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Started By
Message
The Challenger exploded on this day 38 years ago...January 28, 1986.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:24 am
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:24 am
January 28, 1986.
Cape Canaveral dawned bright and cold that January morning. For the vast majority of folks in NASA, the press, and astronaut corps, it was expected to be just another day to launch a space shuttle into orbit. For engineer Bob Ebeling, however, he knew that catastrophe was going to be the order of the day. The night before, he and four other NASA engineers had argued in vain for administrators to postpone the launch due to the well below normal temperatures that were expected for launch day. They argued for hours that the extreme cold temperatures expected at launch would prevent the rubber seals on the shuttle's solid rocket boosters from sealing properly. That evening, when Ebeling returned home, he tearfully told his wife that Challenger was going to blow up in the morning.
And so it was, 73 seconds after lift off, the rubber seal on the solid rocket booster suffered a catastrophic failure, leading to the explosion of the launch vehicle and the deaths of all seven astronauts aboard.
To this day it remains unclear why NASA insisted on going forward with the launch despite the emphatic misgivings of multiple engineers.
YouTube - Multicam View of the Launch
At the 1:27 mark in the top left video you can clearly see the rubber seal begin to fail.
Cape Canaveral dawned bright and cold that January morning. For the vast majority of folks in NASA, the press, and astronaut corps, it was expected to be just another day to launch a space shuttle into orbit. For engineer Bob Ebeling, however, he knew that catastrophe was going to be the order of the day. The night before, he and four other NASA engineers had argued in vain for administrators to postpone the launch due to the well below normal temperatures that were expected for launch day. They argued for hours that the extreme cold temperatures expected at launch would prevent the rubber seals on the shuttle's solid rocket boosters from sealing properly. That evening, when Ebeling returned home, he tearfully told his wife that Challenger was going to blow up in the morning.
And so it was, 73 seconds after lift off, the rubber seal on the solid rocket booster suffered a catastrophic failure, leading to the explosion of the launch vehicle and the deaths of all seven astronauts aboard.
To this day it remains unclear why NASA insisted on going forward with the launch despite the emphatic misgivings of multiple engineers.
YouTube - Multicam View of the Launch
At the 1:27 mark in the top left video you can clearly see the rubber seal begin to fail.
This post was edited on 1/30/24 at 2:10 pm
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:25 am to RollTide1987
Obviously a major malfunction….
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:27 am to RollTide1987
I was valet parking cars at Masson’s restaurant in New Orleans. Dude pulls up, gives me his keys and said, “the space shuttle just exploded.”
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:30 am to RollTide1987
There was a known design problem with the O-ring seals in cold temperatures.
But this tragedy was a failure of management.
Managers who put schedule and timelines above everything else, including safety, and even people's lives.
It's a shame those astronauts, who represent the best of us, lost their lives over such poor decision making.
But this tragedy was a failure of management.
Managers who put schedule and timelines above everything else, including safety, and even people's lives.
It's a shame those astronauts, who represent the best of us, lost their lives over such poor decision making.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:31 am to RollTide1987
I remember watching it explode in school.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:32 am to RollTide1987
How did they know the Challenger astronauts had dandruff?
They found their Head & Shoulders on the beach.
They found their Head & Shoulders on the beach.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:33 am to fallguy_1978
quote:Wow.
I remember watching it explode in school.
Were any kids hurt?
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:34 am to soccerfüt
quote:
Were any kids hurt?
Just the teacher
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:37 am to fallguy_1978
I was in Neurology class in medical school. They just announced it and continued class.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:42 am to Lithium
I was walking into the student center at my college when the news broke. Seems like yesterday.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:43 am to RollTide1987
Was always fascinated how far back the chain of failed decision points go in this one. The failure was in an O-ring in the field joint. Why did we need a field joint? Because the SRB was segmented. Why was the SRB segmented? Because it had to be designed that way. Why did it have to be designed that way? Because logistically you have to make it fit for rail transport from the factory in Utah. Why did it have to come from Utah? Because some powerful swamp creatures wanted it built there...
There were enough erosion events on Shuttle launches that I can't help but wonder how a single-piece SRB would've performed. I'm sure such a design would've carried its own problems too but we'll never know.
Horrible tragedy. I wasn't around to see it but I've watched every video and read every commissioned report I could find on it. Absolutely inexcusable loss. Some people should've spent their lives in jail for that.
There were enough erosion events on Shuttle launches that I can't help but wonder how a single-piece SRB would've performed. I'm sure such a design would've carried its own problems too but we'll never know.
Horrible tragedy. I wasn't around to see it but I've watched every video and read every commissioned report I could find on it. Absolutely inexcusable loss. Some people should've spent their lives in jail for that.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:43 am to fallguy_1978
quote:
I remember watching it explode in school.
My teacher was pretty upset about it. I remember the school basically shut down. We weren't dismissed early or anything, but there wasn't much education that day. It was just watching it replay over and over again and talking about it.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 10:57 am to messyjesse
quote:
Because logistically you have to make it fit for rail transport from the factory in Utah. Why did it have to come from Utah? Because some powerful swamp creatures wanted it built there...
That’s a gross over simplification.
Firstly, the locations aren’t arbitrary, but rather for existing aerospace manufacturing facilities.
Secondly, a non segmented design was given. And it was the first one eliminated due to cost and insufficient safety margins on its structural stability.
Third, the questionable politics of swamp impact is moot as the finalists were between two segmented models.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:00 am to RollTide1987
I was sleeping in my dorm room when it happened...
My roommate ran in and said "the Challenger exploded," to which I said, "no it didn't, I was just watching it." But I had fallen asleep watching the take off not realizing what happened.
Did Nasa ever have a cold weather launch after that?
My roommate ran in and said "the Challenger exploded," to which I said, "no it didn't, I was just watching it." But I had fallen asleep watching the take off not realizing what happened.
Did Nasa ever have a cold weather launch after that?
This post was edited on 1/28/24 at 11:04 am
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:02 am to RollTide1987
Need
Another
Seven
Astronauts
Another
Seven
Astronauts
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:05 am to RollTide1987
Not gonna lie, I was not expecting commentary from Eli Gold.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:11 am to RollTide1987
I was home watching it launch and when it all went wrong I knew immediately that all those people inside that craft were dead, or soon to be dead and I was hoping it was quick and as painless as possible for them.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:12 am to messyjesse
Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist, was appointed to the Rogers Commission to investigate the disaster. I believe he was the first person to publicly say it was the O-rings. Several Morton Thiokol and NASA engineers had prevoiusly expressed concern internally, but it was hushed up.
There had been O-ring erosion and, I believe, burn through on previous launches, so this just didn't happen out of the blue.
There had been O-ring erosion and, I believe, burn through on previous launches, so this just didn't happen out of the blue.
Posted on 1/28/24 at 11:14 am to White Roach
quote:
There had been O-ring erosion
Didn't the cold temps also play into it?
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