The Space Shuttle Challenger
The Space Shuttle Challenger Mission (Flight STS-51L) was the 25th space shuttle mission and the 10th launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was launched off of Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:38 A.M. This was a a special and highly publicized mission because it was the first time a school teacher would be allowed to travel in space. Christa McAuliffe was a high school teacher from New Hampshire. She was selected from more than 11,000 applicants.
The crew consisted of seven people:
Francis R. Scobee- Mission commander
Michael J. Smith- Pilot
Gregory B. Jarvis- Payload Specialist 1
Christa McAuliffe- Payload Specialist 2
Judith A. Resnik- Mission Specialist 1
Ellison S. Onizuka- Mission Specialist 2
Ronald E. McNair- Mission Specialist 3
In the cargo bay were 2 satellites and equipment in the crew compartment for experiments that they would be doing during their mission. Due to changes in the payloads the launch was rescheduled from July, 1985 to November, 1985. The crew was assigned in January, 1985. Then because of bad weather at the transoceanic they had to abort landing. The date slipped from November to January 22nd and then 23rd then 24th and finally they agreed on the 25th. To utilize Casablanca which is not equipped for night landings, T-Zero was moved to a morning lift-off time (the next day). Even after that, the launch date had to be postponed to the next day again when launch processing was unable to meet the new morning lift-off time. Finally the launch was set to January 27, 1986 at 9:37am.
The launch was then delayed again to the 28th when the ground servicing equipment hatch closing fixture could not be removed from the orbiter hatch. The fixture had to be sawed off and an attaching bolt drilled out before closeout was completed. Then the launch on the 28th was delayed 2 hours because a hardware interface module in the launch processing system, which monitors the fire detection system, failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures. Even after several launch delays, NASA officials overruled the concerns of the engineers and ordered a lift off on the cold morning of January 28th at 11:38am.
The crew consisted of seven people:
Francis R. Scobee- Mission commander
Michael J. Smith- Pilot
Gregory B. Jarvis- Payload Specialist 1
Christa McAuliffe- Payload Specialist 2
Judith A. Resnik- Mission Specialist 1
Ellison S. Onizuka- Mission Specialist 2
Ronald E. McNair- Mission Specialist 3
In the cargo bay were 2 satellites and equipment in the crew compartment for experiments that they would be doing during their mission. Due to changes in the payloads the launch was rescheduled from July, 1985 to November, 1985. The crew was assigned in January, 1985. Then because of bad weather at the transoceanic they had to abort landing. The date slipped from November to January 22nd and then 23rd then 24th and finally they agreed on the 25th. To utilize Casablanca which is not equipped for night landings, T-Zero was moved to a morning lift-off time (the next day). Even after that, the launch date had to be postponed to the next day again when launch processing was unable to meet the new morning lift-off time. Finally the launch was set to January 27, 1986 at 9:37am.
The launch was then delayed again to the 28th when the ground servicing equipment hatch closing fixture could not be removed from the orbiter hatch. The fixture had to be sawed off and an attaching bolt drilled out before closeout was completed. Then the launch on the 28th was delayed 2 hours because a hardware interface module in the launch processing system, which monitors the fire detection system, failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures. Even after several launch delays, NASA officials overruled the concerns of the engineers and ordered a lift off on the cold morning of January 28th at 11:38am.
The mission ended in a tragedy. The Challenger disintegrated in to a ball of fire 73 seconds into flight. Its altitude was 46,000 feet, traveling at about twice the speed of sound. None of the crew members survived the explosion and there were no clues to the cause of the accident. The space agency said they they had no explanations to what had happened, but were suspending all shuttle flights while they investigated.
People who had grown used to the idea of men and women soaring into space reacted with shock to the disaster. Many families were overwhelmed with grief. It was the first time that United States astronauts had died in flight and people wanted answers.
Even engineer Allan McDonald watched in shock - despite the fact that the night before, he had refused to sign the launch recommendation over safety concerns. He was worried that below-freezing temperatures might impact the solid rocket's o-rings. Little did he know that his worst fears were soon to come true. Along with being shocked he was baffled. He had predicted that if the o-rings were to fail, the rockets would explode before the shuttle even lifted off from the launch site. Instead, following the break-up, the rockets stayed intact and continued flying. "I was as shocked as everybody else was in the room," he said. "They couldn't believe what they were seeing- and I couldn't either, frankly. There were a lot of people sobbing."
The day after the tragedy, McDonald went to Huntsville, Alabama to join the failure team in watching the video and trying to figure out what happened. McDonald was just about to leave the building when a man ran out to him and told him he needed to come back. The man said that someone from the Science and Engineering Director at Cape Canaveral had noticed that the right rockets had a hole in it that he suspected had caused the problem. At first McDonald laughed and said, "Tell him he doesn't know what he's talking about; this solid rocket isn't going to go flying around with holes in it." Finally he went back in and was presented with evidence that what he most feared had, in fact, happened- but in an unexpected way. An o-ring seal had failed during the launch, but the hole was quickly resealed by aluminum oxides before any flames could escape and cause an explosion. Strong winds that started 37 seconds into flight then tore the seal back open, resulting in the horrible explosion.
A few months after they had come to this conclusion McDonald was meeting with Chairman William Rogers, who asked what had happened the morning of the launch. He explained how they had been concerned about the o-rings so they recommended that NASA not launch the shuttle in temperatures below 53 degrees. According to McDonald, Rogers' response was: "If I heard what I think I just heard, this will be in litigation for years to come."
People who had grown used to the idea of men and women soaring into space reacted with shock to the disaster. Many families were overwhelmed with grief. It was the first time that United States astronauts had died in flight and people wanted answers.
Even engineer Allan McDonald watched in shock - despite the fact that the night before, he had refused to sign the launch recommendation over safety concerns. He was worried that below-freezing temperatures might impact the solid rocket's o-rings. Little did he know that his worst fears were soon to come true. Along with being shocked he was baffled. He had predicted that if the o-rings were to fail, the rockets would explode before the shuttle even lifted off from the launch site. Instead, following the break-up, the rockets stayed intact and continued flying. "I was as shocked as everybody else was in the room," he said. "They couldn't believe what they were seeing- and I couldn't either, frankly. There were a lot of people sobbing."
The day after the tragedy, McDonald went to Huntsville, Alabama to join the failure team in watching the video and trying to figure out what happened. McDonald was just about to leave the building when a man ran out to him and told him he needed to come back. The man said that someone from the Science and Engineering Director at Cape Canaveral had noticed that the right rockets had a hole in it that he suspected had caused the problem. At first McDonald laughed and said, "Tell him he doesn't know what he's talking about; this solid rocket isn't going to go flying around with holes in it." Finally he went back in and was presented with evidence that what he most feared had, in fact, happened- but in an unexpected way. An o-ring seal had failed during the launch, but the hole was quickly resealed by aluminum oxides before any flames could escape and cause an explosion. Strong winds that started 37 seconds into flight then tore the seal back open, resulting in the horrible explosion.
A few months after they had come to this conclusion McDonald was meeting with Chairman William Rogers, who asked what had happened the morning of the launch. He explained how they had been concerned about the o-rings so they recommended that NASA not launch the shuttle in temperatures below 53 degrees. According to McDonald, Rogers' response was: "If I heard what I think I just heard, this will be in litigation for years to come."