Space Shuttle Challenger Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript, January 28, 1986
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- This is the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder (also known as the black box) from the Space Shuttle Challenger which broke apart 73 seconds after lift off in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 28, 1986. It shows what the shuttle crew said to mission control and to each other.
A great deal of effort was made to match the conversation to the exact second it happened both before lift off and after. It is a written transcript and not an audio recording.
Please take a moment to remember the astronauts lost: Francis Richard Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Gregory Jarvis.
The transcript was taken from the book The Black Box, by Malcolm MacPherson.
Music:
I Need to Start Writing Things Down by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: chriszabriskie....
Artist: chriszabriskie....
I was working as an inspector for a company that made some o-rings for NASA. I lived with the fear that I had somehow missed a defect and caused this disaster. For eighteen months! When we finally got the letter from the investigation team that it was not our o-rings, my boss called me to his office and let me read it first! I cried so hard with relief! I still carry a memorial card in my wallet to this day!
Vickie Fowler - That would be awful to live with that fear for 18 months. Your boss was a good man. Just so sad for the families of the crew. May God bless and comfort them still.
I’ve often wondered what I would have done had it actually been one of our o-rings that failed. I’m not sure I could have lived with that! It was the longest eighteen months of my life. I couldn’t sleep... could barely eat. It was a living nightmare. The only thing that kept me alive were my co-workers who stood by me and urged me to wait for the results of the investigation. The o-rings we made were of Teflon, which is notorious for shrinking in cold weather. I had convinced myself that our’s were where the fault lay. I still feel such a strong connection to those brave people!
@@vickiefowler1429 It was out of the manufacturer's hands. The customer elected to use them without regard for the design parameters because of their culture.
Was it an O ring that failed and caused it to explode ?
It's really good to see someone that takes so much pride in their work. If you had that much concern you obviously have some pride even if it's not a glamorous or fun job.
If I remember correctly an engineer warned NASA not to launch because of icy o-rings . But why listen to an rocket engineer ? What do they know .
Correct. Boisjoly & his fellow engineers had been lodging strenuous objections to the launch for MONTHS. They knew what was coming. They were haunted for the rest of their lives.
Yeah, what do they know? It's not rocket science....Oh...
There were two previous launch delays and Ronald Reagan had some dignitary buds with him and he was pissed about no launch so when those engineers said 'don't launch' Ron said to hell with that as this is the third time his buddies came to watch and OUR President said light this bird up using some kind of excuse " I want to know if this bird will take me out of harms way in the event of a war !! bad weather or not you bastards light this thing I am not going to be embarrassed in front of my friends again !!! THIS IS THE TRUTH !!!!
I was told first hand by a person that was there !! Big VIP !!! He Has the credentials !!!
Pat Hall are you serious? Someone you knew told you that? And you’re on here typing it like it’s a fact? Gtfoh
As sad as this video is, it's nothing compared to the absolutely devastating footage in the "raw" video, which shows Christa McAuliffe's mother, father, and sister watching from the viewing stands, and their immediate reactions to the tragedy. It's so heartbreaking!
I agree. I think mission control says something like “there’s been a catastrophic loss of telemetry” and you can see christa’s mother asking what does that mean.
@@baruckacrane2685 7j7jj
I beg to differ
Never forget this day. God rest their souls.
When P.R. overrules science .
And God rest Roger Boisjoly, the Morton Thiokol employee whose pragmatism and wisdom would otherwise have delayed the launch due to the temperature's effect on the o-rings. The seals were not faulty, the same as aircraft are sound vehicles when properly de-iced or not flown at all in inclement weather.
they're not dead. look into it.
@@duke3250 shut the hell up and stop disrespecting these poor people, life is never on our side, we just act as it is, and think that.
@@Verstats just look it up lol they're still alive. the pictures are on the net.
What a tragedy. You hear a lot about Christa but not a lot about Judith. She was an amazing woman. She was a electrical engineer, software engineer and a biomedical engineer.
I had the pleasure of meeting Judy when she came to Boeing for a prior payload briefing a couple years beforehand. She was smart, articulate and had a great sense of humor. I was working on a different program when Challenger was destroyed, but a manager who had been watching the live feed in another building came over to tell us what had happened. What an ugly day....
@Chairman of the Board As you probably know, Barbara Morgan went into space 21 years later despite the cancellation of the Teacher in Space program. She essentially had to start all over, training as a Mission Specialist. An amazing story.
Feeber Izer hi and hugs for your comments
@Geo Hock gtfo no one cares
@Geo Hock You're mad because you didn't get to go.
It has also been proven that those poor souls were indeed still alive until they hit the ocean. God only knows if they were conscious or not. I pray for not. 😭😭
Frank Jackson It’s a horrible thing to imagine but the female astronaut had turned on the oxygen for two others during the free fall which would indicate she was very much alive and conscious.
How can God know it if he doesnt exist??
Frank Jackson...Can you direct me to this "proof" so I can read it?
@@forreal245 - It's well known that most if not all the crew survived the explosion and went as far as donning oxygen masks as contrary to popular belief the explosion didn't immediately destroy the orbiter the aerodynamic forces from the subsequent destabilized flight did and the reinforced crew compartment - detached from the rest if the orbiter - fell relatively intact
Unfortunately we know three of them were because they activated the oxygen in their helmets.
Uh-oh is two of the scariest words you would not want too hear in a accident like this
This is what hit me the most. He HAD to know. 3 seconds can be long.
He might have seen a master alarm of pressure dropping in the external tank or SRB...not much time to think.
There are "life moments" that you remember forever....this is one!
Agree one hundred percent!!
This, princess Diana's death, and 9/11.
@@sherribrawn3757 Princess Diana and 9/11 in the same breath? I mean, her death was tragic but come on....
@@kmsharley75 right?
@@kmsharley75it's one of those "I remember where I was and what I was doing at the time it happened... No disrespect just my feelings...
Indeed
I saw this live in my classroom in elementary school. Then I watched the OKC bombing aftermath, the waco tx incident in real time and then the second WTC tower hit live.
I think ive had enough live broadcasts
R Rockwell - and the assassination of jfk
Same
Our political science class watched the seize at Waco and they were only supposed to have been serving him a warrant for child endangerment. We fired on them first killing all the women and children; that is when they began firing back.
R Rockwell I watched the Waco incident live on the television in their icu waiting room with a group of family members of ill patients who were already stressed out. Many were in tears, everyone stunned. I do not think that viewing these kind of events does us any good.
Do me a favor, if I'm on live TV change the channel
I watched the launch live and I'll never forget the shock of seeing the explosion and knowing I just watched seven brave people die. They gave their lives to make future launches safer.
Same here, I remember the school I went to on base actually postponed classes while the launch happened, my dad was actually at ground zero with his camera taking photos and stuff, then the explosion happened, messed me and a bunch of my friends up because we were huge supporters of NASA and couldn't understand how it happened
i Dreamt a dream that left me in a cold sweat the night before. But it was of a plane flying low just above my head ...and crashing into a building. I thought it was just a coincidence and scoffed at the idea of a psychic premonition ...because it wasn't a dream about the shuttle. I had said a prayer actually, asking God for the safety of the launch before I went to sleep the night before. Had there been talk of a delay? We were still in the midst of the cold war & I sensed that launch was important. They instantly went to Heaven I have no doubt.
With all the false alarms and false hoaxes that are being revealed as of late.... (Russian Hoax... Smollett, etc.) I begin to wonder if some weird psycho-drama of promoting mass-trauma on the American people wasn't being employed? I don't know what the purpose would be. At the time I was just thinking sabotage... But who? The Russians or communist Chinese? Or do the elites & the CIA drama-queens in the media love us & would NEVER think of manipulating us???? Or it was just another tragic accident? Funny how mass shootings almost never happened when my generation was growing up (I'd never heard of one... except for JFK & he was the only one killed). Are the spooks/'black'-Ops/CIA more brazen & psychotic... Or has our decaying morality been the sole cause?
I watched it live in school. Every one freaked out.
@@kindlydude The Satanic Illuminati is behind everything. Check out the card game.
I'll never forget this day. I was in 4th grade and we had the television on in the library. My teacher asked me to run from the classroom down to the library to see if there were any updates. As I entered the library, I saw the space shuttle take off and then explode shortly after. I stood there in disbelief for what had to have been a few minutes. I finally shook myself out of my amazement and ran down to the classroom, shouting "it blew up, the space shuttle blew up" everyone rushed down to the library to see what happened. I don't think we did any school work the rest of the day.
I was in first and remember everything..... my teacher started crying.
i was in 5th grade and i'll never forget my teacher's reaction. She just shut off the TV and walked out of the room. 15 mins later they were all lining up the buses to send us home early. Fucking unbelievable tragedy and like every school child in America watched it live.
I was in 4th Grade also when this occurred.
@@myhaikaratesmellstillrocks6823 and Canada, we watched it live as well...
I was on the table awaiting a vasectomy.
"If we die we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
-Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom, Astronaut who died during Apollo I pre-launch tests.
True and noble. Accidents can always happen, however, in the case of the Challenger, it was more like manslaughter. NASA had been warned that the temperature was too low which could lead to a disaster, but they decided their time schedule was more important. That’s why the loss of the Challenger crew never stops hurting. NASA managers gambled with their lives, and the crew was not aware of that.
Except this was preventable
The conquest of space is definitely not worth the risk of life.
What you all say is all true. (Except for John). And i long for the day that bureaucrats and businessmen more retarded than i can be myself would just step off their position in place of people that actually knows what's going on within an early space-age project.
"The right man in the right place can make all the difference in the world."
-G-Man from HL2 but slightly edited for context :^)
@@johnmano1439 the conquest of space is greater than the risk of life. With the conquest of space we will be able to create a longer life for humanity without the constraint of earth. U dumb if you cant see it. The future of the human specie and its survival needs the space conquest
I worked for Ocean Search in Upper Marlboro MD when that tragic accident and we immediately got a order to manufacture parts for a special crane that the Navy would use to rescue the parts within the ocean. These parts were being made in different localities of the country and would be sent to Florida. The CNC team can not produce the program in time to make one of the parts and my boss Dave asked me: Rene you can do this in the conventional lathe?, my answer was yes sir. Good 3 days later that part of about 3 feet in diameter was already finished and was sent to FL
immediately. I make through all the work manually and that was my small contribution to help this tragic accident. Machinist Rene Cardona for 42 years. soon to retire and proud to be a machinist.
Rene Cardona you machined the part that caused the accident???my god have you told anyone before this??
john smith read again stupid
Clark Gable I won't , thx. I just got a bit upset thinking one might accuse someone being not involved at all, to have caused this horrible incident....other than the ones who obviously are the ones to take responsibility.
Clark Gable oh don't worry I won't...I am still in awe ....the music is awesome and leaves me somehow speechless....if one wouldn't know what happens, one could even think how strangely beautiful the white clouds emerging higher and higher are, while the piano's play adds a dark undertone, though being harmonious....It fits the scene so very well...
It's somehow too much for a humans simple mind to take in at once ....
@@johnsmith-jm9nw can you read?
I was friends with a tough, retired Air Force three-star general, an aviator who was a combat veteran of WW2, Korea and Vietnam--saw action in all three. He'd been involved in the space program. Tough, strong guy. When he saw this, he wept. He knew some of those astronauts. It tore him up to witness that.
Being tough isn't not crying, its crying and not giving af.
Thanks James, yes I did. Emotions took over.
"Uh-oh" that absolutely shattered my heart
Hannah Prevost Who cares?
Arslan Ahmad Obviously you do, since you commented
BelmontSlayer 23 Actually no, they replied.
LittleArmyNut wow fuck you arslan and armynut, have a heart... my original comment said hannah, sorry to hannah if you saw that
Army nut just by your name i can tell what kind of person you are hahahaha, not a good one
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they saw this happen. It rocked our world.
It rocked our world, but we're no longer that country unfortunately.
7th grade, Ms. Lowell's science class, Hughes Jr. High.
I was at the student having lunch at the student union in my university. I remember it so vividly. It was crowded with many students, some of which were foreign students from the Middle East. Many of us were engineering students. As the explosion happened, some of the foreign students stood up and cheered. I was shocked and outraged. Those cheering were rejoicing at the death of people that were dedicating their lives to the advancement of scientific progress for the benefit of our country and the world. Needless to say, I struggled to forget how they celebrated a tragedy. If they hated our country so much do not come to our country to study. It was the beginning of my realization of biases against our country, whether it was for good or bad reasons.
I was in art class at my university and the professor walked in and canceled class. I remember driving home and my mother was crying when I got there. I stood watching the TV in disbelief. Such a tragedy
@@cjanquart Mrs. Jordan's 7th grade pre-algebra class; we'd just come in from lunch and she was there, crying, and told us what had happened.
"Uh-oh" were also my dad's last words. Never heard him swear in my life. He was a much finer man then I. My last works will probably include an expletive.
Different generation,Leonard. I’m sure your dad is proud of the man you are
how'd he die?
Sorry about your dad ...... God bless.......
Sorry for your loss 😢
No....call out "Jesus!!"
I remember being in 11th grade and having my teacher bring out the TV to watch it live because a teacher was on board and she was so excited to see it live. When it all happened the whole class was so uncomfortable and my teacher burst into tears....I'll never forget that.
alex ubillus I too was in the 11 grade. In gym class. Complete silence. Then tears.
alex ubillus Wow I remember watching it in class too. It haunted me for a long time
I knew I wasn't the only one. Will never forget it and I too share that memory with my son.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Same story here, except I was in 4th grade. We were in the gymnasium and the teacher wheeled the tv in on a cart. We all sat on the floor watching it Live and the teacher stood near the tv. Everyone just sat there after it happened, not sure what we had just seen. The teacher began sobbing.
"uh ohh" damn that made me cry. Iremember watching this on tv as a kid
Me too 😢
I remember the spaghetti O's commercial
@crackerwv wait, are you admitting to tax evasion
crackerwv You’re a fucking moron
crackerwv wait, you’re joking right. You’re not that dumb
I remember being in the sixth grade, watching this with my classmates. We were excited that a teacher was going to space. When we saw the explosion there was such a loud gasp in the room. Us girls started to cry and the teachers couldn't get to the TV to turn it off fast enough. I remember praying that they all survived somehow, though I knew inside there was less than a one percent chance.
Now that I'm an adult and I've watched several videos about it and researched it, it makes me mad that NASA didn't heed the warnings and went ahead with this mission anyway. Seven people lost their lives for absolutely no reason other than a bunch of people who thought they knew better than a blessed rocket scientist.
The fact that they were still alive when they hit the water...ugh. I have no idea why I just watched this, because it just brings back memories and makes me cry all over again.
Angieleigh Eads I had almost the exact experience except I was in 8th grade. Always stayed with me, I guess maybe because I was the first major tragedy I watched happen before my eyes 🙈
Same. 5th grade.
I was also in middle school at the time. Initially, it wasn't understood what happened, but after it was confirmed word spread throughout the school very quickly.
@@RayyM2 I was in first grade in a Houston school so the lead up to the launch was big. I knew something was wrong when I saw my teacher start crying.
Donut
I'll never forget it either, I was in the Navy watching it live on on tv while at sea. 25 guys watching it and you could've heard a pin drop. it was just unbelievable, RIP crew.
The words "go with throttle up"still makes my blood run cold. I will never forget your sacrifice and will never forget. RIP Challenger astronauts.
HAHAHA relax Connie none of them are dead hahaha.
@@steveimperial7760 They're all dead...
Throttle up was the last thing Smith said, as the pilot of the shuttle. After that, it was a man knowing his demise is unavoidable but his composure and behavior were the same as all test pilots would be. Scobe was next to him and they both knew, it would be a couple of minutes, before they died. They were heroes who passed with respect and dignity.
@@linanicolia1994 Are you saying they knew it was going to explode? oh no...
@@steveimperial7760 from what I've read, they were alive when they landed in the ocean. What happened to them after that, is anyone's guess.
The uh-oh gave me chills
@crackerwv dude just shut up your embarrassing yourself
Uh huh. Looks nothing like them.
The realisation something was majorly amiss. Unfortunately everything happened so quickly there was nothing anyone could do. Very sad.
I can't remember who said it but it was something like "they were alive and he tried to fly that ship without wings the whole way down" referring to the pilot Mike Smith, the one saying "uh oh." Very chilling, indeed.
Same
I was 21 when I saw this live on tv.We were all hard at work in the bakery.We took a special break so we could watch this historic event.This is the first time I watched it again.Quite an emotional day for America.
I was at university at the time and blew off my classes that morning and thought I'd watch the launch on tv.
@@wincrasher2007 I remember walking in from class right after it happened. Walking into a silent living room full of college kids, I knew something was wrong. That silence was deafening.
I was 28 years old driving a handicap bus in Fort Myers Florida. I was on business 41 watching it from the top of the bridge when it happened. I had at least 20 handicap adult watching and everyone including me cried. May the astronauts rest in peace
Heather. Lynsae
@Silvio Manuel You're an Idiot.
@@randygreen8916 the best part of Silvio dripped down his mother's leg
How sad that day was. The morning when Challenger blew up I was at a law office discussing the soon divorce from my wife of 13 years. Three kids would soon be without their mother.
Things will be so much better when Jesus returns and those who love Jesus will be forever happy and at peace in the New Jerusalem and on earth made new. There will be no more sad stories, tears and death! Please come soon Lord Jesus and take us to our real, forever home!
Silvio Manuel thats a douche remark you made to Benny...maybe your just stupid BUT maybe your are anti-Semitic...your post certainly clarifies you as an anti-Semitic POS..
My dad told me about this when I was a kid and said a good friend of his was one of the men pressuring NASA to abort the launch for precisely the reason that caused the failure. There is always someone in the higher up who forgets about the value of human life and is more focused on the agenda. Reminds me of Mr. Ismay on the Titanic pressuring for full steam through the ice field.
@@commontater1785 Just something he told me when I was about 14 years old.
I heard it set up like we have to take risks to accomplish something. I understand this: sometimes people must die to accomplish a mission. The saddest part is that whoever pushed it through has also committed the deadliest sins of all: has also failed the mission. People were sacrificed for nothing.
weird flex but okay
Don't forget about the Columbia accident. Engineers requested 3 times to use the shuttle's imaging sensors to inspect the damage. The program integration manager Linda Ham denied the requests to focus more on scientific experimentation. The Atlantis was already being prepped for another scheduled launch. An orbital rescue may have been feasible
@@anthonysmith3577 For the sake of exploration, innovation, and human achievement, lives will often be lost. All they can do is build numerous redundancies into the systems, train the hell out of the crew, and repeatedly inspect for safety. But even with all that accidents will still happen.
“Uh-oh”
Damn, that’s chilling
Yeah for sure. It makes you wonder what he saw or felt to make him say that. I always figured the first they knew was when the explosion happened, but the "uh oh" was just before it happened.
I was thinking the same thing... jesus.
@@ihurtmyarm probably like the parachute coming out on a top fuel dragster times 20.
J G I think we can only assume they lost electrical power.
Yes it is very chilling and sad. Either lost all electric to the shuttle or warning sensors going off making him say that 😥
I was so invested in Nasa and the Space Shuttles, to me this was the equivalent of the day JFK got shot.
Mad
same
My shuttle was Columbia. I remember being in 4th grade watching it on tv in 1981. It hurt to lose that one.
It was on a historical scale just like JFK's assassination. That, this, and 911 are the standout historical days of my life, just like (I'm sure) Pearl Harbor, the 29 stock market crash, and the Garfield, McKinley, and Lincoln assassinations were to prior generations. All of were truly sad days.
@@sandydog291 I was 12 when President Kennedy was murdered, so have seen plenty of deaths that have had a historical impact. Unfortunately I'll see many more before my eyes finally close!
This was a sad day that our country choses to remember as it should. Another tragedy struck America on Dec, 12 1985 that America chose to ignore. 240 members of the 101st airborne along with 8 crew members died on their way home from a peace keeping mission when their chartered airplane went down over Canada. 248 men who did not spend Christmas with their families.
Christmas is gay
They were either trying to land or were just taking off weren't they?The American military had personnel at CFB Gander in Newfoundland. The Us stops there all the time to refuel either on there way to Europe or on their way back to the states.Canada has people stationed at cheyenne mountain at Norad.I remember that also.A sad day that was.May they all RIP.
melvin boyce : peacekeeping mission. Lol, America doesn't do those.
melvin boyce gandor Newfoundland ,I saw the memorial when my flight had a engine problem and got stuck in gamdor over night waiting for a new engine the airlines was flying tigers air cargo. Sfc D.L. Ryan 7thSf. Airborne ret.
Never heard that one.
I was on the roof of our house in
St. Petersburg Fl with my oldest brother seeing It live...he’s in Heaven too now🙏
I was in Orlando in a science class. They took us all outside to watch it.
Paul Hogsten huh
@Paul Hogsten Steel beams can't melt jet fuel
@Paul Hogsten nope.
Paul Hogsten they died when they hit the water dumbass
I don’t think that as long as I live, I will ever forget the expression Christa McCauliffs mother’s face when this happened. Such a sad sad time in our history.
crackerwv thanks for demonstrating why lobotomy’s should be mandatory for Flat tards .
@crackerwv it sure is convenient they all have websites with pictures. Have you ever thought that they could be relatives?
@crackerwv You have a problem recognizing which position is the theory, methinks. While I will admit that they all share eerily similar features to their "namesakes", all of the links you provided are to professionals, each with long-established and verifiable histories that go back before the challenger disaster, and fail any objective definition of "proof". The burden of proof is on the accuser.
The teacher should have never done this. Just wanted glory but her kids lost their mother because of her ego
@crackerwv I'm thinking perfectly well for myself right now and I think you should shut the fuck up
i wasn’t even born yet but that “uh oh” is so haunting
The really sad part of this was that it was completely avoidable...Not even a close call...One of the guys in MC said it basically wrecked his life, as he pleaded with the higher-up Toadies not to launch...A terrible waste...
@Wil Andersen - I watched a movie based on this event that depicted just what you said. This mission had been delayed once or twice so the powers that be (whoever they were/are) decided to go with it. I lived about 40 miles from Cape Canaveral at the time and recall what a bitterly cold morning it was. I could see the split plume from my back patio. :(
Sonshine...A memory that sadly, you'll keep forever...so terrible...
Particularly as it was the Reagan White House that pushed for it. cleantechnica.com/2016/01/31/challenger-disaster-happens-politics-overrides-science/
Will I've never researched this, so I don't know that much about it really...
but they were talking about helium loss... didn't Mission Control get the hint? I mean,
I don't know, but that seems like something... you know... important!?!
all aviation and space accidents are avoidable...but since we are human beings and one little mistake result in disaster in very complex machines and missions....its just a dangerous undertaking.
As the world watched. I was 20 years old when this happened. I remember watching this live on TV and thinking, "I can't believe that thing just disintegrated!" How sad.
David Williams kinda odd you’re calling him retarded when I’m pretty sure it should be the other way around
@Cory Templar Alan expressed his feelings of shock is what he is trying to say. Not necessary to be insulting.
@Cory Templar It didn't disintegrate. The crew cabin was recovered, intact, on the ocean floor, and one of the crew members, probably Resnick, activated the pilots' PEAPS. They could not activate those themselves, but they had been activated. Also, Resnick was recovered with an emergency checklist opened.
They were alive for the fall.
This was prevantable. Pride killed these victims! Heads should have rolled.
With each delay youre talking money... Time is money... It was all about the money, thats all it ever is... Money ruled that day.... Not the victims.. RIP Challenger..
When its the presidents head do you really think anythings gonna happen.Never.
@@tomwolak3362 what did the president have to do with it? This was all NASA.
Eyes open wide Trump is responsible. 😂
Tandria Alfonso this happened in 1986..
I was in middle school watching it in class. A moment later the principal came over the intercom to tell the rest of the school what had happened. How he was able to put sentences together while crying was beyond me. Still remember it vividly.
I was in 6th grade. Our school only had a few TVs and my teacher wasn't able to get one. The first my class realized that there was something wrong was when the other 6th grade class across the hall started screaming. I can remember the teacher dropping his book and running out of the class. When he came back he was crying.
I was in middle school, too. We were all so excited to watch along with the whole country. As it turned out we had a snow day in Atlanta so I watched from home. I just sat in shock and disbelief. I called my mom immediately and told her what happened. She was home within an hour. It took me years before I would watch another launch. After the SS Columbia incident I’d had enough with SS missions.
@@beckymays1677 think the Challenger was a defining moment for our generation. It's definitely something thst ties us all together.
We saw 7 people die. People that to many of us were heros. And we were just expected to deal with it. Many of us saw it live, we all saw it on the news for days, front page of the newspaper.
Today, there would be counselors and meetings. Students would be able to talk about the shock and horror. Their grief. For us it was just part of growing up. I wonder how many more of us are done with SS missions.
Was in 10th grade ,sitting in my science class in a small town in NM . Our teacher was preparing to start a lesson when our school secretary ,a very sweet lady ,came into the classroom looking like she'd seen a ghost. She obviously wanted to tell us something but didn't seem to have the words. Finally she kinda stiffened up and said very slowly and deliberately " I just want to let you all know that the space shuttle Challenger exploded moments after take off and it appears there were no survivors" and with that she kinda slumped a little and her tears started. We all sat in a stunned silence for about 3-4 minutes unable to comprehend, and then our teacher slowly walked over placed his arms around her gave her a hug and whispered something to her .whatever it was he said now allowed her to regain her composure and move to a desk to sit ,while our teacher went to notify all the other classrooms one at a time. This was and is one of Those moments in my life,that when I think of it ,every detail comes back to life. As a combat veteran ,a father,and someone who has experienced a lot ,this one event probably had as big of an effect on me as any .
The shooting of JFK had such an impact on my generation. One big difference for some I'm sure, at my school we got word he'd been shot & then there was the wait before the final pronouncement :( Us Kennedy Kids grew up to: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" I retired career civil service: School District, State of California, DoD. Sadly the majority of old farts left in our government at present didn't pick up the same message :(
@@NoseyNana I'm sure that day when our country was changed forever by the events in Dallas does resonate for those who were alive ,much as Pearl Harbor ,and 911 for those generations. I think every generation has it's defining moment and it's what they choose to do from that moment on that defines the generation. I have been lucky,or unlucky enough to have 3 defining moments. The Challenger tragedy,the day the war started (Desert Storm ) and I awaited my orders to cross into Iraq as part of Stormin Norman's Hail Mary (24th infantry division) and of course 911. While all three were traumatic ,they also taught me much about myself and our nation as well as the human spirit and it's ability to pick itself up and go on.
Oyr 8th grade teacher put on the TV and we watched it live! Sad day.
there was a school teacher from New Hampshire on the shuttle and school where she worked at the whole school was watching the launch live in the gym.
@@JohnDoe-dh4fi can't imagine the pain and horror those kids and co-workers felt. Pride and excitement,to punched in the gut....
Still brings a boat load of tears to my eyes. RIP you all and thank you for your service
32 1/2 years ago and all of the feelings came rushing back watching this video. Tore me up at 15, and brought tears at 47.75 years old
I was/am the same age as you. I was home from school, sick, and I remember watching it alone and the sick, sad feeling that came over me when I saw what happened. That feeling stayed with me for a long while and was just replicated while watching this. RIP Challenger crew
About the same age i was watching live and i when i saw the look on the crowds faces i was oh my god that wasnt supposed to happen.
ya im 27.36 years old right now i totally now how that feels, maybe when im 40.13 years old ill be able to let it go.
I was a senior in high school in Anaheim CA. sitting in class watching it live, When the disaster hit, The entire school was silent, I can remember sitting there trying to pick my jaw up off the floor in the eerie silence while my gut was in knots.... God Bless Em' All....
Really, what school? Loara?
I saw this on TV at school, as well. Was in 4th grade. Will never forget it.
I was teaching a computer class at the Community College in Colorado Spring Co. My husband was teaching at the Air Force Academy, and he had Commander Scobee’s son in his Physics Class. This was a very sad day for all of us. A day we will long remember]. Please respect it
Still gets to me and brings tears. I can remember exactly where and what I was doing when this happened. Was at work laying in the floor working on a washing machine with a TV right through the door in the TV shop. I scooted out and sat up to watch the launch. Then the explosion. I sat there in disbelief of it all at first then realized they were all gone in an instant. Put my head in my hands and wept for a few min until my boss came by and asked me what happened. I know there have been many many people lost in a lot of different ways, but before that I had never saw something like that happen live as I watched it.
not in an instant unfortunately.
My god...I remember everything on that day.The transcripts only... drive it home. The loss of Commander Francis Richard Scobe and his crewmembers Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Gregory Jarvis.
Some of the comments I have read. Just reminds me of the detachments of those who have never experienced tragic things in their own lives...how sad some of you are so ignorant. These souls are to be respected and remember as the heroes they are. Not as comic relief. It is disrespectful to their memory and their families.
nothing tragic about it all those astronauts ate still alive look it up
amen...
MORON ALERT! They died of course. Plus all you conspiracy idiots, unfortunately, are still alive.
IDIOT!! www.snopes.com/fact-check/false-crew-members-of-1986-space-shuttle-challenger-are-still-alive/
Once you grow up and see a lot of people die in your lifetime you'll lighten up about it, kid.
I don’t think they wanted their last words to be “uh oh”
Edit: People I understand that they spoke inside while they where falling I was trying to say the word we would hear from them.
Sorry but this is not thay last words, cocpict section is made with reinforced aluminum and just deatched- this is not explosion but more like huge breakup. " NASA estimated the load factor at separation to be between 12 and 20 g; within two seconds it had already dropped to below 4 g and within 10 seconds the cabin was in free fall. The forces involved at this stage were probably insufficient to cause major injury." "Whether the crew members 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. If, on the other hand, the cabin was not depressurized or only slowly depressurizing, they may have been conscious for the entire fall until impact. Recovery of the cabin found that the middeck floor had not suffered buckling or tearing, as would result from a rapid decompression, thus providing some evidence that the depressurization may not have happened suddenly." If this will be just peaceful moments NASA just will give peoples(media) voice recording
it most likely wasn’t their last words. at least 3 of them were completely aware and concious, still attempting to save themselves up until the very moment of impact into the water.
“The last moments the world would hear from them”
They were alive.. in addition to 3 activated PEAPs, some controls in were set to manual, suggesting that Smith was trying to regain control of a ship that was no longer behind them.
@Superfly l thought that
I cry every time I see this. Still, as heartbreaking now, as the day it happened. May we NEVER forget them. 😞
I was a junior, and still remember how shocked and sad I felt, but I had schoolmates who reacted so oddly to the news. They actually laughed and joked about it. I believe they were all boys, but it was still certainly an unexpected immature response. When I think back on it though, maybe it was their way of dealing with grief.
Awe , I feel for you Becky but you know sweetheart space travel is dangerous. Come to think 🤔 about it 🚂 driving on the interstate in my city is also dangerous. There are some crazy drivers that do dumb maneuvers.
@Buzz Armstrong moon landing was fake do you have photos of them still alive after this?
Amen
Our 9th grade class was watching this live, the second it happened we couldn't really comprehend what happened. Our teacher knew immediately and started crying and switched off the tv. Just so sad
And we didn’t need grief counselors did we. Amazing how we survived ! Today’s kids would all be admitted to a hospital for evaluation.
@@krissanchez4816 eh... no... They'd be open for anyone to come to the office and talk about what happened if they needed to. That's what happened at my school whenever someone died...
NutellaFox 🤣.
Life went on in my town when a classmate died or some tragic event happened.
@@krissanchez4816 yeah my town decided that wasn't a good idea when one student suicide led to a chain of 4 more.
My heart still breaks every time I see a video or hear a news story. That day they touched the face of God.
RIP forever in the arms of the Lord.
You will NEVER be forgotten. 🙏
@Robbin' Hoods Beats evolution makes a whole lotta more sense to me than saying we were made of clay or mud or dirt and then life was blown into us. If we all came from Adam and Eve we would all have died out due to inbreeding so how does that make sense
Pretty likely they were not all Christian....
“Uh-oh” was the understatement of all time. RIP
Heartache is a reminder to let you know you are still alive...
Beautiful ICUinthedark just beautiful but I’m gonna have to lean towards Y Hh on this one
Clint Eastwood said " Pain is Good .It let's you know that you are still alive " " Heartbreak Ridge "
i saw it with my own eyes ..will never forget
Me too. So shocking. :(
Yes fairies wear boots and you gotta believe me! Yeah I saw it I saw it with my own two eyes!
@@bobbybands1957 I've been to San Francisco and can confirm, some do wear boots.
I watched it live too, it was heartbreaking.
@Paul D....same...
immediately after silence and confusion. Brave men and woman risked their lives in pursuit of a greater understanding of this world and life. RIP ✌🏾
Sad, but don't forget the first three astronauts that NASA fried: Gus Grissom, Roger Chafee; and Ed White.
Apollo 1 pure oxygen flash fire in the cockpit. Poor guys never left the launch pad. Gus knew it was a lemon and warned anyone who would listen the Apollo capsule was crap.
sh57, God, how awful to know in advance.
Yeah that was sad. At that time, NASA had to bolt the door shut so when the Astronauts and NASA realized there was a fire they couldn't get the door opened fast enough so three men burned to death in a man made pressure cooker. God Bless those three Astronauts
They didn't fry. They died from toxic smoke.
Pure oxygen in cockpit, who would have guessed it was flammable. Certainly not the so called geniuses in NASA. Murder, nothing less.
There is a recording of the Apollo 1 incident on TH-cam. It’s very chilling.
I was 7 years old when this happened, I had a very vivid dream a few days after. I was in the cockpit and it was split in half, there was three others with me and they were alive looking out at the sky and we were falling. Weird thing was, we were standing, pinned against the wall of the shuttle. I'll never forget that dream.
I remember watching the live feed in high school with classmates when Challenger exploded.Was heartbreaking even then 30 years ago,even more heartbreaking now and Im 48
I was 28 years old, working at Rockwell International Flight Systems Laboratories at Downey, CA. I heard that Sy Rubenstien voted no on launching from the Shuttle manufacturing side due to cold temperature limits. I met him once when he came to building 4 and needed directions. We walked and talked for 1/4 mile.
We just buried my grand mother and went home frome the cemetary. I turned on the TV just in time to watch the launch. What a bad day.
RIP to all including your grandma. Hopefully they are in a great place
Same as with My Grandpa .he passed away in December 85 .we spread his ashes into the Gulf of Mexico in January 86
After all these years I still get that sicken feeling in my gut and feel that great loss. I don't think I'll ever get over it. My heart still aches for our Heros.
I was in the 3rd grade when this happened. The teachers were crying, and there was such sadness for many days to come after this. God rest these presious souls.
Heartbreaking to hear their last conversations with each other and their final words. They were all such amazing people achieving amazing things. What a huge loss to their families and the world. To hear how excited Smith was for his first flight to space and in an instant it was over. I was just a baby when this happened but after watching challenger the final flight on Netflix I wanted to know more about each and every one of them. Each story breaks my heart. Rip crew of the challenger.
They were alive and at least some conscious until they hit the water. There is a audio recording from in the cockpit. It gets hotter and hotter as they continue to fall. This video doesn't have the transcript of their last words.
This happened on my 42nd birthday and i had decided to stay home to watch it rather than go out with friends. I truly hope that those poor brave souls had little knowledge of what was happening to them. RIP.
Wherever you are in the world, this was a very sad thing to experience, I still feel very sorry for the scientists and other flight attendants who lost their lives when I think about the event.
To call astronauts flight attendants is unbelievably insulting. That’s not to say flight attendants don’t go through a lot, but astronauts are something else.
I was in the seventh grade watching this live at school. This gave me goosebumps. Still grabs my heart.
So sad, that engineers even in a screaming match with their superiors, couldn't stop them from going ahead with that launch, even with the sub temps that shrunk those fuel "O" rings.
They were talking to the wrong people - tell the pilots it was a suicide mission, and then you get to have a conversation the moment they decide they're not suiting up. But... the operational types always give mission briefings and engineers are not necessarily in the room.
We are killing eachother because we want to cut cost...shame...
we are still doing it and it's very unfortunate..
If it was down to me I'd have told the crew about it no questions.
Very unfortunate because we are killing ourselves in the name of cutting cost...
@@RedfurredPikachu All the engineers get is a conference call with the NASA people - no way to warn the Astronauts themselves - tragic, and yeah there SHOULD have been criminal charges for this
I was teaching high school American History when this happened, and set up a TV so at least the 1st period class could watch it live. A terrible thing to see and experience in that way. One of those moments (like JFK assassination) when everybody who witnessed it happening will never forget where they were at the time; it still bothers me.
That’s called “flashbulb memory”, where something occurs so unexpected and profound and tragic and unprecedented that it is forever imprinted into your memory bank.
9/11 is a perfect example.
Plmncvb
You just wanted to watch tv at work.
@@miguelasantiago9543 Real mature. Not even in the realm of funny
@@miguelasantiago9543 That is not even one strand of funny, no humor. A complete insult of saying "you just wanted to watch tv at work" Do you know the number of school children who were basically traumatized? There were even reports of PTSD in some kids. Think before you speak because no one's laughing.
@@miguelasantiago9543 were you even alive or in this country in 1986?
To this day it still it’s home. McNair snd Ellison were my neighbors. I grew up in Clear Lake and there were many astronauts in my neighborhood
Really?
@MattC Croshaw I failed to see the part where your house was mentioned.
@n\a Clear Lake isn't in Florida. McNair trained at Johnson Space Center, which is in Clear Lake, (Houston, TX) and the widow of Dr. McNair and their children still live in Clear Lake.
Fuck off
That’s lies. They’re my neighbours on the moon, and my name is Aiken Drumm.
The best technical description of the failure was in a 1986 issue of "IEEE Spectrum," a magazine for electrical engineers. The O-rings were not supposed to provide the seal between the sections of the solid fuel rocket. This was done by a fire-resistant putty, which was held in place by the O-rings. The cold might have contributed to the failure, but the boosters were found to have leaked during previous launches, presumably on warmer days. This time, however, the leak occurred on the side of the rocket next to the fuel tank. After the accident, a new all-metal seal was designed and installed.
I will NEVER forget the look on Christa McAlliffs mother's face that horrible day.
I read your post and the anguished face of her mom popped up from nowhere !
@@KenBowd WOW!!!!!!
I also remember her facial expression and that was one of not understanding what she just saw. I cried for her and such compassion washed over me. Having lost a son who was 100 miles away from me when he died, I can barely think about how awful it must have been for their mothers and fathers and families to see their loved ones' deaths. To say it was shocking to see the explosion is an understatement. To hear that my son was dead and there was no one there to rescue him or call 911 or even whisper words of love as he slipped away is still as excruciating as ever, even these many years later. My heart goes out to these families I will not forget.
@@tessarix I remember that too. It just broke my heart!!
@@tessarix I am so very sorry about your son. I can't even imagine the pain. God bless you. 🙏🙏🙏
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. 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, January 28, 1986
Man, i remember that like it was yesterday. Sad day.
Yep, 6 of them are alive and well today. Even a few mainstream media networks exposed this before being silenced by the powers that be but there's a ton of credible information available to see.
@@bobbybands1957 Hey Bobby, I heard about that also. Someone told me that all of the astronauts are alive today living under different names.
@@bobbybands1957 Do u have info on this? I just read about this tonight.
Wow. What the actual fuck is wrong with some of you people? What’s to gain by faking a shuttle disaster? Abortion has absolutely nothing to do with this. What a sick and twisted world perspective. I would love to see one of these astronauts children knock on your door and punch you square in the mouth and make you shit teeth for a week. Must be a Republican thing to mock and try to discredit Americans who gave their life for MY country and to the advancement of SCIENCE. Yes that’s a real thing.
No matter how much time passes, my whole heart breaks for the 7 people that died, and for the family members who were watching their loved ones dying, and for their friends who mourned them. And for the rest of us who never got to see them live to their full potential. RIP Challenger 86’
It was definitely one of those days where you'll always remember where you were when.... I was 24 and over at my farmer neighbors house drinking coffee as I was waiting for him to get all his coveralls and boots on as we were going out with our twin Ford 8N tractors to remove snow from our mile long lane. While sitting and waiting, I turned on his tv and saw the launch was about to go and i hollared at him to come and watch this! So we both paused and were drinking coffee and going on about how cool all this is and 3..2..1...Go baby go! It was so cool! And then the ball and the twin boosters going off in separate directions. I said immediately, "Shit! They're dead!" And that was a full 10-15 seconds before the NASA guy was going "we're looking carefully at the situation. ... .. . Obviously a major malfunction." YA THINK?! Dayamm. Anyway, we watched while the cameras zoomed in on the spiraling, falling debris and I felt horrible. But, still had work to do and we went out to push snow and that whole day, I was kinda in a funk. I felt so sad for the families...and the space program for loosing these fine people.
Its so casual and jokingly at the beggining but at the end uh oh says it all
all that excitement and months of training just for it to end like this
Its as if they may have heard something bad moments before the ship flew apart.
@@Scioneer My guess is when the commander throttled up he felt the lack of power due to the leaking fuel or something, then BOOM.
“Uh-oh” wow, they risked their lives for later science that could have been abandoned but they never gave up and successfully orbited the other times. God bless their souls.
So scary how they were in high spirits and kinda joking with each other right before lift off and then everything was going as plan when a sudden "Uh oh" is said. Then they're gone instantly. I cannot imagine.
Unfortunately, it wasn't instant. They were all still alive falling for several minutes inside the capsule. They died upon impact with the water.
@@smilergrogan1725 Is this verified as true?
Forgive my ignorance, isnt there an eject button these days?
@@onethousandtwonortheast8848 yes
@@smilergrogan1725 ~3 of them were alive after the blast.
I hope none of them sufferd.
I feel sorry for them and their loved ones.
I went to the same high school as Judith Resnik. She had a nice memorial in the school's library.
They give all of the astronauts good memorials :)
I live in the same neighborhood that Ronald Macnair lived in when he was an astronaut. The big park in the neighborhood is named after him.
No, Morton Thiokol recommended that they not launch. They knew it was too cold for those O-rings.
I was 29 and It was My Father's birthday , The sky was beautiful as We listened for the Lift Off ! Elation filled our hearts , then Disaster and Dispare . God Less there Brave Souls 🙏🇺🇸 Jimmy
I saw this live at work while working at the hospital. I was in one of of the lobbies waiting for the elevator when I witnessed the explosion. A sight & tragedy I will never forget.
I remember it well, that incident just broke the worlds heart, totally needless loss.
May they all rest in peace.
@Marechal Zolotoy the loss and shock was profoundly felt here in Europe too. Not sure why you feel that only Americans cared about this?
saw the launch live....absolutely horrific and so sad. These are heroic people that put themselves in harms way in the interest of science
A sad, sad day for America and for us all.
Spaceflight is, in fact, dangerous, and always will be.
That's a whole lot of explosive fuel under that capsule.
J Manning ... I watched it live as well… Didn’t it come down to a $.25 O ring that failed?
Xardox17 I agree 💯 %. A very sad day indeed... not to downplay this tragedy and loss, was this the lady and man astronauts “supposedly” having an affair? Or I think that was that a different crew.. am I correct? This crew had the teacher onboard..correct?
@@G513-y3o yes it was down to that extremely inexpensive O ring. I watched it live as well. ✌
Unfortunately that is what they signed up for. Bless them.
sad day...very sad day...we will never forget these brave souls...may God continue to give each one in their families His Peace each moment!
The scariest thing is that the crew didnt die in the explosion. The cockpit took two minutes to fall to the ground and it was the impact with the water that killed them.
At least they had a chance to say goodbye
I can imagine that they were knocked unconscious by the explosion and that they didn't have to endure those horrific last minutes in the way like you mentioned. Is there any information on that?
@@Nessevan apparently they were able to get their breathing systems on before impact which to investigators meant they were alive and conscious after the explosions.
@@ryana3679 Heartbreaking to imagine what they went through in those last moments. Thanks for responding Ryan. All the best from The Netherlands.
@@Nessevan I agree. May they rest in peace. I am from Canada. Take care my friend.
I was in college in class watching it on a Tv the teacher had brought in on a cart..I will never forget watching it on live Tv and seeing the outcome...I loved the space shuttles...and watched every launch I could...was my understanding that they knew about what could happen to those O-rings in that type of weather….and they still launched....SMDH....so sad...
I remember my mom had tears coming down watching the launch. Everything is still vivid when she explain to me what had happen. I was only seven yrs old.
Men died to build Their Pharaoh's Tombs .....
But still a Billion teeming wombs .....
How many Men to conquer Mars .....
How many Dead to reach the Stars ......
Who wrote that?
The next star(other than our sun) is roughly 60000 years away with our technology. Good luck
@@winnifredforbes8712 Saigon Bride // Joan Baez ( I changed the lyrics slightly )
@@matthiasrandler669 Our Technology ?
The Wright Brothers flew in 1903 .....
66 years later Americans were walking on the Moon .....
Luck has NOTHING to do with it ......
@@stevenattanasso2003 You dont get my point.
Good luck reaching the next star if you need to fly 60000 years,....do you understand that? Or do i even need to further explain it.
I was in the military during this. One thing I can't get out of my mind was Reagan's speech afterwards. He got a lot of praise for it but his speech writers actually plagiarized a poem called High Flight. I always thought it strange that no one ever called him out on it.
Yes, putting their hands out, and touching the face of God. Reagan didn't say that as if he wrote it. Every pilot alive, just about, knows that one. It was just well put by him, in that speech.
Yeah, I think a lot of folks recognized that it wasn't an original line, Muhammad. I never cared for Reagan, but that speech on that day was just what we needed to hear.
@@GJones462-2W1 What? Reagan didn't say it as if he wrote it? Giving a speech to a nation in morning and you fake it? Is that what you're saying?
Of course he didn't write it. His speech writers got a lot of accolades for writing it hence my statement about plagiarism and not giving credit to the right person.
How does one say something as if they wrote it in regards to a somber or comedic event? Do you have a psychic ability or something?
Just by listening to music can you tell if the singer wrote the song?
A speech is supposed to be delivered as genuine. Are you saying Reagan wasn't genuine? While I believe it was plagiarized I firmly believe Reagan was saddened immensely and he adopted the words as his own.
I was in my 6th grade math class, I'll never forget it as long as I'm alive! Still brings tears to my eyes!
They live forever like few others in memory and deed unmatched in life or death.
So sad and devistating. Time goes by so fast seems like yesterday.. 😔 I cannot begin to imagine Their families watching this tragedy unfold. 😧 My heart goes out to Them. 💛✝
Except they are all alive and well today: th-cam.com/video/PxqhU6nEy6c/w-d-xo.html
J. A. That was my thought too. I saw it live as well, but kept thinking surely if they are all in that capsule, they’ll splash down in the water, safe. As terrible as it was for us tv viewers, those poor families seeing it is unimaginable. RIP.
I was 17 when this happened. Had only been living in north Florida for two years then. I think that was the day my childhood came to an end. Never forgot it.
If anything in this world requires absolute perfection ...
Don E Gee yes and the fact that they reused these shuttles so much was troubling to me. Very brave crew
Don E Gee nothing man made is ever quareenteed
Sure. But that does not mean we have to accept hiring from the bottom of the barrel and "hope" things turn out right... Nothing works that way.
There have only ever been two times that the news has made me break down and cry in my life, this and 911. The initial shock of both events made me shake my head to try and make sense of what I had just witnessed. All around the world these events were witnessed and our innocence was lost.....may all those that have perished be remembered....... ;(
yes, it seemed so unbelievable, these great people would die, just because of a defective O-ring. The innocents in the WTC suffered greatly, with extreme heat and no ability to get out and it is why we saw so many jumpers. Tragic events stick to our minds if we are compassionate human beings. To some people, it is just history showing its ugly side.
How about the shuttle Columbia that broke apart during reentry 911 was as set up by the American goverment
That was Kennedy right? Wasn't here yet but I remember the stories.....
Colombia, that's the other one I was trying to remenber! That was awful, left shuttle and body parts scattered across Texas, knew people from Dallas to east Texas who either witnessed or had parts land near their houses! That was in early 2000's.
Don't cry...you've been lied to...it's not your fault, but this IS bullshit
I will never forget that day. It is as if it happened yesterday.
I was standing on the deck of my submarine. We had just tied up in Norfolk. I was the last man from line 2 still on deck putting my sound powered phone away. My chief stuck his head up out of the hatch & told me. At first I didn't believe him. Then I slid down the hatch to crews mess and watched the replay on tv. The crews mess was packed from wall to wall and deathly quiet as we all watched, unbelievably, the tragedy unfold before our eyes.
I was 4, my mother was doing laundry and told me to watch the astronauts, when it exploded she gasped and started crying. She called my father, my sister was in 1st grade and at school. Ill never forget. RIP
The challenger disaster silenced and gave the worst pain and grief to everyone and the space community. These 7 poor soul gave their life to the stars and to increase safety in human spaceflight.
NASA was warned about the low temperatures.
Yeah it was freezing
They should have listened to Morton Thiakol(the manufacturer of the solid-rocket boosters) when they asked NASA to not launch until it was warmer out! That is why you listen to the manufacturers of things! They know more about their product than anyone else, most of the time! And when they are saying "We cannot make any warranties or guarantees", that is a time you should listen when the result may be catastrophic failure!
The problem wasn't the cold itself, but a defective design of the double ring safety seal on the booster section joints that the cold showed the design fail. There were two seals and a ring of bolts joining the two rocket boosters together. For sealing during structural flexing, there should have been a seal above and seal below the ring of bolts. That was not the design. There where two seals above the ring of bolts and none below. So when it flexed AND the cold stiff seals did not seal the hot gases could escaped. There was no rocking in-out sealing capability.
Chuck Taylor it was the cold that damaged part of the ring.
And the cross wind
I was a kid when this happened but I'll never forget coming home from school and seeing this. I didn't understand it fully but it made me so sad because I loved space and I knew they had an accident.
I was 7 months prego, getting ready for work, eating a bowl of Captain Crunch, sitting in my mom in laws livingroom watching with her.
I screamed.
I was stationed in Germany in the Army and when I saw it I was devastated and it will forever be a scar in our history.
Still very heartbreaking at 32 years now. Horrible day at work, too(I worked for a division of General Electric). Morton Thiokol engineers did try to stop the launch. RIP to all the crew.
I was at work in Palm Beach, Florida the day this tragedy occurred. I stepped outside to watch the launch. I remember it was a beautiful, clear day; birds were singing and it was a peaceful scene. In an instant, joy turned to tragedy. I dropped to my knees and cried. May the brave souls lost that day rest in peace.
yeah sounds like one hell of a beautiful day in Palm Beach on January 28, 1986 The high for the day was 52 degrees The avg temp for that time of year in PB is 74. At 11 am it was 50 degrees with winds coming out of the NW at 6 mph. Source weatherunderground.com palm beach weather history
Uh oh. The ship had just broke apart and all he said was uh oh. Talk about calm under pressure
Joshua Plotkin he said Uh Oh about 2 seconds before the shuttle exploded. There wasn't time to say anything else. He literally says Uh Oh and then the shuttle explodes.
Typical pilot talk. These guys are cool and are trained to deal with emergencies. He knew, this one was different.....they were toast.
They left out the teachers last words. ( "What is this big red button that says self de..something")
He probably had just seen that some reading was off... probably a sensor or two burned out right before the explosion.
And all we could do was look on in horror and hope they didn’t suffer and think of their loved ones. Such a tragedy. RIP brave astronauts.