Challenger Disaster - 20 Years Today
Discussion
It was a leaking joint between one of the segments of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB)that caused the accident. White hot gasses jetted out of the gap and melted one of the struts attaching the SRBs to the big External Tank (ET). Once the strut had melted through, the thrusting SRB pivoted around the top attachement point and drove into the ET, puncturing it. Immediately, the tank collapsed and the contents ignited. The force of the "explosion" (it was more of a rapid fuel burn rather than blast) forced the Orbiter off the stack. Aerodynamic loads then caused the Orbiter to break up.
Trooper2 said:
It took Mission Control what seemed a couple of minutes to figure out what happened. Very saddening for me.
I don't know why, engineers from Morton-Thiokol (the company who made the rocket) told them not to launch becasue there was a good chance the low overnight temperatures (23oF) had caused the seals to go brittle and crack. Challenger was the coldest launch of a space shuttle, 38oF, compared to the previous lowest 53oF. However M-T came under pressure to declare the shuttle safe for launch and management over-ruled the engineers.
From the initial inception of the Solid Fuel Rocket, there were fears of the safety of a segmented design, it estimated the risk of a catastrophic failure of the solid rocket boosters at 1 in 35.
I pure case of ego and money coming infront of human life.
Regards
Iain
chassis 33 said:
pure case of ego and money coming infront of human life.
Regards
Iain
Not entirely pure - there was/is a military aspect to shuttle operations and at the time the Cold War was still in one of its more tense phases. There may well have been pressures to launch additional to the ego/money reasons.
It's very sad, and we shouldn't forget it, but many more people will die in the exploration of space. It's very strange that there is this "zero risk" attitude now.
We idolise and respect explorers who discovered America, Australia, explored unknown lands, got to the south and north poles, climbed everest etc. Many people died trying to achieve these goals, but were they worth it? I think so.
Travelling to the moon now is the current equivalent of crossing the atlantic in the 1500s... why can't we do it?
Exploration is a good thing, but it's risky. The risks are worth taking in my opinion.
We idolise and respect explorers who discovered America, Australia, explored unknown lands, got to the south and north poles, climbed everest etc. Many people died trying to achieve these goals, but were they worth it? I think so.
Travelling to the moon now is the current equivalent of crossing the atlantic in the 1500s... why can't we do it?
Exploration is a good thing, but it's risky. The risks are worth taking in my opinion.
eccles said:
from memory, they rekoned the crew were alive until they hit the sea.
i'm sure i read that they would of died quite quickly from the shockwave from the booster. a bit like when a suicide bomber lets of a bomb in a confined area and perfectly healthy looking people die because their insides are jellified.
very sad day though for nasa. cant believe its 20 years either.
CatherineJ said:
How time has flown. I remember watching that on Newsround when I came in from school, unbelievable really and so sad that there has been 2 tragedies in the last twenty years.
Thats exactly my memory. John Craven speaking about it on the telly, and me stood there in the front room not quite believing what I was watching.
There was no shockwave from the booster because the boosters (there are two SRBs) did not explode. All that happened was that the ET collapsed which basically dumped the contents which then rapidly combusted. This threw the Orbitor outwards and flat on to the airstream. The Shuttle's structure could not cope with the sudden aerodynamic loads placed on it and it broke up into large chunks.
There were a couple of minor explosions in the nose area of the Orbiter due to the contents of the atitude thrusters igniting but there was never a huge "bang" type event.
After a few minutes of free flight, the Range Safety Officer deliberately exploded the two SRBs.
There were a couple of minor explosions in the nose area of the Orbiter due to the contents of the atitude thrusters igniting but there was never a huge "bang" type event.
After a few minutes of free flight, the Range Safety Officer deliberately exploded the two SRBs.
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