Why does the shuttle throttle on ascent?
On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 07:42:46 GMT, "Jim" wrote:
BTW "go at throttle up" is, as I understood, is simply a radio call to
confirm communication with the vehicle, same as the "roll program" call. Is
that correct?
No, throttling high performance rocket engines is still somewhat
difficult and risky, despite the Shuttle making it look easy. NASA has
always worried that the Mains won't throttle back up as they are
intended, which would mean the crew would be going for a swim.
This risk is such that at one time, the now-cancelled Advanced Solid
Rocket Motor was going to eliminate the need for the early
throttle-down/up during SRB burn completely.
So the "Go at throttle-up" tells the crew that the engines did
throttle up as expected and the flight is "go" to proceed. One less
thing for the crew to worry about.
Brian
|