Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (STS-51L)

Video Courtesy: NASA

Beginning at about 72 seconds, a series of events occurred extremely rapidly that terminated the flight. Telemetered data indicated a wide variety of flight system actions that support the visual evidence of the photos as the shuttle struggled futilely against the forces that were destroying it.

At about 72.20 seconds the lower strut linking the solid rocket booster and the external tank was severed or pulled away from the weakened hydrogen tank permitting the right solid rocket booster to rotate around the upper attachment strut. This rotation is indicated by divergent yaw and pitch rates between the left and right solid rocket boosters.

At 73.124 seconds, a circumferential white vapor pattern was observed blooming from the side of the external tank bottom dome. This was the beginning of the structural failure of hydrogen tank that culminated in the entire aft dome dropping away. This released massive amounts of liquid hydrogen from the tank and created a sudden forward thrust of about 2.8 million pounds, pushing the hydrogen tank upward into the intertank structure. At about the same time, the rotating right solid rocket booster impacted the intertank structure and the lower part of the liquid oxygen tank. These structures failed at 73.137 seconds as evidenced by the white vapors appearing in the intertank region.

Within milliseconds there was massive, almost explosive, burning of the hydrogen streaming from the failed tank bottom and liquid oxygen breach in the area of the intertank.

At this point in its trajectory, while traveling at a Mach number of 1.92 at an altitude of 46,000 feet, Challenger was totally enveloped in the explosive burn. The Challenger's reaction control system ruptured and a hypergolic burn of its propellants occurred as it exited the oxygen-hydrogen flames. The reddish brown colors of the hypergolic fuel burn are visible on the edge of the main fireball. The orbiter, under severe aerodynamic loads, broke into several large sections which emerged from the fireball. Separate sections that can be identified on film include the main engine/tail section with the engines still burning, one wing of the orbiter, and the forward fuselage trailing a mass of umbilical lines pulled loose from the payload bay.

The explosion 73 seconds after liftoff claimed crew and vehicle. The cause of explosion was determined to be an o-ring failure in the right solid rocket booster. Cold weather was determined to be a contributing factor.

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[Wonkabar007]

Those chilling words " Challenger go with throttle up "

[tristankf]

@PopTartzluver17 Fuck you asshole. How dare you mock the deaths of these brave people. They never got to see their husbands, wives and children ever again. Go fuck yourself you excuse for a human being.

[TheLonesomeChef]

@RUHORNY77 lol fail

[MrBennetzen]

I seriously doubt this will wind up on the show "1000 Ways to Die".

[ashfaqul11]

@MrJambo000 yeah

[cellchat]

His voice wavers at 2:35 ...his human, thank god

[MyMaxy13]

thums up if u thout it was the schools >=(

[PopTartzluver17]

FAIL

[delgesu1000]

"a major malfunction" ... sans blague .... :(

[sirhaj87]

There was a teacher in the shuttle, it's her "final destination" I guess together with the other astronauts. She was selected out of thousands of applicants on the quest to the "Final Destination", Death. Bless them all.