NASA Officials Are First Witnesses as Inquiry Opens : Say Photos Are Being Examined for Source of Fire

NASA told an investigative commission today that it is studying enhanced photographs to pinpoint a spurt of fire that burst from the space shuttle’s right booster rocket about 14 seconds before last week’s explosion destroyed Challenger and killed its crew.

Many experts believe the errant flame triggered the explosion.

The presidential commission investigating last week’s space shuttle disaster opened deliberations today by questioning NASA officials about the impact of freezing temperatures on launch day and the flight history of the ship’s reusable boosters.

Jesse Moore, head of NASA’s shuttle program, told the panel that none of the booster components had been used more than two or three times. They are designed to be used as many as 20 times, he said.

Rocket Believed Found

As the commission met in Washington, NASA officials at Cape Canaveral, Fla., reported privately today that sonar soundings indicated that Challenger’s left booster rocket has been located a relatively short distance from the launch pad, but there was no official confirmation of the find. The agency’s recovery ships have been concentrating on an area 35 miles offshore where they believe the right booster lies under 1,100 feet of water. But, spokesmen cautioned, the soundings can’t be validated until robot submarines photograph the wreckage.

Eleven members of the 12-person panel took part in the opening questioning. Not present was test pilot Chuck Yaeger.

Moore told the panel the photographs show that the first sign of the flames on the right rocket booster came at 59.8 seconds into the 73-second flight.

In the next 12 seconds the plume appeared to grow and merge with the orbiter’s huge fuel tank “just milliseconds before the tragedy,” Moore testified.

Fire Plume Moved

He said the plume “moved quite a bit” before the explosion and destruction of Challenger’s external fuel tank destroyed the shuttle eight miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists have speculated that the fire plume may have come from a break in the seals between sections of the rocket booster. Moore said the photographs would have to be enhanced before he could pinpoint the plume’s source.

“We are enhancing all of our photography that we can and we’re concentrating a lot of that photography on the right-hand solid rocket booster,” Moore said.

He said NASA has “impounded all the data” from the Challenger flight, adding, “We’re forming a devil’s advocate team . . . to think up scenarios that may have occurred” during the mission.

Temperature Probed

Asked about the possible impact of launch-day temperatures, Moore said there was concern about ice buildup on the launch tower but not about the impact of low temperatures on the rocket boosters. A technical team was sent out before the launch and checked the tower. “Their assessment came back that the system is OK,” Moore said.