I was in 5th grade on the class of a Mrs. Hill. We, along with other classes had a TV cart wheeled in so we could watch this. As kids, we didnt really understand what we had witnessed, but there was a palpable sense of dread. I remember Mrs Hill gasping and then doing her best to compose herself for our sake. I remember a girl in my class whom I remember but will not name say "its not supposed to do that, is it?" I think all of us were hoping that we were all seeing something that would turn out to be nothing out of the ordinary and everthing was going to be fine. Its surreal how your mind can burn moments of trauma into your memory that never seem to fade after many decades. What a sad, somber, and world changing tragedy this was. I remember on the evening news that night, the anchor mentioned that the Soviet Government played one hour of American music on Soviet radio as a sign of respect and shared sorrow.
@michael7v6 and there was no going home for the rest of the day. We went right back to our schoolwork and had to just push it down... and people wonder why Generation X is so nihilistic...
А я учился в 8-м классе. Помню этот запуск и эту ужасную аварию. Космос - это всегда опасно. Соболезнование всем родственникам пострадавших в той катастрофе.
Was home from school that morning, was watching it with my mom. She was a huge space fan. The folks on the radio sound so calm and controlled even after they just witnessed the disaster. I can only imagine what was going through their minds at the time.
My wife and I work at the airport, and as we were about to leave, I was watching the launch when it exploded. I exclaimed "the shuttle just exploded" and we both stood in absolute disbelief. God rest their souls ... 😢 🙏
It sounds like you have a better understanding of a shuttle explosion than eternity. Just because you die, or die in a violent manner, has no bearing on the overused falsity...RIP. Does everyone just go to heaven? Not really. The reality is Jesus said FEW will enter heaven by the narrow road and the wide road that most people will take leads to eternal destruction. The Bible says examine yourself to see if you are indeed saved. I suggest you begin there.
@LJ-gn2un, I remember actually being in Elementary school watching it live. It was an especially important mission of course because of the "Payload Specialist - Christa McAuliffe" who was also a Teacher. In my classroom there were some kids quietly crying, back then female Teachers were numerous and many were like "Moms" to us. They had turned off the TV's and the Principal had informed students that if they needed them, the Counselors and himself were available to talk. After a little while our Teacher turned the lights back on and began to get us back to our subject. It was a very sad time and eventually after learning more about what happened, I had become disgusted with "management" which ultimately is what led to this disaster after some Engineers warned of this outcome if they tried to fly under those conditions. There were huge icicles 6 foot long & longer on the launchpad/equipment early that morning and though it began to melt it was still much colder than previous launches at just a few degrees above freezing. The launch had been delayed several times already but that was no reason to put lives at risk "for the cameras."
That vehicle never should never have left the drawing board. NASA: “Let’s have a space vehicle with no astronaut escape system for SEVEN astronauts. What could possibly go wrong?
Me too. I mean, I still cry. (I saw it on TV in Minnesota.) This was one of those moments when a current event became a personal tragedy for everyone. I was an Apollo kid, and like a lot of us, I grew up thinking our space program was the pinnacle of engineering perfection. I was obsessed with space flight. This disaster tore away that childish piece of me. I first learned about it from someone at work who was laughing about it. I wanted to beat him mercilessly. He was a customer, so I couldn't. (My values were different then.) Here's an unexpected part of the emotional impact I felt: I had never cried at a presidential speech about anything, and, sorry to say, I hated Reagan in those days, but his his speech about them slipping the surly bonds of Earth and touching the face of God really helped me heal. He perfectly expressed what I was feeling. His speech was cathartic, and I cried all the way through it. I felt like I was at my best friend's funeral, and the whole world was in attendance. I felt like I was one of Christa McAuliffe's students. It felt ok to be as sad as I was. It was such a powerfully emotional disaster, and I decided that day that Reagan really wasn't so bad. I felt my president was human, and I needed to hear that from him. No matter what else he did after that day (even Iran-Contra), I could never hate him. I could never again see him as the bad guy, or in any black or white terms. I still think that's a weird way to learn that aspect of maturity, from a president I didn't like and his response to a tragedy that devastated me. I hope I will always take life's lessons as they come. Sorry - this is far more than a reply to your old comment, but my eyes are all watery, and I suddenly had a lot to say. If you're still reading all this, thank you! I think there are an awful lot of us who get all teary-eyed about this tragedy.
Thank you for sharing your memories Joseph. I can't even imagine how must have been to witness this first hand. It's interesting how tragedies like these bring people together, we are all sons and daughters of this Pale Blue Dot. Take care everyone. Per Aspera Ad Astra
I was in freshman Algebra class watching this happen real time. My teacher had gone to college with Christa and had remained friends with her over the years. When it happened, my teacher screamed and passed out. When she came to , she thought it was a dream and unfortunately, we had to tell her that it wasn’t. She began crying and we, as a class gave her a group hug as best we could. It had to be horrible watching a good friend die like that. God rest their souls
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
I remember it very clearly. I was watching it on a small tv in the kitchen. My parents were out. I saw the SRB's separate early and unusual and thought that was wrong. Then I waited for the shuttle to appear out of the smoke. It never did. When my parents came home, I told them the shuttle blew up. Those memories will never go away!
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
@@ChargersCity If there is a god, why did he let this happen? And if it had to happen, why did he not take Rhea Seddon, a wicked person who tortured and murdered many of god's beautiful creatures on one of her shuttle flights.
@@Sootaroot You’re absolutely right, “god” is really just a fictional character people like to believe controls things like a puppet. The reality is, we’re alone and we all make our own decisions. They want people “to tell everyone you know” because religion is the world’s biggest MLM scam. If someone said “oh I talk to my invisible friend all the time and he controls aspects of my life” that person would be considered crazy. Why aren’t these people considered the same?!
I just can’t imagine how traumatized Christine’s students were after this… for one she seemed like a very beloved teacher, kind, ambitious, giving…. And then for most of them to probably have seen this live….. Omg
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
It was a ridiculous idea to have a civilian teacher on board the shuttle. It was a publicity stunt to gain a wider audience for the shuttle. And it cost the teacher her life.
I remember this so well. I was at work and one of our customers called and said the Shuttle just blew up. That’s all that was on TV for months. God rest the crew of Challenger.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I remember well too. Also at work, waiting near the customer service waiting area tv for parts pickup. Loved watching all the launches, just happened to be back in the dealership st that moment. That flaring burn from what turned out to be the o ring looked out of place, I didn’t feel right watching it, only had the seconds it was on screen to say “that doesn’t look...” and it blew apart before I said “good”... Stunned and silent like seeing a mortal car accident just happen, don’t remember if there was a customer sitting there, if they were i can’t imagine how conflicted they felt from what i sai out loud. One of those “omg i shouldn’t have said” moments, but more horrible
@@steveschu the flame escaping from the failed o ring has been the excuse for years now. The flame visible on the cut away shot viewing the shuttles port side was a common angle on other launches, is immediately obviously not “normal” nor does the flame motion there look normal. “The flaring burn FROM... “ I wrote.. read it again
Всем покорителям космоса большое уважение. И всем погибшим царствие небесное. Это смелые люди. Помню как переживал вместе со всем миром, когда взорвался Челленджер. Мне было 10 лет.
Момент взрыва показали в программе Время. Мне было 12лет. Уже позже был вопрос : если челнок выдерживает температуру разогрева от трения о воздух на скорости ~28000 км/ч, то почему он моментально исчез при воспламенении топлива в баке? Или с воспламенением топлива взрыв был и внутри челнока?
I remember watching the first shuttle launch, and I always watched anytime after that. I lived in Orlando for awhile in early 80’s and love the shuttle breaking the sound barrier coming home.
I was in 6th grade watching this live with my teacher and classmates. It was the first time I ever saw a man cry since this brought my teacher to tears. My class, along with the 5th and 4th grade class was sent outside to the playground for a while so the teachers could come up with what you say and how to discuss things with us.
Those technicians helping them put the helmet/suits minutes before launching . I bet they were shocked 😢 when minutes after it exploded. The crazy feeling when you just saw someone and minutes after they are gone is beyond shocking.
I’m pretty sure they don’t get in Just Minutes before launch, it’s usually a couple hours at the longest- to get the rocket ready for the last pre flight checks.
Despite initial appearances, Challenger never exploded. The jet of flame escaping from the joint on the right SRB, due to the failed o-rings, cut through the lower SRB to External Tank mount. This caused the right SRB to swing into the external tank, causing the latter to collapse - its fuel, no longer contained in the tank, igniting into a fireball nowhere near hot enough to compete with the temperatures the orbiter faces on re-entry. Rather, it was the violent forces placed on orbiter from the right SRB changing direction and the collapse of the extertal fuel tank, that caused it to rip apart, leaving the most structurally reinforced part of the orbiter - the crew cabin, to fall back to earth - intact. Challenger's crew was still alive until the moment the crew cabin hit the Atlantic ocean.
I remember how shocking it was! My hubby was done with his night shift he didn’t go to sleep so we could watch the shuttle launch! I allowed my children to stay home from school to watch it with us! It was going to be history in the making and wanted them to remember it! Well it was historic but not in the way we thought it would go! Thank you for service you the fallen!
I was 5 when this happened. I got home from school to see my mom crying historically, I unknowing what happened, she grabbed me and held me so tight I couldn't breathe. I was very scared. It wasn't until watching the continued video loops of the takeoff and explosion on news that I began to understand and get emotional. To this day, little things remind me of that day and my eyes well up with tears. This tragedy was a defining point for our family. My father was a lead engineer on B1B-Lancer program with Rockwell International. After this, Rockwell was awarded the contract for the shuttle (orbiter) build out and maintenance program. He was brought onto the program as one of the main electrical plumbing engineers and worked on every shuttle. I grew up seeing much of the shuttles, pictures from inside lined our hallway walls, him shaking hands with crew members inside (full white suits and booties) while they were touring and inspecting. I was even at the roll-out of Endeavor. The loss of Colombia later was hard on everyone. It is with great responsibility and dedication that each and everyone working on the shuttle program had for the safety of the life the shuttle carried... I witnessed the impact on emotional health this had on my father years to come and to this day.
I feel the need to get this out also. Something I have not see discussed is how much of the men and women, either astronauts, or support crew and engineers, probably did and continue to have emotional and psychological impacts from these disasters that, because of the stigma of needing help with mental health during those years, went untreated. In what I saw first-hand is they found other unhealthy means to release (self harm, alcoholism, agression).
The one thing I never liked about the shuttle was the inability to escape a catastrophe prior to the SRB separation. At least with Apollo, they had the escape tower.
The shuttle had an abort mechanism and escape maneuver capable of separating the shuttle from the external fuel tank. However, with the Challenger disaster, the crew and Mission Control didn’t really have any indication there was a problem until the external fuel tank exploded. Which was why the system was never activated.
the shuttle abort modes are useless if something happens to the actual shuttle itself, like a wing being damaged. and mission control DID know about the problem, infact this entire disaster would have been prevented if nasa actually LISTENED TO ITS ENGINEERS@@vaopr1012
It's infuriating to see the photos of the frozen-over equipment (such as that at 18:50) and realize this was completely ignored in the rush to launch. Those images should have caused any reasonable person or persons to understand that the flight should be delayed IMO.
@@zachthomas7810 it was though. The SRB engineers said the temp was too low to launch and it was dangerous. The management went over their heads and you see the result.
It pisses me off too, you see all that ice and it’s like, why the fuck did you think this is safe?! The shuttles were delicate birds, just look at Columbia, wet foam killed 7 people! Yeah yeah, I know, high speed + wet and heavy foam was like a grenade to the wing, that just proves how shuttles were very delicate and being covered in ice is a BAD thing. Would you take your... laptop outside, spray it with a little water on a cold night, let it freeze then thaw it out? No, it’d probably be dead when you try and turn it on! I don’t see how anyone can argue that a little ice the night before isn’t bad when the Challenger completely shit the bed after it froze over the night before! NASA completely fucked themselves with Challenger.... I was a little kid in my classroom and our teacher brought in the TV (again and again... remember, the launches kept getting scrubbed for what felt like 100 times) so we could watch the Challenger launch a teacher into space but what we did witness was the highly publicized and beloved cute darling little teacher BLOW UP right before our eyes! Smooth move NASA.... if you wanted to make an impression on us kids then... mission accomplished?
I am still in tears every time I see this. All that time ago, you wouldn't think it would get me but it does. Be one thing it if it was one of those "How the hell did that happen" things, but I can't imagine how the people who begged them NOT to launch felt, knowing they were ignored and they launched it anyway.
I always thought Judy Resnik wa cute and tiny,she did,nt talk much,but I have no doubt that she was probably l a great astronaut Rest in Peace to all of them🎉❤ 7:41
I was there when this happened. I was 6 at the time. I didn't understand what happened but when I saw my dad & sister cry, I knew something was wrong. It sucks that the patience of Larry Malloy pressuring the Morton Thiokol management to get the launch was a huge factor in this tragedy.
Agreed, search for videos by Roger Boisjoly & Allan J McDonald regarding the Challenger tragedy. They both offer information that will curl your hair. So sad, so avoidable. These two men, both gone are Hero’s of the highest level. Also information on the Columbia tragedy. It still makes my blood boil.
@@jimwiskus8862 Makes my blood boil that Boisjoly and McDonald paid a steep price for telling the truth about what they knew. I think it was Reagans chief of staff that forced the launch.
I saw an interview with Larry Malloy from late in his life in which he said that he did the right thing and would do the exact same thing if he had to do it over again. He views the astronauts as expendable, their lives simply the cost of efficient space travel - no different than the dollars spent by NASA. He is, in a word, a sociopath.
Was at work. United Technologies CSD which provided the IUS rocket stage for the TDRS payload onboard that day. Weeks before some of the crew came to visit. I remember shaking Judy Resnick's hand. She was so tiny.
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever😊
@@godandpatriotsdream Exactement. J’avais 11 ans quand ce dramatique accident a eu lieu. J’étais fan de Jean Michel Jarre à cette époque. Il devait faire un concert à Huston et effectivement jouer en duplex terre/espace avec Ron Mc Nair. Lors du spectacle il a joué ce morceau en rendant hommage à tout l’équipage. Aujourd’hui Netflix diffuse « le dernier vol de Challenger ». Je le regarde en boucle. Ainsi j’ai l’impression que ces 7 astronautes sont encore parmi nous
What’s so tragic is the manager in charge of the O rings was literally overruled and sent home when he argued that the vehicle would explode if launched and no one was held accountable. I was one of the children sitting in a classroom that watched all those people die that cold January morning so NASA wouldn’t be embarrassed and possibly loose funding if they delayed the launch again!
@@virgilhilts3924 aerodynamic breakup? Are you an idiot! The O ring failed because it was to cold and not pliable! Which was clearly written in the acceptable operating temperatures. You think using fancy words makes your comment any less idiotic? It doesn’t NASA don’t want to be embarrassed again by just waiting on the weather. Kind of ironic for a room full of pilots and went ahead with a flight with fingers crossed and people died! But if it makes you feel better to say they had a aerodynamic breakout? America is a freedom of speech country no matter how stupid the comments are
I witnessed this in real time on a small B&W Television on my desk at work. 8 seconds after the explosion I knew what everyone on earth feared. No matter how advanced we become, mortal animals with large brains is what we will always be. Rest In Peace, the 5 human crew of STS-51L. Your sacrifice was not in vain 🇺🇲
I was attending Manchester Community College, in Manchester CT, at the time. I was on my way to my astronomy class when I heard this on the car radio. Because I had to get to class, it was the first time I missed watching a shuttle launch. When I arrived on campus and told my professor - a German - what had just happened, paraphrasing, he replied nonchalantly "Well, these things happen." He was an opponent of the manned space program, and believed that we should only be doing robotic exploration. The fact that seven lives had just been snuffed out apparently did not phase him in the least. Needles to say, but I was no fan of the man after he revealed himself to be possessed of such cold indifference.
Профессор был прав. Колумбия тому пример. Самое гнусное в том, что не были наказаны люди оказывающие давление на взлёт шаттла в этот день. 3 раза до этого был перенос старта.
I just can't imagine being the ones that had to deal with them one on one helping them suit up. The people going out to the site in the mini van. Such a heart breaking day for sure 💔.
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.[1][2] The mission, designated STS-51-L, was the 10th flight for the orbiter and the 25th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. The crew was scheduled to deploy a communications satellite and study Halley's Comet while they were in orbit, in addition to taking schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe into space under the Teacher In Space program. The latter resulted in a higher-than-usual media interest and coverage of the mission; the launch and subsequent disaster were seen live in many schools across the United States. The cause of the disaster was the failure of the primary and secondary redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle's right solid rocket booster (SRB). The record-low temperatures on the morning of the launch had stiffened the rubber O-rings, reducing their ability to seal the joints. Shortly after liftoff, the seals were breached, and hot pressurized gas from within the SRB leaked through the joint and burned through the aft attachment strut connecting it to the external propellant tank (ET), then into the tank itself. The collapse of the ET's internal structures and the rotation of the SRB that followed threw the shuttle stack, traveling at a speed of Mach 1.92, into a direction that allowed aerodynamic forces to tear the orbiter apart. Both SRBs detached from the now-destroyed ET and continued to fly uncontrollably until the range safety officer destroyed them. The crew compartment, human remains, and many other fragments from the shuttle were recovered from the ocean floor after a three-month search-and-recovery operation. The exact timing of the deaths of the crew is unknown, but several crew members are thought to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. The orbiter had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable. The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle program. President Ronald Reagan created the Rogers Commission to investigate the accident. The commission criticized NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes that had contributed to the accident. Test data since 1977 demonstrated a potentially catastrophic flaw in the SRBs' O-rings, but neither NASA nor SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol had addressed this known defect. NASA managers also disregarded engineers' warnings about the dangers of launching in cold temperatures and did not report these technical concerns to their superiors. As a result of this disaster, NASA established the Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, and arranged for deployment of commercial satellites from expendable launch vehicles rather than from a crewed orbiter. To replace Challenger, the construction of a new Space Shuttle orbiter, Endeavour, was approved in 1987, and the new orbiter first flew in 1992. Subsequent missions were launched with redesigned SRBs and their crews wore pressurized suits during ascent and reentry.
This is sad in every sense. When humans put money and politics before other human lives then, it shows just how evil some people are! RIP Challenger crew from us here in 🏴
Money is always put before human lives, especially in the transportation industry.. it was nasa, but it was still a transportation business for military satellite hardware.. if the ship has a schedule, then it’s gotta go.
The issue was that management decided they knew better about the rocket then the engineers, so they forced the teams to launch STS-51L in far too cold weather. This tragedy could have been avoided if they delayed it even a month or so. No one wanted anyone to get hurt, just pour management decisions...
Money and greed comes before the life of every living thing on planet Earth. That is why species are being wiped out at an alarming rate. At lease 1 every 15 seconds. And that is just in the Amazon.
I was in the Army at Ft.Leonard Wood, Mo. that day, heard about the explosion on the service truck radio. I also seen on the news that morning that the launch site in Florida was frozen that morning, had ice sickles everywhere. Some of the experts did say the launch should've been postponed that very morning.
I agree. Allot of people think it exploded, no, it broke apart, and the astronauts had backup air supplies on so they were likely alive till they hit the water
@@Surrenitie yup it came apart like dropping a Lego set but actually their crew cabin didn't loose the air pressure they were very unlucky to know their fate
@@janefeeney373 The Shuttle only had ejection seats for the first few flights, and it wasn't till this event that it became standard procedure to (correct me if i'm wrong) bail out the side hatch
@@Surrenitie doubt you could bail out at over 200 mph. Or survive being ejected. They needed to slow down before attempting anything. It’s so horribly tragic.
@@jul30ie they actually made this special curved pole that you attached to the side, and you'd bail out and ride along the curved pole to give you enough room to clear the wing. Crazy stuff
Probably for the first time since Harrow and Wealdstone did we mourn for the machine as well as the crew. RIP to the brave seven who went up but tragically never came back down.
@@bobbank74 Yes, it’s a totally obscure reference (no idea why the OP made the link) but there was the worse peacetime train crash in Britain on 8th October 1952. I know this random fact as my father in law was a lad back then and visited the scene of the accident after it had happened.
@@bobbank74so what happened was, a passenger train being pulled by a Fowler 2-6-4T was at Harrow and Wealdstone. It was 17 minutes late due to fog, Meanwhile the Perth to Euston night express being pulled by City of Glasgow was running late also due to fog. And coming from another direction is a double header express being pulled by Windward Island and the Turbomotive (then Princess Anne), City of Glasgow then crashes into the rear of the stopped train at Harrow, causing the 3 wooden carriages at the end of the train to telescope into one another. Then the express train trips over the already terrible collision wreck, and ads further insult to injury. Though we did get Duke of Gloucester out of it. It’s still sad to think about how many people were killed in that terrible accident.
Two editing observations : The footage of the engines being gimballed about 19:30 is NOT from 51-L, but an earlier launch. Also the sequence at 20:48 is actually the STS-6 Challenger launch from 1983, not 1986. (Look up the 1983 NASA film We Deliver). Not looking for argument or controversy, just space geek technical observations.
You might be correct you might be incorrect....the bottom line is it doesn’t matter they were just trying to illustrate what is happening at these time time stamps in the launch sequence....stop trying to start a conspiracy theory for the unimaginative.
@@wartwyndhaven from watching videos of all the launches years ago. Also I’d commend to your viewing the NASA film “We Deliver” made in 1983 about flights STS-5 through STS-8, which is also on UA-cam. Look around 5 minutes in for the STS-6 launch. As for the black and white view of the engines during the gimbal check, you notice there’s quite a lot of lox vapors but all the video from the day of the actual 51-L flight had pretty minimal venting. Not trying to gin up any controversies, just pointing out some of the footage is from previous flights, that’s all. Some of us space geeks have an observant eye for those kinds of things ;-)
I wish there was audio from mission control before the launch. You can hear Gene Thomas and others talking to the crew as they prepare for liftoff. The only time we see it was on that documentary, "Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes."
I remember this day as if it were yesterday. It’s truly saddening for families of the Astronauts but engineers who knew The frigid temps at KSC was a disaster in the making. Yet again in 2003 NASA didn’t think foam coming of external fuel tank striking the orbiter at supersonic speeds was worth checking left wing. Both accidents were preventable with minor delays. R.I.P to all those lost aboard Challenger and Columbia!
With Columbia it would have been a LONG delay because if NASA wanted to do something to repair the shuttle it might have force them to send another shuttle to either make repairs or get the team.
@@Capri_00 He's talking about avoiding accident in the first place, not trying to bring them back from orbit alive. Coming off pieces of insulation and ice, as well hitting and damage to orbiter were well known to anyone at NASA. This was expeienced on most of the STS flights and was a regular occurrence. Even an idiot would knew it would be a matter of time serious/fatal damage will happen. But NASA hoped it will be fine, because "it happened before and everything looked all right".
@@override7486 keeping an entire crew in space longer than expected is dangerous. Either way, these horrible accidents and lives lost only pave the way for future generations and new discoveries.
And Apollo 1. Everyone didn't think 100 % oxygen at 15 PSI and a spark would be dangerous. It was done that way from the start of the Mercury program through the end of the Gemini Program
I was 14. Had just moves back to Norway after 7 years in the states so I very much felt american. This was amazing. Nobody cared at all here in Norway, but I sure did. Had nobody to talk to about it cause most people were `screw USA`. They can have this tragedy. Doesn’t Bother me the slightest. I was really alone coming to terms with this disaster. Not even my family really cared cause Olaf Palme, the Swedish prime minister was shot and killed at the same time, whi h dominated the news here for years. Challenger not worth shit.
I was a junior in high school when this happened, at home sick with the flu. The network news cut in and a few minutes later my mother called from work. I still remember right where I was that day. So sad.
It's interesting to note that in the time after this video was made, it was determined that it was not a faulty design that caused the accident, but faulty management at NASA.
it wasn't a faulty design, but it wasn't the best design. Early versions of the Space Shuttle concept had a better plan for the booster rockets, but NASA opted for the SRBs which were segmented together using the o-ring seals, which failed on the Challenger due to the cold weather that day kepting them from seating properly and sealing the joints.
I was living in the USSR then. It was small, but I remember that day. My parents were shocked by this disaster. Many in our country have grieved with you. This is a terrible tragedy.
Maybe. Or maybe the concerns about the hard freeze and the O-rings were with him as he strapped in. Maybe his last thought behind his "uh oh" was _there it is._
I was a first grader, we watched it live in our class with several other classes joining us. I think I realized what had happened before my teacher could process it. She was in shock.
@@FerociousPancake888 It is speculation. There is evidence to suggest that at least several crew members were conscious at the moment of breakup, but there's absolutely no way to know if any were conscious or alive when the crew compartment hit the water. Anyone saying anything to the contrary is being dishonest.
and why else recalling going to Orlando opening of WDW EPCOT to get to the Kennedy Space Center And seeing the ORANGE BOOSTER OUT THERE IN THE WINTER TRULY PRAYED before this
The Accident Board determined that the crew survived the explosion, the crew cabin was seen falling from the sky, but the crew died instantly when the crew cabin hit the water at high speeds.
@@backfromcuba yep there were plans to have the orbiter cockpit be a makeshift lifeboat and separate via explosive bolts and then parachute to the ground at a safe speed, but was canned due to the expense and complexity of the plan. The first initial test flights of the shuttle had 2 ACES ejection seats for the 2 test pilots/astronauts but were then replaced when the shuttles started orbit ops.
The accident report did not determine that. At least one of the astronauts was alive but they were all unconscious or deceased before impact with the ocean.
Comment and a question: The conclusion was that the O-ring failed, but that seems like a politically expedient way of saying "we launched when the temperature was far below what we knew the manufacturer had certified or intended for safe operation." The question is about possible abort modes. Until this happened, I just assumed the orbiter could separate at any time and glide back to Earth if something went wrong, but for the past 35 years, I have never once heard anybody address this kind of abort. The burn-through went on long enough that, had some sort of hypothetical sensor detected the problem, there should have been plenty of time to separate the orbiter from the ET (with or without jettisoning the SRBs first), and since they were still just a few miles away from KSC, land safely. Has anybody heard this type of abort mode considered, before or after the Challenger tragedy? In my head, it seems a simple way to get the crew and orbiter away from the failing launch system. Why didn't they do it? Why didn't they add that as an abort mode after this disaster? I really want to know. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm not a rocket scientist.
If you look up "Everyday Astronaut Abort System", one of them explained why they can't detach before the SRB's, I unfortunately don't remember the exact one Hope that helped
INot a scientist either ! Just a guess… think it has to be strapped in order to get propel enough to break through the barrier from earth to space. . Then once it’s separated & orbiting in space, it is able to reenter earth and act more like a plane. I’m just becoming interested in this in recent years & I had no idea it wasn’t more technical (for example, something with the capabilities you suggested)
@@JasperHuskyFox Thanks for the tip. I'm sorry I missed this when you posted it. He says that the kind of abort I was asking about would put the orbiter right into the fire plume from the SRB's. That sorta makes sense to me, but it's not a satisfying answer. It seems they could engineer a separation maneuver to happen at the same time the orbiter disconnected. I dunno. I'm no engineer. It's a lot more than I knew a few minutes ago though. Thanks again! @Mimi Ramone I think this might be a good answer for you too. There really isn't a barrier between Earth and space, just a dwindling amount of air. But there is an awful lot of fire shooting out of those boosters.
All abort modes for the shuttle (both before and after the Challenger accident) require that the stack make it to SRB separation. Any structural failure before SRB separation was guaranteed to result in loss of crew and vehicle (LOCV). Almost all of the planned abort scenarios centered on various combinations of orbiter main engine failures, whereas an SRB failure or structural failure was not considered to be a survivable accident. In the Challenger situation, even if the stack could have made it to SRB separation, the resultant abort mode that would have been tried is called the return-to-launch-site abort (RTLS). This abort mode was risky, dangerous, untested, and extremely difficult to execute. NASA considered trying an RTLS abort before putting the shuttle in orbit to see if it would work, and John Young (STS-1 commander) talked them out of it, telling them "you don't practice Russian roulette". NASA engineer Stephen Fleming said that an RTLS abort “required continuous miracles interspersed with acts of God to be successful.” Challenger was doomed the moment the SRB seal failed (or the moment NASA decided to launch, your choice).
@@somejoe7777 Yep, my question was why not separate the orbiter at the first sign of failure, and I got the answer. It puts the orbiter in the SRB fire plume, which is not survivable. (I don't know if it's dynamic forces of tumbling or heat/blast damage, but that's the answer I got.) I suspected it was a simple answer, and it was. All this talk about the likelihood of success of RTLS aborts is of course valid, but doing nothing resulted in death. An abort is by definition a last-ditch life-saving effort, and having no guarantee of success is acceptable in that situation. I wanted to know why nothing was attempted.
They actually didn’t disintegrate in the sky at that moment, the crew cabin did manage to escape and when it hit the water at 200 mph, it just shattered, which they should’ve add some sort of parachute.
I saw this live from a place in Argentina called "Balcarce", it was the end of a summer vacation, I was 11 years old, I still remember it as if it were today, it was something terrible.
Interesting that they do not include the crew compartment as debris that was recovered at 38:40, even though that part of the orbiter was found and the bodies of the 7 crew were recovered ? Assume that they did not want the public to see images of the crushed crew cabin that entombed the crew.
well the crew cabin struck the water intact, but did not remain so, so the remains (not intact bodies) were exposed to wildlife, and they weren't in their pressure suits, which might have remained intact, but regular flightsuits. like Greg Jarvis for instance was not found until several weeks after the rest of the crew was, and although the identifiable remains were turned over to the families, there was still a lot of unidentifiable remains and that is buried at the challenger monument at arlington. As far as I know, there does exist extensive photography of the crew cabin both with and without remains, however, it is classified, and one person did sue for the release of those photos and got like 40 some photos released to him and that scumbag put them into a coffee table book which can be purchased for 200$. That is not a typo, that's two hundred dollars. I am not sure if the nasa spaceflight forum has any in their subscription archives because I haven't bought a subscription yet, but I plan to whether it has challenger in it or not, it is rumored to be an incredible amount of information.
Read up, they placed the remains in plastic containers and smuggled them onshore to his from the coroner, why? NASA has become another government mess, it’s all arse coverage.
@@AFuller2020 How about you read up. Yes the remains were put into plastic containers but that was to preserve the bodies in the environment they had been in for weeks as to preserve evidence. Also, they wanted to avoid a media frenzie over the remains.
27:16 the reason it took this long to produce a visable flame, the solid fuel burns from the center to the outside, was reaching the end of booster use.
It’s to bad there wasn’t some sort of parachutes for the cabin that did separate from the orbiter. Perhaps it was going too fast for them to safely deploy? Challenger was 9 miles in altitude at 73 seconds. I don’t know how many chutes would have been required. I know the Apollo capsule used 3 chutes. Perhaps the speed of the separated crew compartment would have slowed as it continued forward. Apollos chutes deployed at 10K I believe at about 175 mph slowing to 22 mph before splashing down. I don’t know if they ever got this accomplished for future shuttle flights? Obviously they should have listened to the engineers who wanted to launch that afternoon. Hindsight is always 20/20.
There were plans to make the crew cabin as a lifeboat that would seperate if there was an issue that would cause loss of crew and spacecraft. However it never got past the planning stages due to the complexity, expense and overall mass of the design.
One to two missions before this flight, NASA had made the decision to remove the parachutes from the crew cabin.....said it was too much weight and that they didn't need it anyhow as there had never been an issue before this flight, so it didn't make sense to them to continue using and having a parachute on the crew cabin etc.
I'm sure there were a lot of mixed emotions for the crew and assistants. The launch was scrubbed three times prior to this launch. It means the crew had been all suited up and ready to go but then cancelled..
Quel moment triste que de voir la destruction en direct !😢 Il est vrai que pour l'amélioration des systèmes il faut parfois et malheureusement des moments comme celui ci ! Cette incident à provoquer des améliorations et des changements incroyable, merci a c'est héros pour leurs don de vie qui a permis aux spécialistes de perfectionnés les différentes composantes. " merci de nous partager c'est images ". 👍🏼🎸🤟🏼
a break-away pressurized crew cabin, complete with a righting system of some kind, chutes, o2 supply and means of flotation. but only in my ideal world
Or better idea: Get rid of the stupid, dangerous Rube Goldberg machine called the Space Shuttle and don't use solid rocket boosters on a man-rated spacecraft.
They had those before and brought them back after this nonsense. This is on NASA, they were warned but it was all about how they appeared in the eyes of the public. It was complete b.s., no other way to put it.
@42:45 It appears NASA isn't aware of the known geometrical shape Isosceles Trapezoid. Putting the audio from two takes in certain places also makes humanity glad we have SpaceX now.
It’s amazing to me that given the increasing velocity of Challenger that the plume from the right SRM was able to maintain its focus on the external tank. You would think given that increasing velocity would have caused the plume to be forced away from the tank towards the nozzles. Apparently the leak from the SRM had more velocity than the orbiter, ET & SRMs combined.
But this is not a water bottle or can of coke. There are enormous kind of energy and pressures involved during an engine run. Velocities of mass ejected out of a nozzle are probably several times greater than STS moving in that moment. Must be if you want to use it as propulsion motor to reach escape velocity (and orbit).
I was referring to the leaking field joint that that eroded the external tank away until it collapsed. The nozzles you refer to are south of this joint. So I would hope the building velocity of the 2 SRM’s not to mention 3 RS25 engines on the orbiter would be greater than the faulty joint. The 2 SRM’s push the orbiter to 146K’. The 3 RS25 engines push it to orbit. We are hardly talking about cans of coke here.
@@jimwiskus8862 The force that keeps the plumes narrow is the atmospheric pressure. When the shuttle (or any rocket, see modern film of the SpaceX Falcon 9) first launches, the plumes from the engines exit straight back from the vehicle. Atmospheric pressure is constricting the plume flow, keeping it narrow and straight. As the vehicle gains altitude, the atmospheric pressure drops, and starts to drop precipitously fast after the Max-Q point. The plumes begin to spread out and get wider due to the falling atmospheric pressure, and the plumes lose their orange color as the partial pressure of oxygen drops because unburned fuel in the exhaust no longer continues ignition in the plume. In this case, as the shuttle gained altitude, the plume from the leak actually began to spread out and impinge on more of the vehicle structure. Another way to look at it is that even though velocity is increasing, there is simply thinner and thinner air as you get higher, and the "wind" isn't enough to push the plume anywhere.
Even though the Primary and Secondary O-rings were burnt away within seconds after launch, the theory is that slag from the burning solid fuel of the SRB had temporarily plugged the space between the solid rocket sections, which was a very small space. It seems the Max Q and the wind shear forces had put a considerable amount of side forces on the vehicle. Those forces did not exceed normal lateral forces, but it's suggested that the slag had broken lose allowing the tremendous pressure (900 psi) to literally blow torch a hole in the side of the booster. The hole initially was small, but unfortunately it grew as the metal booster casing melted away. It only makes sense that the hole was getting to the point where it no longer was affected by any passing air velocities and then burnt the hole in the LH2 tank right next to the booster which I would imagine is only a few feet away. The hole was enough to not only decrease the nozzle pressure of the R/H SRB, but enough to start effecting the steering of the entire shuttle assembly. That is a lot of pressure. The hole being approx. 27" X 15" or 405 Sq Inches X 900 PSI = 364500 lbs. of total pressure escaping at it's largest. Makes sense why it happened so quickly and was affecting the trajectory of the entire assembly.
Amazing they were able to make out the crew cabin and nose in tact after the explosion. Also amazing that they survived the blast for a few moments until downfall
This was no accident. This was arrogance. Engineers warned and warned about this very occurrence was going to take place and NASA management didn’t listen. Totally needless deaths. :(
That's always the way it is...They always close the barn door AFTER. the horses have been set loose. Those seven astronauts trusted NASA with their lives, and NASA basically said---Who cares, let 's get going with this launch.
This was the day I started work as a 1st year apprentice (And I still work for the same company, after 3 name changes and being bought out) - I woke up to the news that morning, and watched it on the news
Watching them enter the shuttle gave me the creeps i wanted to yell at them dont go in the shuttle its gonna explode turn around its heartbreaking i was in 4th grade when this happened we were all watching on tv then when the shuttle exploded we all said why are the rockets doing that? And the teacher cut the tv off and ran out of the room then the principle came in and tried ro explain to us what happened we didnt understand it until we got home and our parents told us it was a very sad day ill never forget!!
The tragic thing is that silicone was available as a material for use instead of rubber. If a silicone seal was used instead of rubber, this would never have happened.
Thiokol had already designed a fix for the SRB field joints IIRC, so if a booster had been recovered with significant burn through I'm sure flights would have been grounded until the fix was implemented. No way they would have kept flying knowing it could be so significant. However it's doubtful that a flight with burn through that severe was survivable. Even if the burn through site had been pointed away from the external tank, you still have a rapidly growing hole in the booster that would either continually lose thrust until the control systems were unable to compensate, or even damage the structural integrity of the booster casing so much that it exploded. The loss of pressure inside the casing would have led to that booster burning out earlier than the other by several seconds, which sounds like it would be a very bad day indeed.
Apollo had parachutes which deployed when the capsule was landing. If the space shuttle had parachutes attached to the top of the cabin, perhaps it would have allowed the cabin to land safely in the ocean.
Unfortunately, no. The orbiter was completely destroyed in the explosion. The Shuttle orbiter had a much less effective abort system compared to both Apollo and other modern multi-stage rockets such as SLS, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy. The Shuttle's abort system was also limited to only small portions of the entire launch sequence. The majority of the time from launch to +2:00 did not have any opportunities for the Shuttle to abort. The bulk of Shuttle's safety in case of emergency relied on the idea that it was a glider that could land safely on its own without power. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, SLS, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy all have launch abort systems that carry the crew vehicle away in the fashion you're mentioning. Just one of the many reasons the Shuttle needed to be retired.
All that education, PHD’s late nights doing report’s for school, Your entire life busting your ass being educated to the max all thrown away riding a bottle rocket up five miles to a big explosion. I spent my life and career hanging on the back of a garbage truck and retired, making good pension and am able to enjoy the rest of my life fishing, camping, hiking, woodworking.
you're right that is so weird, I've seen other copies of this footage before, like 7 or 8 times, that wasn't in any of them, I know cus I remember specifically rewinding and rewatching that one part over and over.
The engineers warned NASA that something would likely happen if they launched in such cold weather, and NASA dismissed their concerns....What the hell is the point of having engineers if they're not going to listen to them? NASA failed the astronauts that day and again in 2003 when the Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. Fourteen people's lives were lost BECAUSE it's really not about safety, it's about the almighty buck and prestige . NASA ( which some at the time we're saying stood for "Need Another Seven Astronauts" ) is more careless with people's lives than they should be . Both of these tragedies could have been prevented if more care had been given to the safety of the missions.
and these were the engineers that actually worked on the SRBs, they knew them better that anyone, the temperture that day was only 6 degrees above freezing, NASA had never attempted a manned launch in that cold of weather before, the engineers strongley advised against it.They were ignored, 7 astronauts lost their lives.
While some have pointed to Reagan’s State of Union speech that evening as a reason, and even pointed out McAuliffe’s video lesson planned for the Sixth Day that needed to occur on a school day (Friday) - Ultimately, the decision to launch came down to individual motivations. Namely 5 individuals. Per Allan McDonald’s 2009 book, here were the likely reasons behind each: 1. Lawrence Larry Mulloy, NASA Solid rocket Program Mgr: the prior Shuttle launch in mid Jan 1986 of STS-61C Columbia had been delayed 3 times and scrubbed twice. One scrub was due to a transducer misreading in one of Larry’s SRBs. This month-long delay of 51C Columbia was counter to NASA’s and Larry’s stated goal to launch up to 12 times in 1986. Hence, Larry’s infamous statement of “When do you want to launch Thiokol, in April ?!??” 2. George Hardy, NASA Deputy Director of Science and Engineering, Marshall Flight Space Center: George made the infamous “I’m appalled, Morton Thiokol” statement during the end of the evening teleconference, which triggered the MTI leadership to caucus offline for 10min. George likely made that statement for the above Shuttle Program frequency goals as well. In addition, STS-51L Challenger had an extremely embarrassing scrub due to broken door-handle and lack of battery powered tool for the pad technicians. All broadcast on television the day before. 3. Stanley Reinartz, NASA Manager of the Shuttle Project Office, Marshall Flight Space Center: Stan’s predecessor showed much greater managerial authority & technical competency during Flight Readiness Reviews, but had retired in late 1985. Stan was brand new to the shuttle program(!) and seemingly followed Larry and George’s lean to launch. Ultimately if Stan’s predecessor had not retired, Morton Thiokol’s initial recommendation not to launch would likely have been heeded, per Allan McD’s book. In addition, it was Stan Reinartz who personally elected not to inform his NASA management @ KSC of the evening telecon; and many believe Stan shares the most blood on his hands along with Larry Mulloy. 4. Bob Lund and Jerry Mason - Morton Thiokol Manager and VP: NASA had been threatening in writing(!) to second source the SRB production starting in late 1986, much as they (Larry Mulloy) had steered the contract for recovered-SRB disassembly at KSC Bldg away from Lockheed & Thiokol over to Larry’s buddy’s company. There was also a large 3-Buy contract extension negotiation that Thiokol was negotiating in Dec-Jan 1986 with NASA, and Thiokol had already started capital $ investments in 1985 to increase production capacity at their Utah facilities to match the future 24 launch/year demand that NASA forecasted. ….Interestingly, Bob Lund and Jerry Mason’s “business hat” decisions differed from the “engineering hat” decision which Allan McDonald arrived at, despite Allen spending the prior 18 months trying to sell a new composite graphite ‘Filament Wound Case’ booster to the Air Force, for the DoD Shuttle launches. These new gen FWC boosters were to be tested at the new Vandenberg shuttle pad that very May 1986 and it weight savings would have allowed for an additional 5,000lb of DoD payload such as the anticipated Centaur-G shuttle payload. Allan had as much to lose business-wise as his superiors Bob Lund and Jerry Mason by requesting a change to NASA Launch Commit Criteria or complete SRB field joint re-design, but Allan fell on the correct ethical side of history.
I am sure the teacher was hella excited and had some serious butterflies as well. I remember watching this launch at hone in Virginia. It had snowed heavily the night before and we didn't have school th3 next day.
I was in 5th grade on the class of a Mrs. Hill. We, along with other classes had a TV cart wheeled in so we could watch this. As kids, we didnt really understand what we had witnessed, but there was a palpable sense of dread. I remember Mrs Hill gasping and then doing her best to compose herself for our sake. I remember a girl in my class whom I remember but will not name say "its not supposed to do that, is it?" I think all of us were hoping that we were all seeing something that would turn out to be nothing out of the ordinary and everthing was going to be fine. Its surreal how your mind can burn moments of trauma into your memory that never seem to fade after many decades. What a sad, somber, and world changing tragedy this was. I remember on the evening news that night, the anchor mentioned that the Soviet Government played one hour of American music on Soviet radio as a sign of respect and shared sorrow.
Same. I was 11 and the whole school watched in disbelief.
@michael7v6 and there was no going home for the rest of the day. We went right back to our schoolwork and had to just push it down... and people wonder why Generation X is so nihilistic...
My mom and dad witnessed the incident, while they were at school, and they said it wasn’t a good experience for them.
А я учился в 8-м классе. Помню этот запуск и эту ужасную аварию. Космос - это всегда опасно. Соболезнование всем родственникам пострадавших в той катастрофе.
Time of sorrows....
Was home from school that morning, was watching it with my mom. She was a huge space fan.
The folks on the radio sound so calm and controlled even after they just witnessed the disaster. I can only imagine what was going through their minds at the time.
My dad loved the space shuttles this launch shook him to his core
My wife and I work at the airport, and as we were about to leave, I was watching the launch when it exploded. I exclaimed "the shuttle just exploded" and we both stood in absolute disbelief. God rest their souls ... 😢 🙏
It sounds like you have a better understanding of a shuttle explosion than eternity. Just because you die, or die in a violent manner, has no bearing on the overused falsity...RIP. Does everyone just go to heaven? Not really. The reality is Jesus said FEW will enter heaven by the narrow road and the wide road that most people will take leads to eternal destruction. The Bible says examine yourself to see if you are indeed saved. I suggest you begin there.
@LJ-gn2un, I remember actually being in Elementary school watching it live. It was an especially important mission of course because of the "Payload Specialist - Christa McAuliffe" who was also a Teacher. In my classroom there were some kids quietly crying, back then female Teachers were numerous and many were like "Moms" to us. They had turned off the TV's and the Principal had informed students that if they needed them, the Counselors and himself were available to talk. After a little while our Teacher turned the lights back on and began to get us back to our subject.
It was a very sad time and eventually after learning more about what happened, I had become disgusted with "management" which ultimately is what led to this disaster after some Engineers warned of this outcome if they tried to fly under those conditions. There were huge icicles 6 foot long & longer on the launchpad/equipment early that morning and though it began to melt it was still much colder than previous launches at just a few degrees above freezing. The launch had been delayed several times already but that was no reason to put lives at risk "for the cameras."
@@Manbunmen65??? Huh
That vehicle never should never have left the drawing board. NASA: “Let’s have a space vehicle with no astronaut escape system for SEVEN astronauts. What could possibly go wrong?
really?
I saw it from Orlando Florida, I still Shed tears today when I watch the video. 🙏🏻🇺🇸
Me too. I mean, I still cry. (I saw it on TV in Minnesota.) This was one of those moments when a current event became a personal tragedy for everyone. I was an Apollo kid, and like a lot of us, I grew up thinking our space program was the pinnacle of engineering perfection. I was obsessed with space flight. This disaster tore away that childish piece of me. I first learned about it from someone at work who was laughing about it. I wanted to beat him mercilessly. He was a customer, so I couldn't. (My values were different then.)
Here's an unexpected part of the emotional impact I felt: I had never cried at a presidential speech about anything, and, sorry to say, I hated Reagan in those days, but his his speech about them slipping the surly bonds of Earth and touching the face of God really helped me heal. He perfectly expressed what I was feeling. His speech was cathartic, and I cried all the way through it. I felt like I was at my best friend's funeral, and the whole world was in attendance. I felt like I was one of Christa McAuliffe's students. It felt ok to be as sad as I was. It was such a powerfully emotional disaster, and I decided that day that Reagan really wasn't so bad. I felt my president was human, and I needed to hear that from him. No matter what else he did after that day (even Iran-Contra), I could never hate him. I could never again see him as the bad guy, or in any black or white terms. I still think that's a weird way to learn that aspect of maturity, from a president I didn't like and his response to a tragedy that devastated me. I hope I will always take life's lessons as they come.
Sorry - this is far more than a reply to your old comment, but my eyes are all watery, and I suddenly had a lot to say. If you're still reading all this, thank you! I think there are an awful lot of us who get all teary-eyed about this tragedy.
I woke up to it after working the night before
@@josephweiss1559 thank you for sharing your memory. I'm rewatching the documentaries it's tragic.
Thank you for sharing your memories Joseph. I can't even imagine how must have been to witness this first hand.
It's interesting how tragedies like these bring people together, we are all sons and daughters of this Pale Blue Dot.
Take care everyone.
Per Aspera Ad Astra
This was our JFK and 9/11 growing up. It was the Tuesday right after the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl.
I was in freshman Algebra class watching this happen real time. My teacher had gone to college with Christa and had remained friends with her over the years. When it happened, my teacher screamed and passed out. When she came to , she thought it was a dream and unfortunately, we had to tell her that it wasn’t. She began crying and we, as a class gave her a group hug as best we could. It had to be horrible watching a good friend die like that. God rest their souls
What was your teacher's name? You might have been there at the same time as my mom.
@@kebble2049Mrs.raspberrycock
Still alive!
How horrific. What a sad memory to carry. Wow.
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
I remember it very clearly. I was watching it on a small tv in the kitchen. My parents were out. I saw the SRB's separate early and unusual and thought that was wrong. Then I waited for the shuttle to appear out of the smoke. It never did. When my parents came home, I told them the shuttle blew up. Those memories will never go away!
Amen
Seeing tthem boarding the shuttle, knowing that they have stepped their last steps on earth forever is just... surreal.
Hindsight is 20/20
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
@@ChargersCity If there is a god, why did he let this happen? And if it had to happen, why did he not take Rhea Seddon, a wicked person who tortured and murdered many of god's beautiful creatures on one of her shuttle flights.
@@Sootaroot You’re absolutely right, “god” is really just a fictional character people like to believe controls things like a puppet. The reality is, we’re alone and we all make our own decisions. They want people “to tell everyone you know” because religion is the world’s biggest MLM scam.
If someone said “oh I talk to my invisible friend all the time and he controls aspects of my life” that person would be considered crazy. Why aren’t these people considered the same?!
God bless them 🙏
I just can’t imagine how traumatized Christine’s students were after this… for one she seemed like a very beloved teacher, kind, ambitious, giving…. And then for most of them to probably have seen this live….. Omg
Not to be rude, but only out of respect to her, her name was Christa. All the same, nice, thoughtful post ❤
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever
It was a ridiculous idea to have a civilian teacher on board the shuttle. It was a publicity stunt to gain a wider audience for the shuttle. And it cost the teacher her life.
@@ChargersCity… and that’s a valid statement right there now ?
Probably no more than the students of any dead teacher. You worried about them too?
I remember this so well. I was at work and one of our customers called and said the Shuttle just blew up. That’s all that was on TV for months. God rest the crew of Challenger.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
That's rather eery, come to think of it. RIP
I remember well too. Also at work, waiting near the customer service waiting area tv for parts pickup. Loved watching all the launches, just happened to be back in the dealership st that moment.
That flaring burn from what turned out to be the o ring looked out of place, I didn’t feel right watching it, only had the seconds it was on screen to say “that doesn’t look...” and it blew apart before I said “good”...
Stunned and silent like seeing a mortal car accident just happen, don’t remember if there was a customer sitting there, if they were i can’t imagine how conflicted they felt from what i sai out loud. One of those “omg i shouldn’t have said” moments, but more horrible
@@bsc4344See what? There is nothing visible pre launch. The o ring is internal.
@@steveschu the flame escaping from the failed o ring has been the excuse for years now. The flame visible on the cut away shot viewing the shuttles port side was a common angle on other launches, is immediately obviously not “normal” nor does the flame motion there look normal. “The flaring burn FROM... “ I wrote.. read it again
@bsc4344
There was no fire pre launch though.
37 years ago I watched this live as a 5 year old it's stuck in my mind ever since
Всем покорителям космоса большое уважение. И всем погибшим царствие небесное. Это смелые люди. Помню как переживал вместе со всем миром, когда взорвался Челленджер. Мне было 10 лет.
они полетели в космос а прилетели к богу
Момент взрыва показали в программе Время. Мне было 12лет. Уже позже был вопрос : если челнок выдерживает температуру разогрева от трения о воздух на скорости ~28000 км/ч, то почему он моментально исчез при воспламенении топлива в баке? Или с воспламенением топлива взрыв был и внутри челнока?
@@suhkaric крыло челнока пробивается пенопластом. Гугли авария колумбии
шаттл ущербная программа.
никакой системы безопасности. и никакой ответственности. только бизнес...
@@sergeysydorov5410 и какой же там бизнесс? На чем там и кто деньги делает?
I remember watching the first shuttle launch, and I always watched anytime after that. I lived in Orlando for awhile in early 80’s and love the shuttle breaking the sound barrier coming home.
I was in 6th grade watching this live with my teacher and classmates. It was the first time I ever saw a man cry since this brought my teacher to tears.
My class, along with the 5th and 4th grade class was sent outside to the playground for a while so the teachers could come up with what you say and how to discuss things with us.
What kind of a "MAN", CRIES?!
Those technicians helping them put the helmet/suits minutes before launching . I bet they were shocked 😢 when minutes after it exploded. The crazy feeling when you just saw someone and minutes after they are gone is beyond shocking.
I’m pretty sure they don’t get in Just Minutes before launch, it’s usually a couple hours at the longest- to get the rocket ready for the last pre flight checks.
Actually, once they are suited up they sit in the shuttle for quite some time before launch. I think it's a few hours.
@@djienf they do indeed . Around 2.5 hours
Despite initial appearances, Challenger never exploded. The jet of flame escaping from the joint on the right SRB, due to the failed o-rings, cut through the lower SRB to External Tank mount. This caused the right SRB to swing into the external tank, causing the latter to collapse - its fuel, no longer contained in the tank, igniting into a fireball nowhere near hot enough to compete with the temperatures the orbiter faces on re-entry. Rather, it was the violent forces placed on orbiter from the right SRB changing direction and the collapse of the extertal fuel tank, that caused it to rip apart, leaving the most structurally reinforced part of the orbiter - the crew cabin, to fall back to earth - intact. Challenger's crew was still alive until the moment the crew cabin hit the Atlantic ocean.
@@digitalutopia1 Them still being alive while all that happened is even worse, holy shit
I remember how shocking it was! My hubby was done with his night shift he didn’t go to sleep so we could watch the shuttle launch! I allowed my children to stay home from school to watch it with us! It was going to be history in the making and wanted them to remember it! Well it was historic but not in the way we thought it would go! Thank you for service you the fallen!
I was 5 when this happened. I got home from school to see my mom crying historically, I unknowing what happened, she grabbed me and held me so tight I couldn't breathe. I was very scared. It wasn't until watching the continued video loops of the takeoff and explosion on news that I began to understand and get emotional. To this day, little things remind me of that day and my eyes well up with tears.
This tragedy was a defining point for our family. My father was a lead engineer on B1B-Lancer program with Rockwell International. After this, Rockwell was awarded the contract for the shuttle (orbiter) build out and maintenance program. He was brought onto the program as one of the main electrical plumbing engineers and worked on every shuttle. I grew up seeing much of the shuttles, pictures from inside lined our hallway walls, him shaking hands with crew members inside (full white suits and booties) while they were touring and inspecting. I was even at the roll-out of Endeavor.
The loss of Colombia later was hard on everyone. It is with great responsibility and dedication that each and everyone working on the shuttle program had for the safety of the life the shuttle carried... I witnessed the impact on emotional health this had on my father years to come and to this day.
I feel the need to get this out also. Something I have not see discussed is how much of the men and women, either astronauts, or support crew and engineers, probably did and continue to have emotional and psychological impacts from these disasters that, because of the stigma of needing help with mental health during those years, went untreated. In what I saw first-hand is they found other unhealthy means to release (self harm, alcoholism, agression).
The one thing I never liked about the shuttle was the inability to escape a catastrophe prior to the SRB separation. At least with Apollo, they had the escape tower.
The shuttle had an abort mechanism and escape maneuver capable of separating the shuttle from the external fuel tank. However, with the Challenger disaster, the crew and Mission Control didn’t really have any indication there was a problem until the external fuel tank exploded. Which was why the system was never activated.
the shuttle abort modes are useless if something happens to the actual shuttle itself, like a wing being damaged. and mission control DID know about the problem, infact this entire disaster would have been prevented if nasa actually LISTENED TO ITS ENGINEERS@@vaopr1012
forgot to mention the EFT didnt explode it was a failure of one of the O-rings on the right SRB which caused the right SRB to go kaboom@@vaopr1012
Seeing them crawl in that thing knowing they're never coming out alive is chilling 😢
I believe only one of the shuttles had an abort system, and it was really heavy and complicated
I still have the VHS tapes. I bought them at Walmart in the late 1990s.
I got them there too I think
I have a NASA 5 DVD set that I got from either Circuit City (remember them?!!) in the early 2000s and this was on it.
@@ilovebeinagirl I remember once going to Circuit City, when service was state of the art.
It's infuriating to see the photos of the frozen-over equipment (such as that at 18:50) and realize this was completely ignored in the rush to launch. Those images should have caused any reasonable person or persons to understand that the flight should be delayed IMO.
Andrew Dutler The ice didn’t cause the accident and there’s really no way it could so it wouldn’t be a red flag to anyone at the time.
@@zachthomas7810 it was though. The SRB engineers said the temp was too low to launch and it was dangerous. The management went over their heads and you see the result.
It was delayed, 2 hours
It pisses me off too, you see all that ice and it’s like, why the fuck did you think this is safe?! The shuttles were delicate birds, just look at Columbia, wet foam killed 7 people! Yeah yeah, I know, high speed + wet and heavy foam was like a grenade to the wing, that just proves how shuttles were very delicate and being covered in ice is a BAD thing. Would you take your... laptop outside, spray it with a little water on a cold night, let it freeze then thaw it out? No, it’d probably be dead when you try and turn it on! I don’t see how anyone can argue that a little ice the night before isn’t bad when the Challenger completely shit the bed after it froze over the night before!
NASA completely fucked themselves with Challenger.... I was a little kid in my classroom and our teacher brought in the TV (again and again... remember, the launches kept getting scrubbed for what felt like 100 times) so we could watch the Challenger launch a teacher into space but what we did witness was the highly publicized and beloved cute darling little teacher BLOW UP right before our eyes! Smooth move NASA.... if you wanted to make an impression on us kids then... mission accomplished?
@@frankthespank
NASA what a bunch of dumb fucks
I am still in tears every time I see this.
All that time ago, you wouldn't think it would get me but it does.
Be one thing it if it was one of those "How the hell did that happen" things, but I can't imagine how the people who begged them NOT to launch felt, knowing they were ignored and they launched it anyway.
Roger Bosjoly was a hero. Sadly he was overridden and carried the guilt of it for the rest of his life.
@@tuttt99 Tragedy the whole thing. Like everything we see now in the country, the outcome of total corruption. Shouldn't be surprised.
I was alive during this time. VERY VERY young, though. 1 year old. God Bless the Crew....
Seeing those SRB's keep on going without the orbiter and EFT is soul crushing.
The SRBs at that point became unguided missiles, hence their destruction by the Range Safety Officer.
I always thought Judy Resnik wa cute and tiny,she did,nt talk much,but I have no doubt that she was probably l
a great astronaut Rest in Peace to all of them🎉❤ 7:41
I was there when this happened. I was 6 at the time. I didn't understand what happened but when I saw my dad & sister cry, I knew something was wrong. It sucks that the patience of Larry Malloy pressuring the Morton Thiokol management to get the launch was a huge factor in this tragedy.
Agreed, search for videos by Roger Boisjoly & Allan J McDonald regarding the Challenger tragedy. They both offer information that will curl your hair. So sad, so avoidable. These two men, both gone are Hero’s of the highest level. Also information on the Columbia tragedy. It still makes my blood boil.
@@jimwiskus8862 Makes my blood boil that Boisjoly and McDonald paid a steep price for telling the truth about what they knew. I think it was Reagans chief of staff that forced the launch.
I saw an interview with Larry Malloy from late in his life in which he said that he did the right thing and would do the exact same thing if he had to do it over again. He views the astronauts as expendable, their lives simply the cost of efficient space travel - no different than the dollars spent by NASA. He is, in a word, a sociopath.
What’s worse is he still believed he was right and it was the right decision.
@@fredbobberts5753 No he didn't believe that. He said on a tv interview that he made a "grevious mistake".
I was a high school senior and we had a snow day. I was so happy to get to see the launch when I thought I wouldn't. Then... 🙏😰🙏
Was at work. United Technologies CSD which provided the IUS rocket stage for the TDRS payload onboard that day. Weeks before some of the crew came to visit. I remember shaking Judy Resnick's hand. She was so tiny.
🙏🙏Blessings forever GOD loves y'all too forever tell everyone you know and don't know. Jesus loves y'all too forever. Teach everyone how to see and enjoy their blessings too forever😊
Chilling to see these heroes literally minutes before they died. May they never be forgotten.
Crazy to see them happy, smiling and walking, then a few minutes they are just gone.
2.5 hours later actually
They became star dust... Glory to them....
I am born in 1979 and i remember to see the disaster on tv, a strong and strange memory with Jean Michele Jarre playing that sound.
There was a song JMJ composed that Mission Specialist Ron McNair was supposed to play during the mission.
@@godandpatriotsdream
Exactement. J’avais 11 ans quand ce dramatique accident a eu lieu. J’étais fan de Jean Michel Jarre à cette époque. Il devait faire un concert à Huston et effectivement jouer en duplex terre/espace avec Ron Mc Nair. Lors du spectacle il a joué ce morceau en rendant hommage à tout l’équipage.
Aujourd’hui Netflix diffuse « le dernier vol de Challenger ». Je le regarde en boucle. Ainsi j’ai l’impression que ces 7 astronautes sont encore parmi nous
ua-cam.com/video/jtGG1WLP1pk/v-deo.htmlsi=T-pUYotgADPAmnkY
What’s so tragic is the manager in charge of the O rings was literally overruled and sent home when he argued that the vehicle would explode if launched and no one was held accountable. I was one of the children sitting in a classroom that watched all those people die that cold January morning so NASA wouldn’t be embarrassed and possibly loose funding if they delayed the launch again!
Utter nonsense
Not the least of which is the fact that it didnt explode... It was an aerodynamic break up
@@virgilhilts3924 aerodynamic breakup? Are you an idiot! The O ring failed because it was to cold and not pliable! Which was clearly written in the acceptable operating temperatures. You think using fancy words makes your comment any less idiotic? It doesn’t NASA don’t want to be embarrassed again by just waiting on the weather. Kind of ironic for a room full of pilots and went ahead with a flight with fingers crossed and people died! But if it makes you feel better to say they had a aerodynamic breakout? America is a freedom of speech country no matter how stupid the comments are
@@virgilhilts3924 Er.... You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
@@aneng64
Yet you FAIL to factually refute a single thing I stated 🤣
Should have used a silicone seal instead of rubber. Silicone was available even back then so why not use it? I don't get it.
I witnessed this in real time on a small B&W Television on my desk at work. 8 seconds after the explosion I knew what everyone on earth feared. No matter how advanced we become, mortal animals with large brains is what we will always be. Rest In Peace, the 5 human crew of STS-51L.
Your sacrifice was not in vain 🇺🇲
I was attending Manchester Community College, in Manchester CT, at the time. I was on my way to my astronomy class when I heard this on the car radio. Because I had to get to class, it was the first time I missed watching a shuttle launch. When I arrived on campus and told my professor - a German - what had just happened, paraphrasing, he replied nonchalantly "Well, these things happen." He was an opponent of the manned space program, and believed that we should only be doing robotic exploration. The fact that seven lives had just been snuffed out apparently did not phase him in the least. Needles to say, but I was no fan of the man after he revealed himself to be possessed of such cold indifference.
Профессор был прав. Колумбия тому пример.
Самое гнусное в том, что не были наказаны люди оказывающие давление на взлёт шаттла в этот день. 3 раза до этого был перенос старта.
@@MrUspenskiyn Care to translate that to English?
I was in 7th grade watching this in english class. Just one of those times in life you remember exactly where you were moments.
I just can't imagine being the ones that had to deal with them one on one helping them suit up. The people going out to the site in the mini van. Such a heart breaking day for sure 💔.
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.[1][2]
The mission, designated STS-51-L, was the 10th flight for the orbiter and the 25th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. The crew was scheduled to deploy a communications satellite and study Halley's Comet while they were in orbit, in addition to taking schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe into space under the Teacher In Space program. The latter resulted in a higher-than-usual media interest and coverage of the mission; the launch and subsequent disaster were seen live in many schools across the United States.
The cause of the disaster was the failure of the primary and secondary redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle's right solid rocket booster (SRB). The record-low temperatures on the morning of the launch had stiffened the rubber O-rings, reducing their ability to seal the joints. Shortly after liftoff, the seals were breached, and hot pressurized gas from within the SRB leaked through the joint and burned through the aft attachment strut connecting it to the external propellant tank (ET), then into the tank itself. The collapse of the ET's internal structures and the rotation of the SRB that followed threw the shuttle stack, traveling at a speed of Mach 1.92, into a direction that allowed aerodynamic forces to tear the orbiter apart. Both SRBs detached from the now-destroyed ET and continued to fly uncontrollably until the range safety officer destroyed them.
The crew compartment, human remains, and many other fragments from the shuttle were recovered from the ocean floor after a three-month search-and-recovery operation. The exact timing of the deaths of the crew is unknown, but several crew members are thought to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. The orbiter had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.
The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the Space Shuttle program. President Ronald Reagan created the Rogers Commission to investigate the accident. The commission criticized NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes that had contributed to the accident. Test data since 1977 demonstrated a potentially catastrophic flaw in the SRBs' O-rings, but neither NASA nor SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol had addressed this known defect. NASA managers also disregarded engineers' warnings about the dangers of launching in cold temperatures and did not report these technical concerns to their superiors.
As a result of this disaster, NASA established the Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, and arranged for deployment of commercial satellites from expendable launch vehicles rather than from a crewed orbiter. To replace Challenger, the construction of a new Space Shuttle orbiter, Endeavour, was approved in 1987, and the new orbiter first flew in 1992. Subsequent missions were launched with redesigned SRBs and their crews wore pressurized suits during ascent and reentry.
This is sad in every sense. When humans put money and politics before other human lives then, it shows just how evil some people are! RIP Challenger crew from us here in 🏴
evil Tories?
Money is always put before human lives, especially in the transportation industry.. it was nasa, but it was still a transportation business for military satellite hardware.. if the ship has a schedule, then it’s gotta go.
The issue was that management decided they knew better about the rocket then the engineers, so they forced the teams to launch STS-51L in far too cold weather. This tragedy could have been avoided if they delayed it even a month or so. No one wanted anyone to get hurt, just pour management decisions...
Money and greed comes before the life of every living thing on planet Earth.
That is why species are being wiped out at an alarming rate.
At lease 1 every 15 seconds. And that is just in the Amazon.
@@darthbuzz1 don’t worry humans are not going to last forever either……oh well. YOLO YA!!!!
I was in the Army at Ft.Leonard Wood, Mo. that day, heard about the explosion on the service truck radio. I also seen on the news that morning that the launch site in Florida was frozen that morning, had ice sickles everywhere. Some of the experts did say the launch should've been postponed that very morning.
27:30 you can see smoke coming out before the flame.
Yes. From what I can see that the plume started to get bigger and bigger.
Zoomer30 They showed the plume form in real time then went back and broke it down
Imagine the fear not dying from the blast but dying hitting the ocean knowing your family was watching
I agree. Allot of people think it exploded, no, it broke apart, and the astronauts had backup air supplies on so they were likely alive till they hit the water
@@Surrenitie yup it came apart like dropping a Lego set but actually their crew cabin didn't loose the air pressure they were very unlucky to know their fate
@@janefeeney373 The Shuttle only had ejection seats for the first few flights, and it wasn't till this event that it became standard procedure to (correct me if i'm wrong) bail out the side hatch
@@Surrenitie doubt you could bail out at over 200 mph. Or survive being ejected. They needed to slow down before attempting anything. It’s so horribly tragic.
@@jul30ie they actually made this special curved pole that you attached to the side, and you'd bail out and ride along the curved pole to give you enough room to clear the wing. Crazy stuff
Very detailed analysis of the accident. They should not have launched that day. Very sad.
Probably for the first time since Harrow and Wealdstone did we mourn for the machine as well as the crew. RIP to the brave seven who went up but tragically never came back down.
Harrow and Wealdstone? Isn't that in London?
@@bobbank74 Yes, it’s a totally obscure reference (no idea why the OP made the link) but there was the worse peacetime train crash in Britain on 8th October 1952. I know this random fact as my father in law was a lad back then and visited the scene of the accident after it had happened.
Technically they did come back down it was the fact they came back down that killed them hitting the water at over 200mph
@@bobbank74so what happened was, a passenger train being pulled by a Fowler 2-6-4T was at Harrow and Wealdstone. It was 17 minutes late due to fog, Meanwhile the Perth to Euston night express being pulled by City of Glasgow was running late also due to fog. And coming from another direction is a double header express being pulled by Windward Island and the Turbomotive (then Princess Anne), City of Glasgow then crashes into the rear of the stopped train at Harrow, causing the 3 wooden carriages at the end of the train to telescope into one another. Then the express train trips over the already terrible collision wreck, and ads further insult to injury. Though we did get Duke of Gloucester out of it. It’s still sad to think about how many people were killed in that terrible accident.
Two editing observations : The footage of the engines being gimballed about 19:30 is NOT from 51-L, but an earlier launch. Also the sequence at 20:48 is actually the STS-6 Challenger launch from 1983, not 1986. (Look up the 1983 NASA film We Deliver). Not looking for argument or controversy, just space geek technical observations.
Hi there, not challenging your comment, but it interested me, how did you come about that knowledge?
Robert Yates You're wrong... Everything is OK!... Go to sleep! :-)
correct
You might be correct you might be incorrect....the bottom line is it doesn’t matter they were just trying to illustrate what is happening at these time time stamps in the launch sequence....stop trying to start a conspiracy theory for the unimaginative.
@@wartwyndhaven from watching videos of all the launches years ago. Also I’d commend to your viewing the NASA film “We Deliver” made in 1983 about flights STS-5 through STS-8, which is also on UA-cam. Look around 5 minutes in for the STS-6 launch. As for the black and white view of the engines during the gimbal check, you notice there’s quite a lot of lox vapors but all the video from the day of the actual 51-L flight had pretty minimal venting.
Not trying to gin up any controversies, just pointing out some of the footage is from previous flights, that’s all. Some of us space geeks have an observant eye for those kinds of things ;-)
I watched this launch live. Still upsets me to this day seeing this footage
I wish there was audio from mission control before the launch. You can hear Gene Thomas and others talking to the crew as they prepare for liftoff. The only time we see it was on that documentary, "Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes."
Wow, extremely interesting from an engineering analysis perspective. Thanks for posting !!
I remember this day as if it were yesterday. It’s truly saddening for families of the Astronauts but engineers who knew The frigid temps at KSC was a disaster in the making. Yet again in 2003 NASA didn’t think foam coming of external fuel tank striking the orbiter at supersonic speeds was worth checking left wing. Both accidents were preventable with minor delays. R.I.P to all those lost aboard Challenger and Columbia!
With Columbia it would have been a LONG delay because if NASA wanted to do something to repair the shuttle it might have force them to send another shuttle to either make repairs or get the team.
@@Capri_00 He's talking about avoiding accident in the first place, not trying to bring them back from orbit alive. Coming off pieces of insulation and ice, as well hitting and damage to orbiter were well known to anyone at NASA. This was expeienced on most of the STS flights and was a regular occurrence. Even an idiot would knew it would be a matter of time serious/fatal damage will happen. But NASA hoped it will be fine, because "it happened before and everything looked all right".
@@override7486 keeping an entire crew in space longer than expected is dangerous. Either way, these horrible accidents and lives lost only pave the way for future generations and new discoveries.
And Apollo 1. Everyone didn't think 100 % oxygen at 15 PSI and a spark would be dangerous. It was done that way from the start of the Mercury program through the end of the Gemini Program
I was 14. Had just moves back to Norway after 7 years in the states so I very much felt american. This was amazing. Nobody cared at all here in Norway, but I sure did. Had nobody to talk to about it cause most people were `screw USA`. They can have this tragedy. Doesn’t Bother me the slightest. I was really alone coming to terms with this disaster. Not even my family really cared cause Olaf Palme, the Swedish prime minister was shot and killed at the same time, whi h dominated the news here for years. Challenger not worth shit.
This was the first shuttle launch I watched live…. Absolutely horrifying
I was a junior in high school when this happened, at home sick with the flu. The network news cut in and a few minutes later my mother called from work. I still remember right where I was that day. So sad.
It's interesting to note that in the time after this video was made, it was determined that it was not a faulty design that caused the accident, but faulty management at NASA.
it wasn't a faulty design, but it wasn't the best design. Early versions of the Space Shuttle concept had a better plan for the booster rockets, but NASA opted for the SRBs which were segmented together using the o-ring seals, which failed on the Challenger due to the cold weather that day kepting them from seating properly and sealing the joints.
Using a rubber seal instead of a silicone one is a huge design fault.
@@terrypage358 apparently they took several shortcuts trying to keep the budget down which resulted in not one but two fatal accidents
It was my Birthday that day..in school... will never forget. 🙌
I was living in the USSR then. It was small, but I remember that day. My parents were shocked by this disaster. Many in our country have grieved with you. This is a terrible tragedy.
Mike Smith the pilot never got the chance to know that this was not his fault. That bothers me most aside from the loss of these wonderful souls.
Why would any pilot think that, I mean doesn't the computer do the flying to space?
I don’t know I guess I’ve never really flown a space shuttle before.
I think he knows now. I believe there’s a moment of realization after death. Where the person sees it all. 😢
@@Yyyyyy5 🫠
Maybe. Or maybe the concerns about the hard freeze and the O-rings were with him as he strapped in. Maybe his last thought behind his "uh oh" was _there it is._
Why is there a voice overlap?
i cried again..i remember this, did not have a tv but heard on radio..
I remember when this happened, the sheriff came and took all our radios and TVs away from everyone in town.
@ISHAN PATEL so we wouldn’t panic
@ISHAN PATEL Yes.
I was at work and went outside to watch. I lived in West Palm Beach Florida. We immediately knew that it had exploded. I’ll never forget it.😢
I was a first grader, we watched it live in our class with several other classes joining us. I think I realized what had happened before my teacher could process it. She was in shock.
Knowing years later they survived the explosion,but knowing they were gonna die when they hit the water must of been a terrifying feeling😔
Was that actually shown to be the most probable? I thought it was just speculation
@@FerociousPancake888 The cab is shown intact in one of the photos in this film
They were not conscious after break up. They experienced 12-20 G’s of force would have knocked you out or killed you. Lethal G force is 8-9 G’s
@@FerociousPancake888 It is speculation. There is evidence to suggest that at least several crew members were conscious at the moment of breakup, but there's absolutely no way to know if any were conscious or alive when the crew compartment hit the water. Anyone saying anything to the contrary is being dishonest.
@@shinotic7697early Mercury flights pushed 11 G’s on the suborbital entry. It just can’t be sustained for extended duration.
watched in in elementary school then called by BFF who was with us watching it with us as we prayed as she did 9/11 NYC = IN HEAVEN
and why else recalling going to Orlando opening of WDW EPCOT to get to the Kennedy Space Center And seeing the ORANGE BOOSTER OUT THERE IN THE WINTER TRULY PRAYED before this
The Accident Board determined that the crew survived the explosion, the crew cabin was seen falling from the sky, but the crew died instantly when the crew cabin hit the water at high speeds.
Yes this is what makes it even more horrifying. With something to slow their descent, they could have lived.
@@backfromcuba yep there were plans to have the orbiter cockpit be a makeshift lifeboat and separate via explosive bolts and then parachute to the ground at a safe speed, but was canned due to the expense and complexity of the plan. The first initial test flights of the shuttle had 2 ACES ejection seats for the 2 test pilots/astronauts but were then replaced when the shuttles started orbit ops.
The accident report did not determine that. At least one of the astronauts was alive but they were all unconscious or deceased before impact with the ocean.
Seatbelts?
Это говорит о не совершенстве системы спасения. В России система спасения экипажа более совершенна.
Comment and a question: The conclusion was that the O-ring failed, but that seems like a politically expedient way of saying "we launched when the temperature was far below what we knew the manufacturer had certified or intended for safe operation." The question is about possible abort modes. Until this happened, I just assumed the orbiter could separate at any time and glide back to Earth if something went wrong, but for the past 35 years, I have never once heard anybody address this kind of abort. The burn-through went on long enough that, had some sort of hypothetical sensor detected the problem, there should have been plenty of time to separate the orbiter from the ET (with or without jettisoning the SRBs first), and since they were still just a few miles away from KSC, land safely. Has anybody heard this type of abort mode considered, before or after the Challenger tragedy? In my head, it seems a simple way to get the crew and orbiter away from the failing launch system. Why didn't they do it? Why didn't they add that as an abort mode after this disaster? I really want to know. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm not a rocket scientist.
If you look up "Everyday Astronaut Abort System", one of them explained why they can't detach before the SRB's, I unfortunately don't remember the exact one
Hope that helped
INot a scientist either ! Just a guess… think it has to be strapped in order to get
propel enough to break through the barrier from earth to space. . Then once it’s separated & orbiting in space, it is able to reenter earth and act more like a plane. I’m just becoming interested in this in recent years & I had no idea it wasn’t more technical (for example, something with the capabilities you suggested)
@@JasperHuskyFox Thanks for the tip. I'm sorry I missed this when you posted it. He says that the kind of abort I was asking about would put the orbiter right into the fire plume from the SRB's. That sorta makes sense to me, but it's not a satisfying answer. It seems they could engineer a separation maneuver to happen at the same time the orbiter disconnected. I dunno. I'm no engineer. It's a lot more than I knew a few minutes ago though. Thanks again!
@Mimi Ramone I think this might be a good answer for you too. There really isn't a barrier between Earth and space, just a dwindling amount of air. But there is an awful lot of fire shooting out of those boosters.
All abort modes for the shuttle (both before and after the Challenger accident) require that the stack make it to SRB separation. Any structural failure before SRB separation was guaranteed to result in loss of crew and vehicle (LOCV). Almost all of the planned abort scenarios centered on various combinations of orbiter main engine failures, whereas an SRB failure or structural failure was not considered to be a survivable accident. In the Challenger situation, even if the stack could have made it to SRB separation, the resultant abort mode that would have been tried is called the return-to-launch-site abort (RTLS). This abort mode was risky, dangerous, untested, and extremely difficult to execute. NASA considered trying an RTLS abort before putting the shuttle in orbit to see if it would work, and John Young (STS-1 commander) talked them out of it, telling them "you don't practice Russian roulette". NASA engineer Stephen Fleming said that an RTLS abort “required continuous miracles interspersed with acts of God to be successful.” Challenger was doomed the moment the SRB seal failed (or the moment NASA decided to launch, your choice).
@@somejoe7777 Yep, my question was why not separate the orbiter at the first sign of failure, and I got the answer. It puts the orbiter in the SRB fire plume, which is not survivable. (I don't know if it's dynamic forces of tumbling or heat/blast damage, but that's the answer I got.) I suspected it was a simple answer, and it was. All this talk about the likelihood of success of RTLS aborts is of course valid, but doing nothing resulted in death. An abort is by definition a last-ditch life-saving effort, and having no guarantee of success is acceptable in that situation. I wanted to know why nothing was attempted.
36:20 i guess you get to decide whether or not they matter by who you listen to, guy a or guy b
That part terrified me
They actually didn’t disintegrate in the sky at that moment, the crew cabin did manage to escape and when it hit the water at 200 mph, it just shattered, which they should’ve add some sort of parachute.
Part of me always hopes it will make it 'this time' when I watch these documentaries
I saw this live from a place in Argentina called "Balcarce", it was the end of a summer vacation, I was 11 years old, I still remember it as if it were today, it was something terrible.
Interesting that they do not include the crew compartment as debris that was recovered at 38:40, even though that part of the orbiter was found and the bodies of the 7 crew were recovered ? Assume that they did not want the public to see images of the crushed crew cabin that entombed the crew.
well the crew cabin struck the water intact, but did not remain so, so the remains (not intact bodies) were exposed to wildlife, and they weren't in their pressure suits, which might have remained intact, but regular flightsuits. like Greg Jarvis for instance was not found until several weeks after the rest of the crew was, and although the identifiable remains were turned over to the families, there was still a lot of unidentifiable remains and that is buried at the challenger monument at arlington. As far as I know, there does exist extensive photography of the crew cabin both with and without remains, however, it is classified, and one person did sue for the release of those photos and got like 40 some photos released to him and that scumbag put them into a coffee table book which can be purchased for 200$. That is not a typo, that's two hundred dollars. I am not sure if the nasa spaceflight forum has any in their subscription archives because I haven't bought a subscription yet, but I plan to whether it has challenger in it or not, it is rumored to be an incredible amount of information.
Read up, they placed the remains in plastic containers and smuggled them onshore to his from the coroner, why? NASA has become another government mess, it’s all arse coverage.
@@AFuller2020 - Every county coroner handles human remains with discretion. There was nothing improper about the way the remains were handled.
@@AFuller2020 How about you read up. Yes the remains were put into plastic containers but that was to preserve the bodies in the environment they had been in for weeks as to preserve evidence. Also, they wanted to avoid a media frenzie over the remains.
27:16 the reason it took this long to produce a visable flame, the solid fuel burns from the center to the outside, was reaching the end of booster use.
It’s to bad there wasn’t some sort of parachutes for the cabin that did separate from the orbiter. Perhaps it was going too fast for them to safely deploy? Challenger was 9 miles in altitude at 73 seconds. I don’t know how many chutes would have been required. I know the Apollo capsule used 3 chutes. Perhaps the speed of the separated crew compartment would have slowed as it continued forward. Apollos chutes deployed at 10K I believe at about 175 mph slowing to 22 mph before splashing down. I don’t know if they ever got this accomplished for future shuttle flights? Obviously they should have listened to the engineers who wanted to launch that afternoon. Hindsight is always 20/20.
There were plans to make the crew cabin as a lifeboat that would seperate if there was an issue that would cause loss of crew and spacecraft. However it never got past the planning stages due to the complexity, expense and overall mass of the design.
One to two missions before this flight, NASA had made the decision to remove the parachutes from the crew cabin.....said it was too much weight and that they didn't need it anyhow as there had never been an issue before this flight, so it didn't make sense to them to continue using and having a parachute on the crew cabin etc.
I'm sure there were a lot of mixed emotions for the crew and assistants. The launch was scrubbed three times prior to this launch. It means the crew had been all suited up and ready to go but then cancelled..
36:21 freaked me out
Lol me too, and I’m watching this at 02:00 in the morning in bed and nearly had a heart attack 😱😱
"We paid for every darn take of that voice actor and darn it we're gonna use it!"
Quel moment triste que de voir la destruction en direct !😢
Il est vrai que pour l'amélioration des systèmes il faut parfois et malheureusement des moments comme celui ci !
Cette incident à provoquer des améliorations et des changements incroyable, merci a c'est héros pour leurs don de vie qui a permis aux spécialistes de perfectionnés les différentes composantes.
" merci de nous partager c'est images ".
👍🏼🎸🤟🏼
a break-away pressurized crew cabin, complete with a righting system of some kind, chutes, o2 supply and means of flotation. but only in my ideal world
I hear yah, it was savings over safety unfortunately.
Or better idea: Get rid of the stupid, dangerous Rube Goldberg machine called the Space Shuttle and don't use solid rocket boosters on a man-rated spacecraft.
@@krcm1981 What savings? The Shuttle program was a cost runaway. It was never cheap, safe, or reusable.
@@magicstix0r complicated is a good word to describe it. along with NASA placing schedule ahead of safety, an inexcusable action
They had those before and brought them back after this nonsense. This is on NASA, they were warned but it was all about how they appeared in the eyes of the public. It was complete b.s., no other way to put it.
@42:45 It appears NASA isn't aware of the known geometrical shape Isosceles Trapezoid.
Putting the audio from two takes in certain places also makes humanity glad we have SpaceX now.
It’s amazing to me that given the increasing velocity of Challenger that the plume from the right SRM was able to maintain its focus on the external tank. You would think given that increasing velocity would have caused the plume to be forced away from the tank towards the nozzles. Apparently the leak from the SRM had more velocity than the orbiter, ET & SRMs combined.
But this is not a water bottle or can of coke. There are enormous kind of energy and pressures involved during an engine run. Velocities of mass ejected out of a nozzle are probably several times greater than STS moving in that moment. Must be if you want to use it as propulsion motor to reach escape velocity (and orbit).
I was referring to the leaking field joint that that eroded the external tank away until it collapsed. The nozzles you refer to are south of this joint. So I would hope the building velocity of the 2 SRM’s not to mention 3 RS25 engines on the orbiter would be greater than the faulty joint. The 2 SRM’s push the orbiter to 146K’. The 3 RS25 engines push it to orbit. We are hardly talking about cans of coke here.
@@jimwiskus8862 The force that keeps the plumes narrow is the atmospheric pressure. When the shuttle (or any rocket, see modern film of the SpaceX Falcon 9) first launches, the plumes from the engines exit straight back from the vehicle. Atmospheric pressure is constricting the plume flow, keeping it narrow and straight. As the vehicle gains altitude, the atmospheric pressure drops, and starts to drop precipitously fast after the Max-Q point. The plumes begin to spread out and get wider due to the falling atmospheric pressure, and the plumes lose their orange color as the partial pressure of oxygen drops because unburned fuel in the exhaust no longer continues ignition in the plume. In this case, as the shuttle gained altitude, the plume from the leak actually began to spread out and impinge on more of the vehicle structure. Another way to look at it is that even though velocity is increasing, there is simply thinner and thinner air as you get higher, and the "wind" isn't enough to push the plume anywhere.
Even though the Primary and Secondary O-rings were burnt away within seconds after launch, the theory is that slag from the burning solid fuel of the SRB had temporarily plugged the space between the solid rocket sections, which was a very small space. It seems the Max Q and the wind shear forces had put a considerable amount of side forces on the vehicle. Those forces did not exceed normal lateral forces, but it's suggested that the slag had broken lose allowing the tremendous pressure (900 psi) to literally blow torch a hole in the side of the booster. The hole initially was small, but unfortunately it grew as the metal booster casing melted away. It only makes sense that the hole was getting to the point where it no longer was affected by any passing air velocities and then burnt the hole in the LH2 tank right next to the booster which I would imagine is only a few feet away. The hole was enough to not only decrease the nozzle pressure of the R/H SRB, but enough to start effecting the steering of the entire shuttle assembly. That is a lot of pressure. The hole being approx. 27" X 15" or 405 Sq Inches X 900 PSI = 364500 lbs. of total pressure escaping at it's largest. Makes sense why it happened so quickly and was affecting the trajectory of the entire assembly.
Had it not resealed with slag it probably would have blown up 100' off the pad. Not at 30,000 ft imagine that on the TV. @@kevintennant7701
Amazing they were able to make out the crew cabin and nose in tact after the explosion. Also amazing that they survived the blast for a few moments until downfall
In regards to the Space Shuttle (unlike the SLS Rocket)- Until the Solid Rocket Boosters are separated, there was no abort capability.
How are the rockets still shooting out exhaust if theres nothing to fuel it?
the solid rockets were not fueled by the external tank, they carried solid fuel stored inside. The external tank fueled the shuttle's main engines
This was no accident. This was arrogance. Engineers warned and warned about this very occurrence was going to take place and NASA management didn’t listen. Totally needless deaths. :(
7:29 Awww, it's so cute ❤❤❤
Anyone else though they had a stroke at @36:20?
God bless u guys x love from my kids and I from Australia
Odd, how right After the Disaster, everyone was like " oh yeah, we can Fix this!"
That's always the way it is...They always close the barn door AFTER. the horses have been set loose. Those seven astronauts trusted NASA with their lives, and NASA basically said---Who cares, let 's get going with this launch.
This was the day I started work as a 1st year apprentice (And I still work for the same company, after 3 name changes and being bought out) - I woke up to the news that morning, and watched it on the news
R I P
Was one of the technicians trying to cop a feel as the astronaut was going into the shuttle at 7:30?? 😢
That were a great tragedy for NASA, America and the whole world. Thanks for sharing this footage.
After seeing this live so many years ago, watching it now it’s still so shocking.
Watching them enter the shuttle gave me the creeps i wanted to yell at them dont go in the shuttle its gonna explode turn around its heartbreaking i was in 4th grade when this happened we were all watching on tv then when the shuttle exploded we all said why are the rockets doing that? And the teacher cut the tv off and ran out of the room then the principle came in and tried ro explain to us what happened we didnt understand it until we got home and our parents told us it was a very sad day ill never forget!!
Who is the guy narrating the investigation about the challenger disaster?
The tragic thing is that silicone was available as a material for use instead of rubber. If a silicone seal was used instead of rubber, this would never have happened.
Even more simply: If NASA had acted on the warnings from the engineers at Morton-Thiokol and not launched, this would never have happened.
if the the shuttle made it and they recovered the boosters would they have fixed the issue or continue flying the older design ?
Thiokol had already designed a fix for the SRB field joints IIRC, so if a booster had been recovered with significant burn through I'm sure flights would have been grounded until the fix was implemented. No way they would have kept flying knowing it could be so significant.
However it's doubtful that a flight with burn through that severe was survivable. Even if the burn through site had been pointed away from the external tank, you still have a rapidly growing hole in the booster that would either continually lose thrust until the control systems were unable to compensate, or even damage the structural integrity of the booster casing so much that it exploded. The loss of pressure inside the casing would have led to that booster burning out earlier than the other by several seconds, which sounds like it would be a very bad day indeed.
So scary, never know what moments might be your last.....
Apollo had parachutes which deployed when the capsule was landing. If the space shuttle had parachutes attached to the top of the cabin, perhaps it would have allowed the cabin to land safely in the ocean.
Unfortunately, no. The orbiter was completely destroyed in the explosion. The Shuttle orbiter had a much less effective abort system compared to both Apollo and other modern multi-stage rockets such as SLS, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy. The Shuttle's abort system was also limited to only small portions of the entire launch sequence. The majority of the time from launch to +2:00 did not have any opportunities for the Shuttle to abort. The bulk of Shuttle's safety in case of emergency relied on the idea that it was a glider that could land safely on its own without power. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, SLS, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy all have launch abort systems that carry the crew vehicle away in the fashion you're mentioning. Just one of the many reasons the Shuttle needed to be retired.
All that education, PHD’s late nights doing report’s for school,
Your entire life busting your ass being educated to the max all thrown away riding a bottle rocket up five miles to a big explosion.
I spent my life and career hanging on the back of a garbage truck and retired, making good pension and am able to enjoy the rest of my life fishing, camping, hiking, woodworking.
Enjoy your retirement. I'm fixing to retire soon myself. I work as a maintenance technician at a firearms manufacturing facility. (Jan Griffiths).
This was the first thing I ever watched on TV.
Borg voice at 36:20!!
you're right that is so weird, I've seen other copies of this footage before, like 7 or 8 times, that wasn't in any of them, I know cus I remember specifically rewinding and rewatching that one part over and over.
@@wartwyndhaven May be from transferral error?
It freaked the crap out of me and I’m in bed on my own at 02:00 am 😱😱😱
Who is the narrator in this video?
OJ Simpson
The engineers warned NASA that something would likely happen if they launched in such cold weather, and NASA dismissed their concerns....What the hell is the point of having engineers if they're not going to listen to them? NASA failed the astronauts that day and again in 2003 when the Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. Fourteen people's lives were lost BECAUSE it's really not about safety, it's about the almighty buck and prestige . NASA ( which some at the time we're saying stood for "Need Another Seven Astronauts" ) is more careless with people's lives than they should be . Both of these tragedies could have been prevented if more care had been given to the safety of the missions.
I’m a retired engineer. Politicians and bean counters are usually not interested in an engineer’s cautionary opinion unless it supports their agenda.
and these were the engineers that actually worked on the SRBs, they knew them better that anyone, the temperture that day was only 6 degrees above freezing, NASA had never attempted a manned launch in that cold of weather before, the engineers strongley advised against it.They were ignored, 7 astronauts lost their lives.
While some have pointed to Reagan’s State of Union speech that evening as a reason, and even pointed out McAuliffe’s video lesson planned for the Sixth Day that needed to occur on a school day (Friday) - Ultimately, the decision to launch came down to individual motivations.
Namely 5 individuals.
Per Allan McDonald’s 2009 book, here were the likely reasons behind each:
1. Lawrence Larry Mulloy, NASA Solid rocket Program Mgr: the prior Shuttle launch in mid Jan 1986 of STS-61C Columbia had been delayed 3 times and scrubbed twice. One scrub was due to a transducer misreading in one of Larry’s SRBs. This month-long delay of 51C Columbia was counter to NASA’s and Larry’s stated goal to launch up to 12 times in 1986. Hence, Larry’s infamous statement of “When do you want to launch Thiokol, in April ?!??”
2. George Hardy, NASA Deputy Director of Science and Engineering, Marshall Flight Space Center: George made the infamous “I’m appalled, Morton Thiokol” statement during the end of the evening teleconference, which triggered the MTI leadership to caucus offline for 10min. George likely made that statement for the above Shuttle Program frequency goals as well. In addition, STS-51L Challenger had an extremely embarrassing scrub due to broken door-handle and lack of battery powered tool for the pad technicians. All broadcast on television the day before.
3. Stanley Reinartz, NASA Manager of the Shuttle Project Office, Marshall Flight Space Center: Stan’s predecessor showed much greater managerial authority & technical competency during Flight Readiness Reviews, but had retired in late 1985. Stan was brand new to the shuttle program(!) and seemingly followed Larry and George’s lean to launch. Ultimately if Stan’s predecessor had not retired, Morton Thiokol’s initial recommendation not to launch would likely have been heeded, per Allan McD’s book. In addition, it was Stan Reinartz who personally elected not to inform his NASA management @ KSC of the evening telecon; and many believe Stan shares the most blood on his hands along with Larry Mulloy.
4. Bob Lund and Jerry Mason - Morton Thiokol Manager and VP: NASA had been threatening in writing(!) to second source the SRB production starting in late 1986, much as they (Larry Mulloy) had steered the contract for recovered-SRB disassembly at KSC Bldg away from Lockheed & Thiokol over to Larry’s buddy’s company. There was also a large 3-Buy contract extension negotiation that Thiokol was negotiating in Dec-Jan 1986 with NASA, and Thiokol had already started capital $ investments in 1985 to increase production capacity at their Utah facilities to match the future 24 launch/year demand that NASA forecasted.
….Interestingly, Bob Lund and Jerry Mason’s “business hat” decisions differed from the “engineering hat” decision which Allan McDonald arrived at, despite Allen spending the prior 18 months trying to sell a new composite graphite ‘Filament Wound Case’ booster to the Air Force, for the DoD Shuttle launches. These new gen FWC boosters were to be tested at the new Vandenberg shuttle pad that very May 1986 and it weight savings would have allowed for an additional 5,000lb of DoD payload such as the anticipated Centaur-G shuttle payload.
Allan had as much to lose business-wise as his superiors Bob Lund and Jerry Mason by requesting a change to NASA Launch Commit Criteria or complete SRB field joint re-design, but Allan fell on the correct ethical side of history.
I am sure the teacher was hella excited and had some serious butterflies as well. I remember watching this launch at hone in Virginia. It had snowed heavily the night before and we didn't have school th3 next day.
The nearly robotic cadence and vocal tone of the narrator gives the video a spooky quality