“3, 2, 1… and lift off”.
The engines of the Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) fully came alive for take-off.
Amidst the applause, the space shuttle suddenly exploded in mid-air, about 73 seconds into its flight.
All seven crew members on board were killed.
It was 11:39 a.m EST on the 28th day of January, 1986 at a space launch station off the coast of Florida, USA.
CAUSES:
It was concluded that the vehicle disintegration had begun when a part of its Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) malfunctioned during liftoff.
This had been caused by a failure of the O-rings seals (also called toric rings) used in the SRB due to the extremely cold temperatures prior to the rocket launch.
The failure of the rings caused a fault in the SRB and pressurized rocket gas escaped.
This in turn affected the adjacent SRB hardware and the external fuel tank.
The final events of the disaster were influenced by aerodynamic forces.
It should be noted that a lot of other complex series of events have been intentionally omitted in this article.
CREW:
Francis R. Scobee—( commander)
Michael J. Smith—- (pilot)
Ronald McNair—- (Mission specialist)
Ellison Onizuka—- (Mission specialist)
Judith Resnik—- (Mission specialist)
Gregory Jarvis—- (payload specialist)
Christa McAuliffe—- (payload specialist and School Teacher).
Christa McAuliffe had been selected out of over 11,000 applicants in 1985 to become the first teacher in space. It ended in tears.
“I cannot join the space program and restart my life as an astronaut, but this opportunity to connect my abilities as an educator with my interests in history and space is a unique opportunity to fulfill my early fantasies. I will never give up”.
— Christa McAuliffe, 1985.
REACTIONS:
The rocket launch was being broadcast on live TV across America and millions of school children with their families were watching.
After the disaster, President Ronald Reagan who had been planning to deliver a State of the Union Address subsequently decided to deliver a speech in honor of the Challenger disaster victims.
“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to touch the face of God”.
—– President Ronald Reagan (40th President of America), January 28th 1986.
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