25th Anniversary of The Challenger On Friday
 

I can't believe that it's been 25 years. I was in school when I heard the news. You?

I remember that day. I was in elementary school, we were watching it on television.

I wasn't born yet.

I was 9.

I was in college eating breakfast. Sad, sad day.

Damn. It's been that long. We were watching it in grade school. When it exploded I didn't immediately know what had happened.

I remember our teacher was crying. Sad day.

I was a Freshman in High School in algebra class. I didn't get to see the video until after school when I went to the library to catch it.

my brother was born that day

In High school,& in science class when it happened. Watching it live on TV. I still remember the girls scream when it exploded. Then the hush that that followed. Very sad.

I was working the night shift then so was sleeping when it happened. A friend of mine called me to tell me that the spce shuttle just blew up. He woke me up, so I was pretty groggy and it took him a bit to convince me that he wasn't just shitting me.

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Obviously a major malfunction.
Really, Are you sure Houston?

I was only 10 months old.

at work. heard about it on the radio in the office.
sec

The truly horrible part is that we know that some of the crew survived the disintegration, and may have actually died on impact with the Atlantic, two minutes after the malfunction.

Yep, i remember....I was a junior in HS at the time. Sad.

Our Science teacher ,that taught at our middle school. She was second inline, & was the replacement for the female teacher that was killed.

Heh, I was up at Bloody's getting baked.

Was at a celebratory lunch with about 15 of my co-workers for the successful implementation of a rather large IT project.

Sure ruined the atmosphere.

LOL.
What was the name of the Asian female science teacher at middle school?

Your heart still skips when that thing goes up, it's just so catostrophic in real-time.

Shit, I had her and I don't remember right off the top of my head.

I agree,It really is.

I was in high school physics class watching it live. None of us could believe what was happening.

Here was the first physical evidence of something wrong:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...oke_on_SRB.jpg

From WIKI, Jesus Christ, what a way to go.:eek:

Cause and time of death
The shuttle was designed to withstand a load factor of 3 (or 3 g), with another 1.5 g safety factor built in.[13] The crew cabin in particular is a very robust section of the shuttle because of its design and construction of reinforced aluminum.[13] During vehicle breakup, the crew cabin detached in one piece and slowly tumbled into a ballistic arc. NASA estimated the load factor at separation to be between 12 and 20 g; however, within two seconds it had already dropped to below 4 g and within ten seconds the cabin was in free fall. The forces involved at this stage were likely insufficient to cause major injury.


Astronauts from a later Shuttle flight (STS-34) stand next to their PEAPs
At least some of the astronauts were likely alive and briefly conscious after the breakup, as three of the four Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) on the flight deck were found to have been activated. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply roughly consistent with the expected consumption during the 2 minute 45 second post-breakup trajectory.
While analyzing the wreckage, investigators discovered that several electrical system switches on Pilot Mike Smith's right-hand panel had been moved from their usual launch positions. These switches were protected with lever locks that required them to be pulled outward against a spring force before they could be moved to a new position. Later tests established that neither force of the explosion nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them, indicating that Smith made the switch changes, presumably in a futile attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.[14]
Whether the astronauts remained conscious long after the breakup is unknown, and largely depends on whether the detached crew cabin maintained pressure integrity. If it did not, the time of useful consciousness at that altitude is just a few seconds; the PEAPs supplied only unpressurized air, and hence would not have helped the crew to retain consciousness. The cabin hit the ocean surface at roughly 207 mph (333 km/h), with an estimated deceleration at impact of well over 200 g, far beyond the structural limits of the crew compartment or crew survivability levels.[11]
“Scob fought for any and every edge to survive. He flew that ship without wings all the way down....they were alive”
Robert Overmyer, NASA Lead Investigator[13]
On July 28, 1986, Rear Admiral Richard H. Truly, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Flight and a former astronaut, released a report from Joseph P. Kerwin, biomedical specialist from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, relating to the deaths of the astronauts in the accident. Kerwin, a veteran of the Skylab 2 mission, had been commissioned to undertake the study soon after the accident. According to the Kerwin Report:
The findings are inconclusive. The impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was so violent that evidence of damage occurring in the seconds which followed the disintegration was masked. Our final conclusions are:
the cause of death of the Challenger astronauts cannot be positively determined;
the forces to which the crew were exposed during Orbiter breakup were probably not sufficient to cause death or serious injury; and
the crew possibly, but not certainly, lost consciousness in the seconds following Orbiter breakup due to in-flight loss of crew module pressure.[11]
Some experts, including one of NASA's lead investigators Robert Overmyer, believed most if not all of the crew were alive and possibly conscious during the entire descent until impact with the ocean.[13]

And, the plume:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...1-L-launch.jpg

This is the crew cabin:

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...p_PWimJBgH&t=1

5th grade for me.

I was on my ship, which was in port at the time. I had been taking a nap at lunch and was on the way back to my office when I walked past a bunch of people watching TV in the upstairs berthing compartment - they were all sitting there stone-faced and nobody was talking. The screen showed a shuttle going up (it was a replay) - I was about to ask what the big deal was when it blew up.

I remember it like it was yesterday. :(

I was in the Army stationed in Germany. I was on guard duty when the CQ called and told us what happened. There were four of us there in the guard shack playing poker at the time. We stopped playing cards and turned on the TV to watch the aftermath. Sad day.

I've never seen this before. Mildly NSFW:

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Sophomore year of college, came back to the dorm room between classes and flipped on the TV. The shuttle had just exploded and they were trying to figure out what happened.

IIRC, I skipped the rest of my classes that day and just sat down and watched.

while they may have been alive, they would have been comatose, so they at least didn't know what was happening.

*edit* heh, just read the wiki. I had always heard they would have been unconcious due to lack of pressurization, guess some disagree.

Was that in Wichita?

USame scenario here

And courtesy of the Weekly World News ("LAST WORDS OF CHALLENGER CREW!"):

The following transcript begins two seconds after NASA's official version ends, with pilot Michael Smith saying, " Uh-oh! " Times from the moment of takeoff are shown in minutes and seconds and are approximate.

The sex of the speaker is indicated by M or F.

T+1:15 (M)
What happened? What happened? Oh God, no - no!

T+1:17 (F)
Oh dear God.


T+1:18 (M)
Turn on your air pack! Turn on your air...

T+1:20 (M)
Can't breathe... choking...

T+1:21 (M)
Lift up your visor!

T+1:22 (M/F)
(Screams.) It's hot. (Sobs.) I can't. Don't tell me...God! Do it...now...

T+1:24 (M)
I told them... I told them... Dammit! Resnik don't...

T+1:27 (M)
Take it easy! Move (unintelligible)...

T+1:28 (F)
Don't let me die like this. Not now. Not here...

T+1:31 (M)
Your arm... no... I (extended garble, static)

T+1:36 (F)
I'm... passing... out...

T+1:37 (M)
We're not dead yet.

T+1:40 (M)
If you ever wanted (unintelligible) me a miracle... (unintelligible)... (screams)

T+1:41 (M)
She's... she's... (garble) ... damn!

T+1:50 (M)
Can't breathe...

T+1:51 (M/F)
(screams) Jesus Christ! No!

T+1:54 (M)
She's out.

T+1:55 (M)
Lucky... (unintelligible).

T+1:56 (M)
God. The water... we're dead! (screams)

T+2:00 (F)
Goodbye (sobs)... I love you, I love you...

T+2:03 (M)
Loosen up... loosen up...

T+2:07 (M)
It'll just be like a ditch landing...

T+2:09 (M)
That's right, think positive.

T+2:11 (M)
Ditch procedure...

T+2:14 (M)
No way!

T+2:17 (M)
Give me your hand...

T+2:19 (M)
You awake in there? I... I...

T+2:29 (M)
Our Father... (unintelligible)...

T+2:42 (M)
hallowed be Thy name... (unintelligible).

T+2:58 (M)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall...not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... I will dwell in the house...

T+3:15 to end
None. Static, silence.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/challenger.asp

Gawdamn. I could have done without reading that. Depressing........:deevee:

That's some bad taste. Speaking of which, does anyone know what the last thing said on Challenger was?

— last words recorded from Space Shuttle Challenger before exploding 74 seconds into its flight, 28 January 1986

It's not depressing, it's stupid because it's not real. It's almost comical.

It's also ridiculous that even a shameless tabloid would print something like that, knowingly false.

Is this going to start a round of Challenger jokes? ;)

Yeah, I opened the link after I read it. What a crock.

Watched it live on tv at school. My dad was in the teacher in space program. went to huntsville. thanks god for high blood pressure and bad eyes.

here's some interesting reading

http://www.skygod.com/quotes/lastwords.html

That's the official version. What was actually said by Scobee was: "Okay, let the women drive."

the most common thing said before a crash is "Oh sh*t."

I knew it! :D

OK, the lid is off:

Q: What does NASA stand for?

A: Need Another Seven Astronauts.


Q: What was the last thing Christa McAuliffe said to her husband?

A: You feed the kids, I'll feed the fish.

Those are horrible.

Eh, they were the most popular back then. The ones I remember.

Do you know why JFK Jr. and crew didn't shower before they departed?

They knew that they would wash up on shore.

Q: What was the temperature off of Kennedy Space Center when the Challenger went down?

A: Seven below.

I shall now burn in hell

Mine will probably be "Well, I guess the Chiefs can go ahead and win a Super Bowl now." :banghead:

These are better, but I had to look them up:

Q: What do Playtex tampon users and Christa McAuliffe have in common?
A: They both should have stayed on the pad.


Q: What does a sea lion, the space shuttle and Tylenol have in common?
A: They're all looking for a tight seal.

And those of a certain age will understand this one:

Q: What do Christa McAuliffe and Donna Rice have in common.
A: They both went down on the challenger.

Ha ha, was that Gary Hart?

Q: How many astronauts can fit in a VW Beetle?

A: 11. Two in front, two in back and seven in the ashtray.


Q: What color were Christa McAuliffe’s eyes?

A: Blew. One blew this way, the other blew that way.

Bingo

That's a variation on a Holocaust joke.

I’ll have to take your word for it.
I just remember it from back in the day.

LMAO

Ralston Nebraska

I was sitting in a conference room having a meeting with some of my tech's - in the same building I'm sitting in right now.

Someone stuck their head in the room and told us so we found a TV and spent the rest of the day watching the news. Very sad day.

Barbara Morgan?

I was in high school in between classes. The launch was on in the science room so I stopped by to watch. The words "obviously a major malfunction" still irritate me. Just seemed like such a stupid thing to say at that point.

I like your threads, Donger. You should post more about things that fly.

That's just NASA-speak. Nominal.

Are you being nasty?

How about this? The shuttleski:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Buran.jpg

...fueld by vodka.

The sad part.....the whole accident should have been avoided. Stupid politics and government bureaucracy. O-rings were too cold.

A case could made the this accident is the perfect reason why government should get out of the space transportation business. A business entity would have had to obtain liability insurance....and they would insisted on safety procedures to get insurance coverage.

The 2nd shuttle accident was all about government bureaucracy. Again, lower level engineers pointed out something wrong, and senior management, over rode their concerns.

I never understood why criminal charges were not filed. The Senior Manager who overrode the engineers in the 2nd accident....what ever happened to her??

I was in middle school. I remember I was home sick with the flu with my sister and my mom. They just kept showing that shuttle exploding over and over. Was not a good day.

No, I honestly enjoy reading your aerospace stuff. I read the whole wikipedia article on the Challenger disaster after you posted this.

She was demoted, but is still with NASA, apparently. There really wasn't much that could have been done to save Columbia, though. They didn't have a method to repair damage and I don't think that another shuttle was ready to launch a rescue.

Ever read up on the N1 rocket? Fascinating stuff.

Yeah. Nice, big firecracker. I remember a video of one of the "launches." I'll try to find it. I'm pretty sure it killed a bunch of people, though.

My point.

You think Boeing would not have a Plan B or a repair kit if they knew they would be sued for mega $$$$ for every accident???

I'm all for privately-funded space flights, but let's not pretend that any of them are even close to being able to orbit.

Found it:

<div style="background:#000000;width:600px;height:370px"><embed flashVars="playerVars=showStats=yes|autoPlay=no|videoTitle=Russian N-1 Destroys Launch Pad" src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/240663/russian_n_1_destroys_launch_pad.swf" width="600" height="370" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" name="Metacafe_240663" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></div><div style="font-size:12px;"><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/240663/russian_n_1_destroys_launch_pad/">Russian N-1 Destroys Launch Pad</a> - <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/">Celebrity bloopers here</a></div>

Interesting stuff. I just read up on it. Here's something I found on it.

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I was in 7th grade... in trouble for being a smart ass, in the hallway when I found out.

I know it is NASA speak but at that point it sounded ridiculous. Still does.

What would have had him say?