Challenger Explosion 25th anniversary

[rocklobster]

According to my local paper, 25 years ago today was the infamous explossion of the space shuttle Challenger, claiming the lives of seven passengers, including a teacher.
This thread commemorates their sacrifice. Anything else should be frowned upon.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]Twenty-Five Years...man, time is going by so fast.

I was only Two years old at the time, and don't remember much, but I remember once I researched it I realized that their sacrifice, while it was terrible, was necessary to ground (no pun intended) NASA, as they were really getting complacent with space travel.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[Ingemar]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]I was only Two years old at the time,[/color][/SIZE][/font]

Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Age: 23
Posts: 2,117

????

Well, as for me, I was both too young, in another country and not born enough to care. And yes, three conditions do not qualify a "both".

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Age: 23
Posts: 2,117

????

Well, as for me, I was both too young, in another country and not born enough to care. And yes, three conditions do not qualify a "both".

Sorry. I mis-calculated. I was actually 8 Months old. I have no clue what I was adding up.

[Ingemar]

The math still doesn't add up.

You know, I'll just leave it at that and give you the benefit of the doubt before Fish and Chips busts in and makes a passive agressive jab at both of us.

[ShiroiHikari]

The Challenger explosion was in 1986. So it's only been 23 years. However, her maiden flight was almost 26 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger

[Ingemar]

*wipes forehead* that makes sense.

I should have done my homework first.*





*DISCLAIMER: Teachers and professors do not accept Wikipedia as a bibliography source. Use only for your own nonprofessional research as a tertiary source of information.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

You know, I'll just leave it at that and give you the benefit of the doubt before Fish and Chips busts in and makes a passive agressive jab at both of us.

Totally unnecessary and uncalled for. If you want to spread around your animosity towards someone, do it elsewhere. I don't know why you continue with this childish behavior of yours.

[Nate]

before Fish and Chips busts in and makes a passive agressive jab at both of us.

Oh you mean like you're doing to him right now?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Oh you mean like you're doing to him right now?

Trufax, Nate. Trufax.

[Radical Dreamer]

Totally unnecessary and uncalled for. If you want to spread around your animosity towards someone, do it elsewhere. I don't know why you continue with this childish behavior of yours.

Quoting this for emphasis. You're on thin ice; watch what you say around here, Ingemar.

[Fish and Chips]

While I would consider myself At Least Classy Enough not to make light of the tragedy that is the expense of human life for the simple sake of a jab, it bothers me that Ingemar sees no problem with it.

Anyway, I actually recently saw a painting of the Challenger Explosion in a downtown gallery; just a simple line art of the smoke really, but it had me looking it up and old newspaper interviews and things. I hate to think it was an easily preventable oversight that led to this disaster.

[Nate]

It wasn't actually an explosion, by the way. The shuttle broke apart in mid-flight. Just sayin'.

I actually can't remember if I saw it or not. I could swear we were watching it on TV or something at school, but if we saw the accident, I don't remember, nor do I remember any reactions to it.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Actually, Challenger did explode due to a damaged O-Ring on one of the the solid rocket boosters. The joints failed, leaked fuel, ignited and exploded in a fireball.

Columbia was the one that broke up upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere due to damage to the wing at launch. A piece of foam from the booster tank struck the orbiters wing a few seconds into launch. It just couldn't take the intense heat and G-Forces of re-entry and broke up.

[Nate]

Actually, Challenger did explode due to a damaged O-Ring on one of the the solid rocket boosters. The joints failed, leaked fuel, ignited and exploded in a fireball.

Contrary to the flight dynamics officer's initial statement, the shuttle and external tank did not actually "explode". Instead they rapidly disintegrated under tremendous aerodynamic forces, since the shuttle was slightly past "Max Q", or maximum aerodynamic pressure. When the external tank disintegrated, the fuel and oxidizer stored within it were released, producing the appearance of a massive fireball.

Stored in cryogenic conditions, the liquid hydrogen could not have ignited rapidly enough to trigger an "explosion" in the traditional sense of a detonation (as opposed to a deflagration, which was what occurred). Had there been a true explosion, the entire shuttle would have been instantly destroyed, killing the crew at that moment. The more robustly constructed crew cabin and SRBs survived the breakup of the launch vehicle; while the SRBs were subsequently detonated remotely, the detached cabin continued along a ballistic trajectory, and was observed exiting the cloud of gases at T+75.237.

The Challenger did not explode, it broke up. A disaster either way, and it's certainly obvious why people think it was an explosion. I guess it doesn't matter in the long run; still, I like to be correct about such things. XD

[Dante]

I actually used to know one of the engineers that worked on the challenger (and the SR-71). I met him (of all places) at the Challenger Learning Center when I was a volunteer there. He's the only person I've ever known who has managed to get himself kicked OUT of a nursing home. I wonder what ended up happening to him (I lost contact when they kicked him out).

[EricTheFred]

This was a massive shock to our nation when it happened. Not on the level of 9-11 but at least on the level of Katrina (I'm talking in its effect on the country as a whole, not the economic or local effect. Obviously, Katrina was much more devestating thatn 9-11 even to the people of New Orleans)

I was at work when I heard. We were still imagining Moon Colonies in 2001 at that time, and this event just seemed to kill the whole future we'd believed was going to happen in only a decade or so more.

It also extended my uncle's career. He was one of the engineers involved in the Hubble. Its delivery into space was delayed by the shuttles being grounded for several years after Challenger, and he stayed on after his retirement plan date in order to work on the team that 'kept Hubble alive' on the ground during the wait.

He's the only person I've ever known who has managed to get himself kicked OUT of a nursing home.

This guy is now officially my hero.