Space Shuttle Challenger  

 

www.nancysecret.com/underman/ 2001/artwork/challenger.jpg

 On the cold day of January 28, 1986 one of the most publicized launches was about to take off. For the first time in NASA history a civilian would "ride the rocket" into the last frontier. It was to be the Challenger's 10 mission, it was also the coldest day NASA ever planed to launch a rocket.

 

 

http://168.11.62.15/BHS/Juniorprojects/Durham/lindseyc13006/

The temperature at ground level at Pad 39B was 36 degrees F, that was 15 degrees cooler than any other previous launch by NASA. The boosters started rumbling. But 0.68 seconds after ignition black smoke started coming from the bottom right booster. The burning of the O-ring in the booster caused the smoke. Now for people who don't know what O-rings are, O-rings are rubber "rings" that are used to make airtight seals. If one of the O-rings breaks air can get in and gas can get out. It turns out that the black smoked was an indication that the aft field joint was not sealing correctly.

 

 

 

http://www.jlhs.nhusd.k12.ca.us/Classes/Social_Science/Challenger.html/Challenger.html

 At 72 seconds there was a sudden chain of events that destroyed Challenger and the seven crew members on board. All of these events happened in less
than two seconds. By now the lower strut, connecting the right SRB to the External Tank was extremely hot and very weak

http://www.jlhs.nhusd.k12.ca.us/Classes/Social_Science/Challenger.html/Challenger.html

 

The external tank (the big red thing on the outside of the shuttle) was starting to grow weak. The tank is full liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen. Then suddenly the external tank fell. The Hydrogen in the tank start to leak out, this caused the tank to shot forward and rupture the inner Oxygen tank. Then we could see a white smoke that was caused by the combination of the Hydrogen and Oxygen.

 

 

 

http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/jan-shuttle.htm

 Just before the ship exploded it was covered in thick smoke. The boosters of the external tanks have parachutes of their own. The parachutes fell of the tank and were floating down. The people watching from the ground thought that the crew had escape. But in those days there was no escape system in the shuttles.

 

 

http://photo2.si.edu/memorial/challn.gif

The entire crew was lost. Francis R. Scobee , Commander Michael J. Smith , Pilot Judith A. Resnik , Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka , Mission Specialist Ronald E. McNair , Mission Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis , Payload Specialist Sharon Christa McAuliffe , Payload Specialist

 

 

 

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/glossary/indexm.shtml

Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe (1948-1986) was an
American schoolteacher. She was to be the first civilian in space, she taught at Concord High School in New Hampshire. McAuliffe had two kids and was married.

 

 

I am a student in high school and this is a project that I have to do at school. When I started this project I thought that I would pick a subject that did not leave a big impact on people. One part of the project was to interview some one about the tragic event. I interviewed my mom. After the interview I realized that the Challenger crash effected people just as much as the Kennedy assassination. " I remember, I was at work and I was listening to the launch on the radio. Everything sounded ok. They never said that the rocket was having problems. Suddenly there was a rush of adrenaline in the speaker's voice saying that the rocket was smoking, a lot and it was going down. It was so sudden to me that I didn't even realize what happened." That was the way my mom explained her reaction to the crash. She told me that it was the first time a shuttle had crashed. She said she could only think of the entire school that was watching one of their teachers lose her life. Then all of the teachers had to explain to their kids what had happened.

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Links

Challenger: A Day that will Never Be Forgotten

Challenger: A Different Perspective

The Challenger Explosion: A Real Life Experience