51L_v_c_o_TPMBK (1-86-51L-10091, 108-KSC-386V-559/54)
"STS 51-L Investigation - Time as of 73.226.
Explosion near SRB forward attach..."
Per an extract from the "Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident", Figure 79, Page N-54, which is a near identical image, at a Mission Elapsed Time of 73.213:
"Camera E204 viewing the left side of the vehicle indicates a flash near the SRB forward attach (intertank) area and a brightening of the flash between the Orbiter and the ET. A view of the right side of the vehicle from camera E207 shows a significant increase in the volume of recirculated hydrogen-enriched SRB exhaust products as a result of freestream flow blockage induced by the anomalous SRB plume and the rapidly increasing release of hydrogen from the aft liquid hydrogen tank failure. The flash near the SRB forward attach area is potentially the circumferential propagation of the radiant SRB exhaust products due to aerodynamic effects and structural failure of the intertank area."
Photograph taken by the Recording Optical Tracking Instrument (ROTI), on 70mm film, from its Melbourne Beach location.
nasa.fandom.com/wiki/STS-51-L_Mission_timeline
Tragic, horrific and INEXCUSABLE.
51L_v_c_o_TPMBK (1-86-51L-10091, 108-KSC-386V-559/54)
"STS 51-L Investigation - Time as of 73.226.
Explosion near SRB forward attach..."
Per an extract from the "Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident", Figure 79, Page N-54, which is a near identical image, at a Mission Elapsed Time of 73.213:
"Camera E204 viewing the left side of the vehicle indicates a flash near the SRB forward attach (intertank) area and a brightening of the flash between the Orbiter and the ET. A view of the right side of the vehicle from camera E207 shows a significant increase in the volume of recirculated hydrogen-enriched SRB exhaust products as a result of freestream flow blockage induced by the anomalous SRB plume and the rapidly increasing release of hydrogen from the aft liquid hydrogen tank failure. The flash near the SRB forward attach area is potentially the circumferential propagation of the radiant SRB exhaust products due to aerodynamic effects and structural failure of the intertank area."
Photograph taken by the Recording Optical Tracking Instrument (ROTI), on 70mm film, from its Melbourne Beach location.
nasa.fandom.com/wiki/STS-51-L_Mission_timeline
Tragic, horrific and INEXCUSABLE.