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A comment on The soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion. Parent comment

Re:The soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion by jedberg on Monday July 02, 2018 @06:54PM (#17446061)
Because that spot on the SRB is a flex joint to allow some movement of the nozzle as the engine fires. The joint isn't there because of transportation or other reasons.
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Re:The soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion by askvictor on Monday July 02, 2018 @07:26PM (#17446216)
I'm no rocket scientist either, but happened to be reading in depth about SRBs in general and Challenger in particular, and my understanding is: the joint in question was a field joint, to be assembled in the field, as opposed to factory joints which were assembled in the factory. The construction of these joints were different (asbestos insulation vs O-rings). The differing design is due to transportation and logistics.
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Re:The soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion by robryk on Monday July 02, 2018 @07:15PM (#17446162)
That spot was the "aft field joint" according to wikipedia. According to the diagram linked[1] that is distinct from the case-to-nozzle joint.

[1] https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/...

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