European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes thursday april 10, 1986 and the Walls came tumbling Down up photos explosives experts set controlled dynamite by in Louisville by. The photo at left before the blast. The Walls begin buckling leaving Only a pile of debris. The Complex charges to destroy an old cigarette Facto shows the abandoned Plant five seconds inward one second after the blast right fell to the ground in less than 10 seconds. Shuttle Crew Cabin hit Ocean intact official says Cape canaveral Fla. A challenger s Crew the right Wing payload Bay doors and the fuselage. Armentrout said he and other experts Are trying Cabin hit the surface of the Atlantic Ocean intact inside the the debris of the external fuel tank two of the three figure out what parts of challenger were broken up by t nose Section of the space shuttle after the spacecraft blew main engines and the Forward sections of the two solid fuel explosion of the external tank and what parts were she Jinil it i Fink if Prii i Cal if to v in ctr a tar of North a Reno of  a _ _ i i. .1 4�_.j a. A to _ i _ _ a Fla. Challenger s Cre Cabin hit the surface of the Atlantic Ocean intact inside the nose Section of the space shuttle after the spacecraft ble apart Jan. 28, a Federal safety inspector reported wednesday. When the nose Section struck the water it had some mass inside it that mass was the Crew module said Terry Armentrout director of the National transportation safety Board s Bureau of Accident investigation. However most experts do not believe the astronauts survived the nine mile plunge to the Ocean. They believe the seven probably were killed instantly from the Shock of the explosion or from aerodynamic forces As the nose Sec Tion and enclosed Cabin tumbled from the sky. Armentrout said challenger broke apart More from aerodynamic forces and water Impact than from the Force of the explosion. In fact he said there was no Large explosion. He said the Cloud of smoke and flame resulted More from the breaking up of the Large external fuel tank and the fires that resulted when its liquid oxygen and liquid Hydrogen propellant mixed and burned. Armentrout talked with reporters As he led them through two hangars where the shuttle debris is Laid out Over a pattern of four foot Square grids. It was the first Public viewing of the wreckage. The National aeronautics and space administration called on the safety Board the Day after the Accident to help it learn what caused the disaster by using its expertise in investigating aircraft accidents. An estimated 14 percent to 16 percent of the shuttle has been recovered. Some was found floating in the Days after the Accident the rest has been retrieved from the Ocean floor. Wreckage of the orbiter itself is Laid out in one hangar. Much of it is in Small pieces but there Are Large chunks of the the s of the l fuel the three Mai engines an the Forwar sections of the solid fuel rocket boosters Are Laid out in a portable hangar. Most of the boosters Are in a secure building because they still contain hazardous propellant. Only the Tail Section of the orbiter shows evidence of flame damage and Armentrout said this indicates the shuttle was thrown free of the fireball. He said the nose Section containing the Crew Cabin came away from the rest of the orbiter with a clean  standing in front of sections of the nose Section that have been assembled atop Sawhorse Armentrout said we Don t see any evidence of a Burn up or a blow up. It either broke up aerodynamically or when it hit the  he estimated that chunks of challenger struck the water at speeds ranging from 140 to 180 Mph. Damage could have resulted from aerodynamic forces because challenger was moving at supersonic speeds when it came apart he said. The nose Section was relatively intact although it had been battered by the Impact with the water. There is evidence in this outer Shell that the damage we see from past experience indicates we had some mass within this outer Shell when it struck the water he said. When pressed to say what that mass might be he re plied that it had to be the Crew compartment. On the Lack of Burn damage on the orbiter he said that was almost hard for anyone who viewed the explosion. To  he said there is Burn damage on the vertical Stabilizer and some other sections of the vehicle. There also Are scars showing that the external tank and the solid fuel rocket boosters collided with the orbiter during the breakup. Armentrout Sai e r s e trying to figure out t f the explosion f the l t shattered by aerodynamics by water Impact and by collision with other spacecraft parts. A search of the Ocean floor for More debris will continue through april . Thompson vice chairman of the Nasa investigation task Force said in a briefing tuesday. Nine ships and three Small submarines Are taking part. Officials Hope to recover key parts of the right solid fuel rocket Booster. Thompson said tuesday a faulty joint be tween the Bottom two segments of that Booster definitely caused the explosion 73 seconds after launch from the Kennedy space Center. Clearly the failure was in that joint he said. Clearly that joint has to be  Thompson declined to discuss recovery of the Crew compartment or of astronaut remains but sources close to the investigation say searchers believe they have retrieved All the human remains they can expect to find. The remains Are being examined and identified at a medical Laboratory Here. Thompson said the solid fuel rocket joint had design flaws that winked at us on earlier flights but were not detected. We missed it in this joint he said. We missed it in the design and i think some of the prior flight anomalies were not taken  Thompson said it could be a combination of factors that caused the failure. The task Force he said is focusing on possibly defective o rings designed to Stop hot gases from escaping through the joint on the effect of the rotation of the joint when subjected to ignition pressures characteristics of the Putty intended to put pressure on the rings on a possible joint alignment prob Lem and on the effect the freezing temperatures on launch Day might have had on the rings or the Putty. Of went on year end spending spree probes say Washington up on the 12 Days of Christmas air Force officials went on a spending spree congressional investigators say. Admonished to Speed up spending of budgeted funds logistics officers for the military doled out More than $1 billion at the end of december often setting aside the usual safeguards against waste aides to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee said tuesday. An investigator for the subcommittee on oversight and investigations charged that the yuletide spending Rush is another Indi cation that the Pentagon has More Money than it can  the flurry of purchases mainly on spare parts was triggered by a dec. 20, 1985, memo from the air Force logistics come at Wright Patterson fab in Ohio noting that there was much focus and pressure on prior year a obligated balances in three accounts totalling $4.7 billion. You should therefore attempt to obligate available 1984 and 1985 funds from those accounts to the maximum extent possible for inclusion in the dec. 31, 1985, accounting reports said the memo made available to United press International. The memo cautioned that any purchases must follow All Laws and regulations but it suggested that procurement officers Pur sue one time waivers if an air Force policy or directive impeded an expenditure. On the 12 Days of Christmas they spent $1.05 billion or 5 percent of the total Money they had available for 1984 and 1985," an investigator for the subcommittee chaired by rep. John Dingell d-mich., said. The a de who asked to remain Anonymous noted that during the 19 prior Days the service spent $117.5 million from the same accounts. It. Col. Robert Winkelman a spokes Man for the air Force logistics come at Wright Patterson declined comment on the disclosure. A subcommittee staff analysis concluded that the dec. 20 memo resulted from pres sure from the office of defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger which was holding up release of 1986 funds until More 1984 and 1985 funds had been obligated. Pentagon officials were concerned about growing congressional criticism of Uno Bli gated balances totalling $60 billion to $70 billion Forfi prior years at the same time the defense department is seeking an 8 percent increase in real growth. The analysis said the air Force accelerated the expenditures by expediting the issuance of controversial unpriced orders. With unpriced con tracts which the Pentagon has pledged to reduce in the face of congressional criticism a contractor begins work before negotiating the Purchase Price. Warner Robins fab near Atlanta issued nearly $400 million in contracts during this stretch including $293 million of the in priced orders that the Pentagon has acknowledged leave contractors no motivation for Cost consciousness. In one instance it took just four Days for Warner Robins officers to identify a requirement for Lockheed c-130 aircraft to obligate More than $32 million in air Craft modification funds and to award a contract. The unpriced contract was signed on dec. 31. At Wright Patterson the 2750th air base Wing issued $70 million in unpriced contracts out of about $150 million in expenditures. In Oklahoma City air Force officers issued 25 contracts for initial spare parts for which Congress had appropriated Money in the 1986 budget and used leftover \ 984 and 1985 funds. It seems that everywhere we re turning we re seeing evidence that the p Pentagon has More Money than it can spend the Dingell aide said. He noted that a recent general accounting office report concluded that overestimated inflation projections had left the Pentagon with $40 billion More than i expected