Part 4 - Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion - What happened?

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on 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 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 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. 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 due to 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:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• NASA
• The
• Challenger
• Disaster
• Part
• 4

[geomodelrailroader]

the evidence confirms that the shuttle did not explode the SEMTEX is still in the tray and is un-detonated stringers are damaged showing Ice got on them and cracked them impact from the booster caused the tank to rupture.

[karlking1995]

@dietermarco Their was no explsion like what he said in teh previouse videos plumes of vapour were formed and the reflection of teh sunlight made it look like and explosion

[aimhigh59]

@dietermarco The SRB's did not break up because of their shape and construction. They are made od steel not alumimum like the tank and orbiter.

[supremeon1]

@dietermarco yes, i think you are right... the explosion of the main tank was what destroyed the orbiter...

[dietermarco]

@supremeon1

The SRB contain solid fuel, but they are burning and emit gas while burning. Its the very hot exhaust gas from SRB that burned main tank. They say aerodynamic effect broke it up. then why do the SRB's not break. I think that the explosion basically caused the orbiter brake up my forcing it into extreme aerodynamic forces.

[saiyajingabe]

@supremeon1

Wiki isn't always the best source for accurate info.

[Andy505]

It didnt explode it broke apart, the SRB leaking cause structural failure of the large orange external fuel tank. This tank holds the orbiter and the two SRBs together. When the tank failed aerodynamic forces broke the orbiter apart.

[tiagotrinidad]

@supremeon1 I guess the gas that leaked from the SRB was the kind of hot gases that combustion of the solid fuel emits, the same kind you see at the nozzle of the SRB and make the rocket fly.

[supremeon1]

So, after seeing this, i still don't understand: why did it explode? on wikipedia it says that a failed o-ring caused GAS to leak out of the SRB. But, i understand that SRB contain solid fuel, therefore, they don't contain gas... is wikipedia wrong? This video only shows what was observed by the cameras, but does not say why it happened. SRB CONTAIN SOLID FUEL, NO GAS, so wikipedia explanation is wrong, in my opinion. Does anyone know the truth?