Challenger 25 years on

It must of had a big effect on the standby teacher who came second in the teacher in space programme. What would you be feeling at that point it exploded, relieved you did not win, horrified as well? I was 15 at the time.

robbie7730 wrote: »

Part of the increased risk and danger years ago was warning signs being ignored though at the time of the challenger launch. It was known about the problem of the o rings having problems in freezing weather conditions before that launch.

Totally agree robbie, and the SRBs makers were forced into reversing an NO GO by top NASA management just hours before launch.

i have read books on it,tried to read the report into the enquiry but it runs to thousands of pages.

what persuaded me was a simple demonstration by the Chairman of the investigation cmtee on a Discovery channel Doc.
Neil Armstrong was on that cmtee as a matter of interest.
He dropped an elastic band into a super chilled glass of water and it shrivelled and deformed leaving no doubt what had happened to the o ring.
the worst thing was there had been minor leaks from o rings contraction on previous launch's but were ignored as being acceptable.:(

lord lucan wrote: »

i'll catalogue them here if i get around to it,and they were flukey in the extreme that they got away with it until Challenger.

Beeker reported them all in the Beeker in the attic thread,up to Challenger! your modship lordship!

Sadly that attitude crept back in and it took Columbia's demise for the whole ethos to change at NASA. Same again,this time foam strikes on the Orbiters leading edge were dismissed as no big deal. Some guys wanted to bring it further as they real concerns but management told them there was no cause for concern.

the commander of Columbia was sent an e-mail mentioning the foam strike but it was so played down it would not have grabbed his attention .
it was always the case that the 'lower downs' at NASA were given the least attention.

the video you posted of the crew of Columbia looking so happy during re-entry until almost the moment of break up speaks volumes,at least they lived the dream until landing day.
i question the NASA story that the outer parts of the tape that was recovered from the debris did not survive,i think NASA chose not to release it,that was the right thing to do IMO.
even if the crew knew on day one about the size of the hole in the wing nothing could have been done, again IMO.

but as the saying goes 'the man who never tried anything,never achieved anything'

even before both shuttle loss's Gene Krantz admitted that NASA had got complacent leading to the loss of Apollo 1s crew,it seems to have gone in circles depending on how much support the space programme had by the American public and understanding by Govt that leaving the Earth's gravity is not like jumping on a bus!

lord lucan wrote: »

Forgot to post this here. Interesting idea about putting on display some artifacts from both Challenger and Columbia in the Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C.

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-013111a.html

I would trust collectspace after reading that article.
the sensitivity shown to the families is very rare other than by them,in my experiance.

First time i have seen footage were the camera concentrated to the left.i was not aware an SRB had survived intact,was it just the portion that housed the parachute i wonder?
certainly any pictures i have seen of recovered debris shows no large segments.

I also fail to understand how many did not realise right away what had happened,it was so evident,almost like most viewing did not want to accept the evidence of their own eyes.