Why does the shuttle throttle on ascent?

Pat Flannery wrote in news:12q559nm7crqq10
@corp.supernews.com:



Skywise wrote:
That, and now "Columbia, Houston. UHF comm check."

Got chills just typing that.



Though it all happened so fast that it didn't sink in at the time, when
reading the transcripts the spooky part is when the temperature sensors
start climbing, then failing.

Pat

Although there was little chance of it, this was the first reentry
that I attempted to observe. If I could see it, it would have been
about 10 degrees off my northern horizon from here in the LA area.
Mountains and haze made it a long shot. But I got up anyway and had
NASA TV streaming to my computer.

I didn't see a thing so I just listened to the live feed. I wasn't
paying real close attention until I kept hearing that call for
comm check repeated. At first it didn't seem too serious. But when
I heard them ask when they expected tracking at Merritt Island
and they said "one minute ago" I got concerned. That's when I
turned on CNN.

Touchdown time came and went.

I'm thinkig, heck, maybe they had a problem and bailed out somewhere.
Maybe they had to use that new fangled escape chute thingy. Perhaps
they're in the Gulf of Mexico waiting for rescue. Or crash landed
somewhere else.

Then there was that first report of multiple trails seen over Texas
and I knew it was over, that there was no hope. That's when it really
hit me.

Brian
--
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Skywise wrote:
Touchdown time came and went.

I'm thinkig, heck, maybe they had a problem and bailed out somewhere.
Maybe they had to use that new fangled escape chute thingy. Perhaps
they're in the Gulf of Mexico waiting for rescue. Or crash landed
somewhere else.

Then there was that first report of multiple trails seen over Texas
and I knew it was over, that there was no hope. That's when it really
hit me.

Brian


I of course managed to skip the launch of Challenger as by that time it
was getting old-hat, and I'd seen the other twenty-four launches.
My dad came upstairs and told me the space shuttle had exploded. I got
down those steps inside of around five seconds.
Then I skipped the landing of Columbia, as the whole mission had been
going so well.
My friend called up and told me the Columbia was missing. On went the TV
set inside of five seconds.
The topper was of course walking into the same friend's business on the
morning of September 11th, 2001 and after looking at the television set
to see some building on fire, asking him if there was a skyscraper on
fire somewhere. Just then the building collapsed.
If the Sun ever unexpectedly goes nova or WW III starts, I will of
course miss it till someone tells me or telephones me about it. :-[

Pat