Why does the shuttle throttle on ascent?

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