Seconds From Disaster - S03E18 - Space Shuttle Explosion

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on Tuesday, January 28 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, United States, at 11:38 a.m. EST (16:38 UTC).

Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter.

The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However, the shuttle had no escape system and the astronauts did not survive the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface.

The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found that NASA's organizational culture and decision-making processes had been a key contributing factor to the accident.[2] NASA managers had known that contractor Morton Thiokol's design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings since 1977, but they failed to address it properly. They also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures of that morning and had failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors. The Rogers Commission offered NASA nine recommendations that were to be implemented before shuttle flights resumed.

Many viewed the launch live because of the presence on the crew of Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project. Media coverage of the accident was extensive: one study reported that 85 percent of Americans surveyed had heard the news within an hour of the accident. The Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in many discussions of engineering safety and workplace ethics.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• seconds from disaster
• space shuttle Challenger
• Roger Boisjoly
• O-ring failure

[Newbpwng]

that chief engineer was a smart guy 

[missinfekt]

As always thanks for the upload

[kayper54]

RIP Roger Boisjoly. You did the right thing.

[owenchanjing]

@MigsDaRutt Shut The Fuck Up Americans sucks

[simeunovicm]

Freezing conditions in Florida??

[JJessup2010]

Fuck NASA. They murder 7 astronauts knowingly and the men behind it get promoted? I hope the money's worth it you spineless bastards

[loveunderlaw]

These people died for NOTHING! What a fucking waste of life, & taxpayer resources.

[generalzod4life]

What a joke we are trying to get into space with rubber fucking seals 'protecting' the brave astronauts lives? the billions we have wasted on this farce should have been spent on schools and hospitals

[generalzod4life]

"take off your engineering hat and put on your management hat" i woulda stuck my 'hat' up that pompous MFs asshole

[generalzod4life]

did he died?

[straswa]

Great video, thanks for upload.

RIP to the crews of Challenger and Columbia.

[grendel2012]

I know they said if the iron slag would have stayed put for a few more seconds the crew would have made it. but and it does sound bad, if it wasnt for the failure and the sad loss of life, NASA would have got away with another list of faults. ignorance, luck and bully tactics to get the go ahead to launch doesnt cut it. the crew could have been saved if they listened to the engineers days before. no excuse not one of NASA's finer moments.