Ah no. The initial smoke puff was carbon black indicating the o-ring failed. It is also very clear from flight videos recovered after the fact that there was no blow out of metal, but a hot jet at the point of failure of the o-ring along the joint itself. If there had been a metal failure, it would have been found in the investigation.
I will not dispute your point, however is it possible that they missed the ripped metal? It may have melted from the heat of the hot gases escaping?
Kirkwood, I have given more thought to my reply.
The UT engineer said that the puff of smoke (or carbon black) was due to the joint failing which would have the same effect as the sealing O-ring failing.
YES, the investigators SHOULD have found evidence of the extra bolt holes causing the failure. The fact that they did not find such evidence does not surprise me.
I think we all start with different attitudes based on our experiences. My experience in working with NASA was that, while there were many competent and trustworthy individuals, there were many who were not competent nor trustworthy.
My experience going back to my days as a cadet in the military academy is that official accounts almost always are INCORRECT. I don’t attribute this to malice in all cases.
Occam’s Razor of Government is that if it can attributed to stupidity or incompetence, that is the most likely explanation.
In any event, I was NOT there. I am simply reporting what I heard from a trusted source. Do you think he was making it up?
Once again, I hope some journalist or investigator uses my data point to dig out the truth.
Should we trust the MSM and government? I think that issue is settled! I NEVER trust the fedgov whether pubbie or dim nor the media.