said in an inter View. This year s shuttle schedule was to have been tie most ambitious Ever with is flights planned. Last year there were nine. In the official investigation of the shuttle disaster the main evidence so far presented publicly is photographs showing what appears to be a rupture in one of the shuttle s solid fuel boosters which is thought to have ignited the shuttle s main fuel tank. The cause of the rupture could have Bee human error mechanical problems vibrations cold weather stresses in the Booster or a combination of these and other factors. In one example of the sort of human error possible this week the space Agency released a report saying workers lost no vember damaged a segment of the left hand Booster that was destined for use on Chal Lenger during its last Mission. The damaged part was replaced and it was the other rocket that is suspected in the explosion. In its most recent annual report dated Jan uary 1985, the aerospace safety advisory panel addressed itself to the potential dangers of the increasing Pace of the shuttle program. Complacency bred of repetition is an in born human Hazard and conscious Steps to avoid the same Are essential the nine Mem Ber panel said. It added Quality requires strict discipline and is everybody s business every  in an interview. Roth said the Overall performance of contractors and the space Agency on the Issue of human factors seemed satisfactory though he added that fhe 1985 report was meant to give them a uck in the  they get so enraptured with what they re doing that they forget the big Pic Ture he said. Just before the challenger disaster space Agency officials Wen asked by reporters i the Quick launching schedule and numerous delays of the challenger flight had caused fatigue among ground Crews. Officials said All personnel were in Good shape. The 16-Day turnaround was just Days Shorter than the next fastest the challenger and its fuel and cargo made up the Tiea Viest shuttle launching Ever. At liftoff the total eight was 4.53million pounds according to Nasa documents. The next heaviest shuttle Mission 4.51 million pounds was in july 1985 when the challenger carried into space a Crew of seven and the German built space lab. According to aerospace experts the great weight might have contributed to various stresses on the shuttle and its fuel tanks As it thundered skyward. Aboard the ship on the fatal Mission was the Large tracking and data relay satellite a $100 million device that took up about three quarters of the 60-foot-Long payload Bay and weighed 37,636 pounds with its Booster rocket. The total payload including another satellite weighed 48,361 pounds. The payload was so heavy that Nas arranged to use a new emergency Landing site in Morocco. If one of the engines had failed Over the Atlantic the shuttle Wouldhave been too heavy to Fly to the Normal abort site in  the Overall launching weight was the heaviest Ever the spacecraft rtt Elf a one of the lightest after Tome Metal parts were thinned and others replaced with composite materials the challenger and i fuel tanks Are estimated to have been 45,000 pounds lighter than in the Craft s first Mission. The external tank that holds the fuel for the spacecraft s main engines has been made lighter since the Start of the shuttle program to make it easier to carry into to relocate 1,000 people 24 planes-1.  due to . Bureau Raf m1ldenhall, England about 1,000 people and 24 air planes at two Safe bases in England Are scheduled to be moved next year As a result of the president s budget. Air Force officials said thursday. All 18 Rf-4cs from Raf Alcon Bui and six of Lulfs at Raf Lake heal to be moved to units in the United and Europe said maj. Johnni Ottaker a Safe spokesman a piss the air Force had not Marcx Raccis ions on aptly where Theu pres will go. The Vovou rescheduled for the Spring. At Alconbury will Cut 785 military and 38 civilian slots from the tac recon Wing there 3r is said. However in 1988at is senior Ajlan Glenn Trace. Asthma of Soldier s fakes life Ahter in the 1970s, promised to Bete with the tight shuttle schedule at the Kennedy space Cem tet in Florida because it meant grand Crews could pursue two separate lines of work and two shuttles could be prepared for  it also introduced t Host of variables mainly in the form of new equipment a $3.2 Fuerth Genisiy glib the 24 year old Daugh Tenifa 1st arid Oto Soldier died from an Asj Static seizure wednesday after a Long Juless a division said Ladonnae Jackson daughter c and master sgt Charles h. Huh de tend support in was l dead Arthe family Home after a Gen emergency medical team could not i 1 maj. John head