The Challenger Disaster: ABC News Live Coverage 11:38 A.M - 12:30 P.M
Вставка
- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- From Tuesday, January 28th 1986 ABC News Live coverage of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
ABC News breaks into Special Report @5:31/11:43:31 A.M E.S.T With Steve Bell,Peter Jennings and John Quinones
The STS-51-L Crew:
Commander:Francis R. Scobee
Pilot:Michael J. Smith
Mission Specialist:Ellison S. Onizuka
Mission Specialist:Judith A. Resnik
Mission Specialist:Ronald E. McNair
Payload Specialist:Gregory B.Jarvis
Payload Specialist: Christa McAuliffe
(Teacher in Space)
I was born on this day at 9:30 am. My mother said that she cried in the hospital bed when she saw this. She never let me forget it.
I always felt Steve Bell never got the credit he deserved for handling this when the special report started. It began about four minutes after the explosion and he knew nothing except what was on the video, as we all did. He was talking on the fly and remarkably grabbed details about the delays while waiting for the explosion to show. I’m glad they had him stick around rather than push him aside once Peter Jennings showed up. Steve was excellent.
I still have a respect for Peter Jennings though. He was down to business and wanted you to know the facts.
I 👍
Old Pete the liberal Canadian. Never liked him. Don't miss him at all
@@timspencer1856 hi from Canada 🇨🇦
@@timspencer1856 Obviously you are pro-Trump. I wish you and your ilk would all be gone in a flash.
I was in the fourth grade when this tragic disaster happened and it is one of my earliest lengthy, solid, and completely clear memories. A science teacher in our school in Kansas was one of the finalists to be selected as part of the crew, so this was a very big deal in our city and our school in particular.
Now I was NOT one of those precocious children that immediately understood adult situations and had some profound emotional reaction to such things. However I will absolutely never forget seeing that explosion. Seeing this news footage again (the first time since it was live) brought a flood of tears to my eyes. And I'll never forget my thoughts. I processed right away what was occurring before our eyes. I also remember the mixed reaction from my classmates, mostly "woah, cool, what happened!?" bewilderment. Not a literal "cool", but just elementary kids not quite understanding right away that something went very wrong. As an adult, I think back and am quite surprised actually that I didn't have an immature (and age appropriate) reaction. I screamed and my teacher had to console me before most of my peers even understood what was happening. The teachers and staff were hurrying trying to rush us out of the auditorium as quickly as possible and I remember staying with my teachers just inconsolable in tears.
Sorry for such a long story. I literally haven't seen this footage since that day. I'm a little overwhelmed!
Amazing story, and so similar to mine. I was in the 5th grade when this happened, and it was absolutely the first, "I remember where I was when that happened", type of tragedy.
For some reason our classroom wasnt watching the launch live, probably because we didnt have TVs in every room back in those days, but I remember word getting around the school fast, and everybody was shocked.
I always found it quite ironic that this specific shuttle launch was the one that ended in tragedy, because space travel, and the shuttle program specifically, had been so successful that any ordinary launch at the time, WASNT huge news anymore. This launch was though, because of Christa, and while any loss of American life in the space program would be awful, this one stung just a little more.
God bless the people that died that day. To even be a part of NASA, let alone an astronaut, you HAVE to be a go getter, and THE best of the best that America has to offer. Their loss of life was also a loss to their families, as well as us as a society.
I was working when the disaster happened and heard it on my car's radio. I stopped at my house and turned on the TV. That night, my son who was a second grader and had seen the disaster with the rest of his classmates asked me "Are they all dead?" I honestly did not know what to say to him except that they had all gone to Heaven. I mean, what else can you say to an eight-year-old child who has watched seven people die as they are heading towards outer space?
i remember this day like it was yesterday. going to school & seeing mrs. onizuka crying because she lost her brother inlaw. elison onizuka was one of the astonauts on the challenger!
[*]
Big John Stud good
woah! I'll never forget it either. We too were watching it at school - even in Canada, NASA launches were a big deal
Here's an interesting factoid: When Star Trek: The Next Generation was being produced, the Enterprise-D's Cargo Shuttle 01, the Onizuka, was named after him!
@@PCCphoenix NO WAY?!? That's more than just interesting, Daniel...as Mr. Spock would say, it's "fascinating!" I'm going to look it up right now.
This is what happens when the experts tell you not to launch because of the cold temperature, but the bureaucrats overrule them due to perceived time constraints.
Yes. I remember, very clearly, the night before, the newscast on one of the networks ended with a report on yet another delay for the space shuttle. The report was presented in such a way as to be almost comedic, that NASA didn't know what it was doing and had to keep scrubbing launches. This perception of an incompetent NASA helped to prompt certain people at NASA to push for a launch, no matter what the experts said.
I read a good book about the investigation and in particular the decision to launch. My takeaway from that was something like this: when push came to shove, the engineers had only tested the O-rings to a low of 54°F, and had no data to prove what would happen below that temperature. They SUSPECTED the O-rings wouldn't hold below the forecast temps, but NASA wanted hard data. Thiokol managers recommended launch in the end because nobody could prove to NASA that there was a solid reason why they shouldn't go.
@John Camilleri Yes, I believe that was the one. I don't suggest that the launch decision was justified, only that the engineers' concerns weren't overruled out of malice. Complacency for sure.. as we all know they got used to o-ring damage in cooler temperatures and just kept rolling the dice.
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
Absolutely. My dad was the first engineer to call NASA about impending doom. Management wouldn't listen. Horrific!
This must have been so jarring to watch on television, celebrating one moment, horror and shock the next.
Of all the challenger coverage videos this one disturbs me the most just from the silence that follows the event.
sailcat662 True, but it is best that nothing was said. Today the “journalists” wouldn’t shut up.
It really is a terribly disturbing video. I've heard recently that it wasn't the explosion that killed the crew, but rather when it hit the water that ended their lives. I can't imagine the abject terror of falling towards an ocean from that height.
@@tuxitalk1World That's a good point.
@@tuxitalk1World Today's pathetic "journalists" would try to make it all about them, not the astronauts, not NASA, not the shuttle, THEM.
@@wangsonYeah! I just read a book about it. It said that what we saw on TV wasn’t the cabin exploding, but rather the hydrogen fuel tank.
"Roger, go with throttle up."
A few seconds later, these brave souls became stars in the heavens.
As a 14 year old, back then, it shook me to my core.
Its said, the crew was really killed when their cockpit capsule hit the water! The explosion didn't kill them, like it appeared
I was 14 too when this happened. I was in the 9th grade.
@@TNsher776 i've heard that too.
Just to clear this up, Houston sent "Roger, Go at Throttle Up." When they did, the engines were already running at 104 % again for a few seconds. The "Go at Throttle Up" is a just an acknowledgment that the "Throttle Up" is performing nominally.
I think the transcript is wrong frankly.
I lived and worked in Florida at the time, about 75 miles from the Space Center. The secretary at my office was listening to the launch on the radio when she came bursting in crying, saying that the Shuttle had exploded. We all rushed out to the office parking lot where we saw the plume of the launch trail in the sky similar to 1:35 and realized it was true. :-(
One of my earliest memories that I can remember clearly. I was in kindergarten and we were all watching due to the fact that Christa McAulliffe was from my home state.
I was the same way. I was in 6th grade, and somehow the teachers kept a lid on it. Or, perhaps I was just not an observant person. I did notice that there was something weird going on, cause I did catch what two of the teachers talking in a low voice during quiet reading time. The teacher from the class across rhe hall asked our teacher ," did you hear what happened?" And then they went yo talk in the hall. But stupidly, I couldnt put two and two together. And no other students seemed to know about it too, cause we were talking like we did everyday. It was just a weird and rotten day all together. When school was finished I started my walk home and my mother and sister were sitting out in the street waiting, and of course I wondered what them coming to get me was all about, and then they broke the news to me. They said they didn't want me to hear it from any one else in case I had questions to ask.. they knew how much I loved the shuttle missions from the first launch in 2nd grade, even to the point of my 2nd grade teacher fighting for our class to have one of the few tv's in the school, so I could see the first launch.. Mrs Cook, I'll always love her for that.. Weirdly her dad worked at nasa, and he sent her things like stickers and decals of Columbia to hand out to the students in class. Very nice people. Anyway, I was in denial all the way home and weirdly, I still couldnt believe what I was seeing. I wanted it to be a horrible practical joke, in stead of reality. Sorry, didn't mean to write a novel.. it takes me right back to childhood, and feel the same feelings and thoughts..
You must be in your early forties like me because i was in 6th grade too when it happened ill never forget.
After this in 1988,was Discovery's first RTF (return to flight) mission,the second in 2005 after Columbia.
51-L was actually STS-25 the Discovery mission that folowed being STS-26.
ABC reporter Steve bell did a good job, but Peter Jennings made it all his own. The back story between Peter Jennings & Tom Brokaw scurrying out of the white house trying to get back to their respective Washington affiliates was impressive, and for Tom, that must have been tough for him because he knew Judy Resnik. Great upload! The on the spot, heat of the moment reporting can't be duplicated...... ever. Good to see ya back! R.I.P. Challenger crew. Good video
+Bryant Rockwell Yes I totally agree. Dan Rather was of course back in New York. Don't know why he was not at the White House. Never figured that one out. Infact Tom Brokaw did a segment at one point during the coverage talking about his memories of Judy Resnik and a interview he did with her back in 1981.
What was happening at the White House that would have the three network anchors there?
Preparations for the State Of The Union Address.
Jennings made it all about himself. As usual. Steve Bell was more professional.
@@zellco321 Always thought that it was strange that CBS kept Dan Rather in New York considering that it's long been standard procedure for the network newscasts to be based out of Washington on the night of the State of the Union address
1:11--Notice the plume coming from the starboard SRB and external tank, right before the explosion.
You should watch the video investigators put their summary on and sent to congress, there's another angle where you can see the flame long before the explosion and it's as plain as day.
This and the Columbia shuttle disaster of 2003, both so sad
Excellent job putting this together, thanks.
I didn't find out about the disaster until I got home after school, around 3. I walked into my house, planning on a late afternoon of cartoons and MTV, and found my mom with her eyes glued to the TV. Normally, she'd be in the kitchen at that hour, with one of her soaps on the TV as she cooked or did other work. Instead, the news was on, and back then, if there was network news on at that time of day, something was up. She greeted me, and said "Challenger blew up." Thoughts of cartoons long-gone, I spent the bulk of the net 7 hours watching the news, trying to fathom the enormity of the moment.
Extremely sad day! It was a beautiful day. They were forced to launch to keep a schedule. So NOT WORTH LOSING LIVES. I feel for the families who had a loved one aboard that shuttle.
I was in 8th grade, and I remember the day perfectly, I didnt see the explosion till I got home that day after school, but considering that I didn't see it, you should of heard the other kids in school talk.....it wasn't the same
I was the same way. I was in 6th grade, and somehow the teachers kept a lid on it. Or, perhaps I was just not an observant person. I did notice that there was something weird going on, cause I did catch what two of the teachers talking in a low voice during quiet reading time. The teacher from the class across rhe hall asked our teacher ," did you hear what happened?" And then they went yo talk in the hall. But stupidly, I couldnt put two and two together. And no other students seemed to know about it too, cause we were talking like we did everyday. It was just a weird and rotten day all together. When school was finished I started my walk home and my mother and sister were sitting out in the street waiting, and of course I wondered what them coming to get me was all about, and then they broke the news to me. They said they didn't want me to hear it from any one else in case I had questions to ask.. they knew how much I loved the shuttle missions from the first launch in 2nd grade, even to the point of my 2nd grade teacher fighting for our class to have one of the few tv's in the school, so I could see the first launch.. Mrs Cook, I'll always love her for that.. Weirdly her dad worked at nasa, and he sent her things like stickers and decals of Columbia to hand out to the students in class. Very nice people. Anyway, I was in denial all the way home and weirdly, I still couldnt believe what I was seeing. I wanted it to be a horrible practical joke, in stead of reality. Sorry, didn't mean to write a novel.. it takes me right back to childhood, and feel the same feelings and thoughts..
Yep, I too was in 8th grade and I was in history class. We watched it live and I was so broken in my heart when I saw it explode. It affects me even now as I watch this again. Takes me right back to that very moment. 😔
@@user-zr2lt6dh8j I'm so sorry it went like that. If it's any consolation, it was very much the same on 9/11. Someone came in and whispered to my math teacher, and she was horrified but then she just went back to what she was doing, very "oh dear I'd better not alarm the students", like we couldn't handle it. It wasn't until I was going to my next class that my friend came running up to me, screaming "They bombed the Pentagon!"
Today marks 35 years! I was in my freshman year when it happened.
It is 2020, and some STILL have not learned to listen to science, date, and experts.
There was no "escape capsule". That was a nose cone from one of the solid--fuel rockets, SRBs.
That's what I was thinking when he kept talking about an "escape capsule". When was there an escape capsule as part of the shuttle system?
The newscasters were still stuck in Apollo which had a full escape system that worked at any time. Also the Challenger never reached space. Not even half way there. Lastly, there was no explosion in the combustible sense which NASA corrected the next day and in the accident report. The vapors were the tank fuel making contact with atmosphere. The shuttle actually kept on flying and broke up due to supersonic winds it was not designed to fly in. The crew and the shuttle pieces had NO burn marks when they were recovered.
Fake news.
@@mmason9836 Not fake news. Just ignorance of the facts.
How did this "escape capsule" myth get started back then? The shuttle never had an escape capsule. There was a sort of half-hearted bail out procedure but only at very low altitudes for each individual crew member to just open a hatch and jump out with their parachute that they already had strapped on. But there were very limited scenarios, if any at all that would allow for even this limited escape procedure to work. In this accident they were way too high and traveling extremely fast for this procedure to work, besides the explosion was so sudden and catastrophic that no escape was possible.
The first shuttle did have two ejection seats when first deployed. That is because it could not be tested without pilots.
They didn't even have that option back before Challenger- no bailout options existed until STS-26. If they had at least had pressure suits and parachutes like later, some crew might've been able to at least try and escape the tumbling crew cabin. At this time, there were literally no options.
There was a very detailed timeline for abort scenarios in the shuttle assent to orbit but the designers knew for the 2+ minutes the SRBs were attached and burning, there was no option for the crew. This period of time until separation was deemed "not survivable". RTLS, long spoken of and actually shouted by some of the witnesses at the Cape, had a very limited window of opportunity and involved continuing to fly until fuel exhaustion in the external tank, ejection of the ET, an avoidance maneuver and turn around and use of the OMS engines to orient the shuttle for a landing. It was a scenario that did not have much chance of success. There was talk of actually trying an RTLS flight prior to the first orbital flight with John Young and Robert Crippen but wiser heads prevailed. Young was the strongest voice against the flight and echoed his wry statement regarding the Gemini capsule's ejection seats that RTLS was like "Committing suicide to avoid getting killed".
@MrCrystalcranium Wow! Thank you for this excellent background info about the shuttle's development! 👌
You have to remember this was only a few years out from Apollo, and Apollo's capsule had escape capability.
I was in high school watching this live. It was the closest traumatic event witnessed in my generation only to be followed by Desert Storm a few years later and then of course 9/11.
And worse of all the 2020 election where we lost our country forever.
@@jerrymarshall2095 what do you mean, trump lost
Thank goodness for dr Judy woods brilliant research!!!
@@bag4592 wait and see chu,if you can't figure out what going on by now,you prob wouldnt know the difference anyway.
@@jerrymarshall2095 Mesa do not get what yousa say
Happened on my 10th birthday. I remember looking at the sky wondering where the astronauts were.
I was nursing my newborn watching this happen. So sad!
A terrible day. I remember it well. RIP
Thier was no escape capsule, they had nowhere to go, the managers at NASA forced the contractor to change thier mind and launch and that decision chsnged the history of space travel
A LES wouldn't have helped at that point, the explosion was so sudden and fast they wouldn't have had any time to escape from it. They likely didn't even realise what was happening before they were already dead
I remember being in 7th grade social studies when our upset principal came on over the PA to tell us what happened and lead us all in prayer for the astronauts and their families.
I was allowed to stay up late that night so I could watch an extra long Nightline about what had happened.
It was indeed a tragic day for my family and especially my father, Bob Ebeling. He was responsible for the o-rings manufactured at Morton Thiokol in Utah. He was the first engineer to call NASA and tell them a catastrophic disaster was going to occur. But to no avail. He blamed himself up until just 4 weeks before he passed away. Gratefully he was finally able to forgive himself and then he just died. He is my hero. He was an amazing man in many ways.
I was in the 7th grade as well, and our principal made an announcement over the PA. We were excited about this mission because Ronald McNair’s hometown was not far from mine. As soon as I got home, I watched coverage the entire evening.
@@leslieserna6934 I saw his interview on a documentary yesterday. He tried to stop this tragedy from happening. If only those in power had listened..
We watched this live on TV my senior year in high school. I had seen quite a few launches in the past, so I knew how bad it was the instant it happened. The only thing left was the boosters. They acted on TV like they didn't know what happened. It still makes me sick to my stomach. These people are some of the greatest heros of mankind. Greatest respect and RIP.
grade 10 .came to class sat down....welding..teacher.."the space shuttle blew up "...wow ,that was weird start to class bbb
People complain about the quality of journalism nowadays, but most of the questions asked in the White House press briefing were dire
Can't believe these reporters were not aware there was no 'escape capsule' on the Shuttle.
I was about to comment on the same thing.
Unfortunately, if ABC News had a designated space correspondent, he/she was not on duty/assisting with ABC’s coverage of this disaster.
General news anchors, although knowledgeable on a WIDE range of topics (politics, economics, foreign affairs), are NOT space experts. Steve Bell and Peter Jennings shouldn't have been expected to know details about “escape capsules.” Remember --- even NASA’s Mission Control reported that the parachute seen on camera was believed to be paramedics rushing to the scene (it was actually an SRB parachute, which you would think NASA would know).
@@lindawallace4513 Yes, it’s the same as when you think back to initial coverage of the 9/11 attacks and people being unsure of whether it was a commercial airliner or just a small Cessna. Nobody knows what happens after these kinds of events and in the confusion reporters are just trying to make sense of what happened and not cause panic.
I was in my Junior year English class when it happened.
We were all taking a test when someone burst into the room and shouted that the space shuttle exploded. At first, we were in disbelief. We never thought such a thing would ever happen. We thought the student was just playing a joke!
Then Mrs. Forslof went to the back room and brought out a little black radio. We remained dead silent for the remainder of class. The test was forgotten - she let us finish it next class.
Out in the hallways after that class, everyone was crying. It was tough to get through the rest of that day.
I was a junior, too.
Why did the coverage go to CNN then ABC? Did the ABC network do that?
ABC if I remember correctly did not cover the launch live. CNN was the only network that did. The three broadcast networks broke in a couple minutes after the explosion.
Could see it here in Sarasota on the west coast of Florida. Sad day I was watching it on tv had the day off. Same with 9-11-01
When they say go with throttle up, the camera view changes to a close up. Is there footage anywhere of the non close up view?
I was only 3, and too young to remember the event. However, my dad was big into the space program (he attributes that to missing the Apollo 11 moon landing and space walk, which my grandfather considered “unimportant”), and when we weren’t being woken up by Dad to watch the live launches at 2am on a school night on the NASA cable channel, he would talk us through the Space Shuttle Operator’s Manual, watching “The Right Stuff”, or drive us out whenever there was an SRB or Minuteman fixed engine test.
What Dad always hammered home was how many of these issues seemed tied to dumb management decisions and refusing to follow the Scientific Method. It’s a lesson I retain to this day in business and push for when uncovering problems.
Jules Bergman, ABC space correspondent, was not available for immediate coverage during the disaster. The 3 networks were drawing down their space coverage which they found repetitive and boring. It totally shows! Jennings and Bell were totally out of their league. CNN, however, had Miles O'Brien and were covering the launch so the quality shows. That being said, Jennings and Bell were doing their best with what they had which was limited knowledge of shuttle operations. Great reporting by a young Joh Quinones! He saved the newscast with his eyewitness account.
People are asking about the "escape capsule" thing. People forget this was early 1986, and just a few years out from Apollo, which had immediate escape capability from a rocket explosion. "Escape Capsule" had been ingrained in our minds since the Mercury program.
There was no escape capsule from the space shuttle.
They were not in space at the time
It was cold that year. They knew it would affect the o rings and still went through with the launch. All they need to do was delay until it got warmer. What a senseless tragedy.
The senselessness continued. Now ppl fuss about simple masks, when all they have to do is chill and wear them so we can fight c19 and return to a more normal life more quickly. But like the bureaucrats couldn't wait then, the ppl can't wait now.
@@coreaccount4376 How you tie this into Covid is amazing.
@@davidwright9166 ..by my first sentence.
@coreaccount4376 This didn't age well. Like it made any difference at all, and only made some people more sick. It's also sick how you compared two entirely different situations. No way similar. Quit hijacking a horrible tragedy to push your own narrative.
@@Nighthawk268 Masks prevented people from getting Covid.
I remember this day, very sad 😢
My father was Robert Ebeling the first Engineer at Morton Thiokol, to advise NASA that a catastrophic accident was going to occur. The disaster changed my families life forever. Tragic.
Leslie Serna you were on the Netflix special on the challenger weren't you? I just watched it
RIP. That was definitely one of those "always remember where I was" moments in history, and a particularly sad one. Personally I was in Junior High School at the time and heard about it in the main office where I had been sent to deliver something from a teacher.
Also contrast this reporting to NOW, it was hardly perfect, but today's "news" media is an absolute joke.
Yes, today's news media are much less professional.
The first major news story I can remember. I was a couple of months from turning 7.
Same for me. I turned 7 just a week before this. I kinda remember a few news stories from 1984. Those hijackings that used to occur all the time, but this one stands out for sure at a young age.
What does NASA stand for? Need Another Seven Astronauts (kids on the school bus were telling this joke a few days after)
A most macabre joke in my book.
Insensitive but a little bit funny
11:27 "What would you do if you overheard a NASA executive ordering engineers to proceed with a space shuttle launch under unsafe conditions?"
"We planted a hidden camera to film their reactions"
Its one of those events that i remember exactly where i was when i heard about it
I watched the launch live on CNN. I had been a major space geek back to the days of Gemini so I knew exactly what had happened. (Not why, but what.) Due to the shuttle design and lack of a launch escape system, if anything whatsoever went wrong between liftoff and SRB jettison, the crew was finished.
If something went wrong and they had to abort after SRB jettison, at least in theory they could have tried a RTLS abort -- but all experts agree that would have been a monumental long shot.
Most RTLS abort simulations, even under "optimal" conditions, ended with the shuttle ditching in the ocean.
Getting seriously annoyed with the stuff abour rscape pods (there werent any) and paramedics (where would they send them???)
Last words from the pilot Michael J Smith of the January 28th, 1986 Challenger disaster. 1:09 ''Challenger go and throttle up''.
That was Commander Dick Scobee saying go at throttle up. The last words recorded on the voice cockpit recorder in the shuttle was Uh oh and was spoken by pilot Michael Smith but the recording was never released. You can read what they were all saying during launch on a video called Space Shuttle Challenger cockpit voice recorder transcripts. The channel is called Fascinating History.
actually there is internal recordings that NASA has of him saying "uh oh.." seconds after the orbiter separated from the disintegrating fuel tank. After that all communications were lost.
John Camilleri was it record via audio? Otherwise how do they know what was said. I’ve only seen text, not heard any audio.
@@therestorationofdrwho1865 the audio of the cockpit recorder was never released but they did release the transcript.
Just after he says throttle up you can see flames in the gap between the Shuttle and it's launcher.
That "chute" made us think of "life," but NASA had thought of money when they implemented it.
Steve Bell, the escape capsule. Just where would it be? He was a goof as are most anchors and media in general
guy was a moron
Professional mansplainer.
What are the odds the crew cabin separated intact in the explosion, when it wasn't even designed to do that. They did look at having the cabin detach, but it was too technical and too costly.
An o-ring....a bloody o-ring!
There was more to it than that. The design of the joint in the booster rocket allowed to open under the oressure of combustion gasses.
This is sadder watching the video of the crew so happy after the fact that the Challenger had come apart and the crew is dead.
What?
Tuxi Talk 1 Yeesh! I must have been half asleep when I wrote that. That should be: This is harder to watch when this video starts with the explosion first and you know the crew is dead, then the video section with Lynn Sherr shows the crew members vibrant and excited before the launch.
It is surprising that the reporters know so little about the shuttle system. I’m sure there were many middle school children who knew that the booster rockets were designed to come down on parachutes so that they could be reused. Any major network should have been prepared with reporters who stay informed about the space program.
Myles O'Brien in 2003 was an expert on all things science and space program. His coverage of the Columbia disaster was perfect
Even the man directing the launch coverage tried to get the cameras to not follow the parachutes because "we don't want to give people false hope/ there are no chutes on the orbiter."
The networks had released their space coverage teams after Apollo was cancelled hence they were caught knowledge flat footed when this happened. The anchors were clearly lost compared to the Mercury/Apollo/Gemini era. Also NASA/Congress had pushed that the shuttle was as safe a an airliner.
Was 12 Years Old When this Happened
it's terrible there was actually nothing wrong with the vehicle or the launch just NASA officials decided not to listen to the technicians and fly when it was too cold
mr head exactly! They rushed it and it cost the lives of 7 people.
Plenty wrong, even other astronauts said they knew how dangerous it was attached to those rockets and NO escape or ejection method as they had on Apollo.
The shuttle had serious design issues. While we can’t believe what launch management did, they were given odds of disaster only likely to happen 1 in 100,000. That came from the designers. Those numbers were utterly FALSE,
I was in elementary school when that happened sad day
Me, too. 6th grade, but I didn't watch it live. I still remember the look on my teachers face when she told us, though. The whole day was basically a wash from that point. I did, however, watch Reagan's address to the nation live that evening. Somber moment for everyone, I recall.
I was in Elementary school when the space shuttle challenger explosion happened
Paramedics being sent to scene wow they hit ocean from like 12 miles up imagine that impact
By all accounts that is what killed some of them - some survived the initial break up of the craft.
I was studying in my college room in the apartment and my roommate came running in crying and said “The Shuttle exploded!”. We all ran out in the family room and watched the coverage, It still is sad to watch, especially the fact that Christa McAuliffe’s parents were there watching it at the launch bleachers.
It would appear that for a space launch there's little room for error. It would seem that everything needs to be functioning perfectly. Or at least close to it and it would seem a problem might be exacerbated by an existing condition.
I Don't understand why didn't NASA have a backup plan to save the crew in case of this major disaster just terrible & sad R.I.P. crew.
Kendale Kyle - There were some backups which provided alternate landing sites, but no one anticipated the shuttle system breaking up under full power. It is hard to imagine how they could have recovered from such an event.
Sadly, the only way the crew could have survived this event was to not have launched that day at all. Engineer after engineer tried to stop it because they knew the o-rings would become brittle in the cold. There were so many safeguards built into the shuttles that redundancy would have saved the crews. But in both Challenger and Columbia, laziness and disregard for their own rules killed the crews.
That was called not launching but they had to get the teacher up
@@jimgreene68 They could have survived if NASA would have designed the shuttle differently.
@@danm5273 No doubt about that. The same people who were screaming to not light the candle were the same ones who said it needed to be designed better. They weren't listened to in either case.
Roger Boisjoly told them it would explode....but he thought it would explode on the pad
Wish they didn't rush this launch if they were so worried about the cold then just delay an wait til another day I wish they would of waited,God Speed Challenger crew we will never forget you.
I had just gotten up a few minutes before and was eating a bowl of cereal on the edge of the bed, watching the launch on tv when the explosion happened. I just sat there in shock with a mouthful of Wheaties and my mouth gaping open, not wanting to believe what I already suspected had happened.
The first thing I thought to do was to call my Mom at work. Her assistant answered the phone and before I could finish asking for Mom, she said “We know, the Pastor Whitaker just came in from the parking lot and heard it on the radio just as he was about to turn the engine off”.
The design looks dangerous and flawed. I get they wanted a reusable craft but riding on those rockets to get enough thrust and no escape plan was not good.
Mochastar - The booster rockets were a flawed design, but had the joint design been better, they would have had a perfect record. There were no other booster rocket failures.
Agree ...Politcs take precedent over science and experts
One thing I've never understood is how the reporters at the White House ask the same redundant questions over and over. Clearly, Mr. Speaks was doing his level best to keep things simple.
5:31
ABC News breaks in at 5:30
the Crew should have at least worn parachute's until they got into space 🚀
But a question from a reporter do they think other civilians will be able to fly what kind of a question is that when you don't even know what happened from this disaster
Will they ever know what happened to Challenger and Columbia and Apollo 1???
They know the causes of the accidents. They are explained on the internet.
These have all been thoroughly investigated.
Why the hell didn't the NASA leaders and the Managers of the Vehicle Production listen to the enegneers who built the SRBs and told the leaders not to launch the Challenger? Even after 37 years I don't understand.
*Sad day for AMERICA & very tragic day for the families*
1:07 “Challenger go at throttle up”
“Go at throttle up”……
..
….
BOOM
I saw flares o f flames from both srbs top of the shuttle a flame then rupturing to exploding from the fuel external tank
Just to see this terrible event again 36 years later still echoes like Columbia 19 years ago
Any one know what the parachute was attached to.
Was the booster chutes, it was attached to one of the booster nose cap, the shuttle never had a escape capsule or any real means of escape of any kind.
@@irrationalgeographic9953 The first 5 shuttle launches had ejection seats, but after that more than 2 crew were used and it was impossible to have ejection seats for everyone, so they decided it was unethical to keep them in.
i have major suspicioins there was sabatoge they knew the o rings were going fail and the minute he said throttle up it blew up .
Please explain your train of thought relative to a "sabotage" scenario. To what benefit?
What that parachute was about
It came from one of the booster rockets. It is probably the pilot chute, which pulls the three main chutes out of the nose cone. When the rockets were destroyed, it was blown free.
Must have been built on a Monday
Shouldve been delayed again.
And by the way the explosion wasnt in space,it wasnt. even close.
this had to be a fucked up way to go out wow never forgot it, to watch your love one die LIVE wow and on national TV unreal i remember the teacher who won the contest the look on her parents faces the dad was in shock and didnt initially know what happened so sad man
They were not in space yet.
Newscaster can't shut up while they are showing the explosion.
That's Kathy Lee Gifford but she wasn't married to Frank Gifford yet at this time.
NASA's arrogance was guilty of this disaster.
Sad
Sad day
They keep talking escape capsule there was none they were sitting ducks waiting for the ocean to kill them
Escape capsule? There is no such thing
@John Camilleri Unfortunately 34 years later the media and public are less knowledgeable then in 1986
Dennis S - There was an abort mode to bring the orbiter back in certain situations, but I don’t think it could be used while the SRB’s were burning, and certainly not after the fuel tank exploded.
@@GH-oi2jf yes but there is no escape capsule.The shuttle simply returned to Cape Kennedy after shedding the fuel tank and SRB's providing it was capable of flying If an event requiring an abort happened after SRB ignition, it was not possible to begin the abort until after SRB burnout and separation
We "SHOULD" Remember That A Total Of Peoplle On This Mission "NOT"
1. Simply Disgraceful. The Other Family Is Hurting Regardless.
Larry Speaks is the worse speaker. He says "uhhhh" in between every 5 words, yet he's a communications & spokesperson.
Something like this was completely unexpected. The loss of words were followed by shock and surprise leaving most people speechless!
Some things, you can't be professional about! Are you a pro at handling the death of others in a tragic way? I highly doubt it.
@@brianarmstrong9098 - Look up his other videos of him speaking on non-death topics & you will hear him still saying "uhhhhh" and "ummmm" after every 5 words.
Somewhere Donald Trump is watching this while stuffing his clogged arteries with more McDonalds and claiming this is Obama's fault.
Perhaps the most irrelevant comment of the year to date.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
The only crews we lost during space flight were during Republican Administrations. We experienced two complete loss of vehicles and crews during flight. The 1967 capsule fire was not a flight, but instead a simulation. Democrats pushed for space flight, safe landing on the moon and safe return to earth. Republicans cancelled 3 Apollo missions and couldn't keep funding alive after losing two shuttle crews. Democrats kept JPL(uncrewed) funding alive and established record-setting achievments on Mars with rovers.
The Democrat Party is the Communist Party.
@@jasonmichael3676 Democratic President Kennedy lead the nation's challenge to go to the moon. If you call that communism, so be it. Republicans had their chance and always missed the glory.
@@youtube.youtube.01 Considering how Democrats have been exposed as Communists....I don't think they deserve to be praised for anything.
Nice job trying to hide the Apollo 1 tragedy and blame shit on the GOP