What if Big Bird Exploded in the Challenger Disaster?

[@AlternateHistoryHub]

This was the April Fool's 2023 video. It got out of hand

[@realAlexChoi]

I can tell

[@solid244]

No no, it's right where it should be. Unlike big bird.

[@Marngel]

You're 22 days late. But in a way, that just makes this video even more funny lol

[@henrywilson2136]

Really delayed it too.

[@gamebawesome]

So out of hand it jumped 22 days after April 1

[@angrytheclown801]

I was in class during the Challenger. They got all of us together to watch, and no lie, said right before blast off, "If you work hard and study, one day this could be you!"

[@drpibisback7680]

It's still a functional lesson, just a much bleaker one. You too could do your best and still wind up fucked at the will of the powers that be.

[@fast-toast]

"This could be yo..." BOOM

[@Thegoatone23]

“Uhh…. maybe not like that…”

[@StormTeeVee]

They studied TOO much

[@Ijustusethistocommentstuff]

@@drpibisback7680 Nature or government? Both are equally true.

[@darthyall841]

The death of Big Bird on the Challenger being canonized in Sesame Street lore would probably be the most bizarre thing to ever happen in any piece of fiction.

[@guccifer764]

It would be like if Gonzo canonically died fighting in Afghanistan

[@Treesinthesummer]

@@guccifer764 wait what

[@jeremyriley1238]

I have to agree, especially if instead of recasting Big Bird, they discontinued the character out of respect for Carol Spinney, the man who was playing Big Bird at the time. Who would take over the show before Tickle Me Elmo allowed the red monster to hog the spotlight, as well as a whole half-hour of the show for himself? Telly?

[@roguishpaladin]

@@jeremyriley1238 Probably Grover, or maybe Snuffy becomes someone that everyone can see?

[@quinlan5667]

Best name and profile pic I’ve seen

[@DragonSoul621]

Since big bird has different versions of the character depending on the region, can you imagine a funeral with all international big birds around the casket mourning the loss of their older brother while abelardo cries in a telenovela like manner.

[@dannypipewrench533]

That would be interesting.

[@rossjohnstone4689]

That sounds like it could be a robot chicken sketch X3

[@jadehaze7939]

Abelardo lmao te entiendo

[@Catdaddyacab]

POR QUUUEEEEEEEEEE

[@BoMwarriorVlog]

This was what I was thinking during the beginning of the video! 😃

[@canadadelendaest8687]

I was in the first grade when this happened. My teacher knew Mcauliffe, she said they were college room mates or something. We were tuned in live for the launch. My teacher was so proud and excited for her friend. I remember her absolutely balling when it blew up. She was devastated. We had a substitute for about a week after that

[@ellislyons6348]

I think that for a comment this serious, I should absolutely let you know that it’s spelled “bawling” because otherwise it just sounds like your teacher took to basketball as a coping mechanism or something.

[@stupididiot4034]

​@@ellislyons6348Bawling while balling.

[@spimbles]

​@@ellislyons6348LOL

[@akisa7865]

​@@ellislyons6348 "Hello class, i will be your substitute teacher for a few days. Your teacher is currently hitting 3 pointers at the basketball court, we hope you understand."

[@Suz1]

@@ellislyons6348 There's a sexual meaning too so yeah this clarification is important.

[@radopon]

As a certain youtuber once said; "There is a timeline not too far from this one where Big Bird is a casualty in the single worst astronautical disaster in history."

[@tuongtang8974]

Sam O nella Academy

[@MicrowaveOvenVideo]

underrated comment

[@hydrix6419]

Truly a legend

[@shampoo.international4504]

A small part of me wishes that happend"

[@mantisnt1335]

They also said the n word

[@James11111]

Really fucked up part is that the crew didn't even die in the explosion. The part they were actually in got launched away from it, and they flew for almost 3 minutes before impacting the ocean at over 200 MPH. Their bodies were found over a month later. But now imagine the recovery team pulling that debris out of the ocean, and finding 6 decomposed astronauts and a severely fucked up *Big Bird.*

[@jandm4ever716]

Hopefully they were knocked unconscious before they hit the water. What a terrible way to go

[@oddgarrysmodfunnies1337]

@@jandm4ever716i read in the NASA report they have in their website that the most likely thing was that only some of them were unconscious or dead before hitting water.

[@RipOffProductionsLLC]

A fucked up big bird with a corpse inside, as I'd assume they wouldn't be shipping an empty costume into space...

[@oddgarrysmodfunnies1337]

@@Thatswildpimp you laughed at 7 people being fucking launched at the ocean at speeds on where their bodies would be crushed on impact?

[@0008loser]

​@Odd Garry's Mod Funnies I think he is laughing at the fact seeing a big ass big bird along 7 other people.

[@Webb_Studios]

Imagine if, instead of killing Big Bird off, they began the next Sesame Street episode with Big Bird, blackened by ash, falling from the sky, and getting back up while dusting himself off.

[@youdontknowsponge6218]

Or he gets stuck in Oscar's trash can when he lands.

[@logandunlap9156]

that would be so tasteless, i love it

[@Plaincheerio755]

but could you imagine explaining how big bird lived through that but the rest of the crew in fact...didn't

[@Sarahbryson321]

Or, he’s injured and helped off by…. I don’t know..Kermit? They train someone up to do the job hurriedly, and he explains that recovering from it changed him a bit, and the show continues as normal

[@enotsnavdier6867]

​@Plaincheerio755 Big Bird was just built different

[@santividal9387]

'If Big Bird were on it, the Challenger wouldn't have exploded' is a statement I wasn't prepared for actually

[@abusedumpster8882]

“NASA dropped the ball so hard, they killed a fictional character” Quotes like this are why I watch this channel.

[@V1ncenz010]

The moment I read this he said it

[@dr.danielanemeth-gherman8171]

BRO ME TO

[@artistwithouttalent]

*_Not as funny to me as the accompanying image_*

[@CheesiusCaesar69]

AlternateHistoryHub in 2016: What if Germany won WW1? AlternateHistoryHub in 2023: Hey what if big bird just fucking exploded

[@Attmay]

That’s like inviting Miss Piggy to a luau.

[@ianoneill5189]

He’s been wanting to go in this direction for a while just decided to do it I guess 😂 😅 I’m definitely still here for it.

[@Gohka]

There's only so many different ways you can ask "what if Germany won WW1/2" before it gets stale. Now he's bringing out the big guns.

[@socialjusticewarrior6971]

Glorious

[@SIGNOR-G]

I think he improved MASSIVELY.

[@BlackShardStudio]

I was one of the children watching the whole thing unfold live. Barely six years old. I was initially confused at the idea that people had been on the shuttle when this happened. It was my first major realization that adults didn't, in fact, have everything under control.

[@MoonCobalt]

💀

[@JoducusKwak]

thats a shitty way to find out Adults are as helpless as you

[@ZealousWins]

That's a rather huge plot twist for being so young.

[@WolfXGamerful]

You must've been a menace growing up, Tim.

[@entropyfan5714]

I remember watching this in 6th grade; we had all pulled up really close to the TV. I was a bigtime space/scifi enthusiast so was really into it; my teacher was also, and she had the additional emotional investment of another lady teacher being on board. We had talked about this shuttle launch enthusiastically a few times in class. I distinctly remember shouting "FvCK!", really felt like I got punched in the gut. Most of the other kids weren't really paying attention & didn't even notice until I yelled out. My teacher sure did though; burst into tears....which set me off. When the other kids figured out what was up, quite a few of them did too. Certainly one of my worst childhood memories.

[@ccompson2]

Imagine how utterly world changing it could have been if they put santa on the challenger.

[@kevin8712]

Children all across the world scarred for life. Angry mobs of parents on the streets, howling for Reagan's blood and NASA's immediate abolition. The USA being sanctioned left and right. Religious authorities all denouncing the commodification of Christmas and how it has led the youth astray. The end of space flight, at least in America and the West. It holds up fine in the East until the collapse of the USSR. The Republican Party collapsing, and the Democrats emerging victorious... I'll let you lot imagine the rest.

[@MovieFan1912]

Then Christmas would be cancelled forever.

[@leonardo9259]

Maybe then Coca Cola couldn't milk that festivity

[@Man77772]

Nah he’d win.

[@austinbaccus]

The Grinch would never beat the allegations

[@SuperSaiyanGuyver]

Dude I was one of those same kids. My mom was in the shower. "Mommy mommy the space shuttle blew up!" "No sweetie that only happens in Star Wars". Oddly enough, my dad had the same discussion with his mom when Oswald got shot. This was interesting. Thank you so much.

[@Username-je7of]

I thought you meant Oswald as in Chuck Oswald

[@SuperSaiyanGuyver]

@@Username-je7of Made me laugh but no.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@Username-je7of oddly enough I thought Oswald Mosley the British fascist even those are two entirely different time frames. Why my mind went there I don’t know.

[@ashleydavis3318]

i assume the actual oswald is lee harvey, then

[@erraticonteuse]

One of my favorite jokes on Mad Men was in 1968, Pete's mom, who had developed dementia by that point, woke him up in the middle of the night to tell him "Someone shot the Kennedy boy!" And he gets very exasperated telling her "That was five years ago!"

[@technetium9653]

You know what, Cody's right if big bird was chosen, the days, weeks or months to rig the shuttle to be able to fit him would've delayed it enough to not have exploded

[@ThwipThwipBoom]

tru

[@sevencubed_]

fat bird butt saves six

[@RealBillyFanword]

Nice

[@pizzasharkguy3807]

Good Ending: Big Bird Saves The Challenger

[@notjebbutstillakerbal]

So if big bird was put aboard Challenger, it would have took enough time to stop the explosion as the temperature would have risen enough.

[@Full_Throttle_Axolotl]

"If Big Bird had been on the Challenger, it probably wouldn't have exploded" In a very morbid way, I'm almost disappointed, but in an even more morbid way I find this even crazier, because it means we don't need to imagine the darker timeline, we *live* in it. We live in the timeline where, because NASA dropped the Big Bird idea and went with a school teacher instead, 7 people *fucking* *died*

[@Attmay]

It’s like the death of Chuckles the Clown on *The Mary Tyler Moore Show,* but for real.

[@dropleaf8296]

You're left alone at the end of the video with smooth jazz to realize that it wasn't just the teacher was being used, it killed her and everyone on board.

[@jonathanwright8025]

I've been feeling we were living in the bad timeline for awhile now.

[@FictionHubZA]

​@@jonathanwright8025Not the darkest but not the brightest either.

[@haydennagy196]

This genuinely makes me wonder how nasa would’ve progressed after challenger! Would a different accident have occurred? Would safety continue to have stayed the same until something else happened forcing it to change??

[@itzamia]

I worked at a casino in Connecticut, and Caroll Spinney was a guest at a place in the casino called story time. He did his book signings throughout the day. When I walked by he was sitting on a bench right outside of the place and was having a casual conversation with a lady. When he talked to her, you can hear Big Birds voice. I wasn't allowed to talk to celebrities, but threw up the ole 🤘and he gave me the salute. I grew up watching that show. He was a great guy.

[@invaliduser6431]

My wife's artwork was on the shuttle. She was in one of the classes tasked with drawing stuff that was loaded onto the shuttle. She and her classmates watched it explode live.

[@ihvojd]

Damn I’m incredibly sorry. I bet what they made was beautiful.

[@rodsquad5764]

It's now a Pollock.

[@isabella-a-a-a]

Wow, I can’t imagine how traumatizing that may’ve been for some students. What was her experience of the whole ordeal? How did her teachers handle it?

[@tammyd.970]

​@@isabella-a-a-a It was traumatizing for all students. All the schools and teachers made it a big deal. They wheeled out the TVs and we all sat around and watched the Challenger blow up live. You think any students on that day weren't traumatized? I don't think so. I guess it made us more prepared for 9/11. (which, strangely, i also saw happen on tv while working at my former high school.)

[@VegasMilgauss]

Sure it was Buddy.

[@l1z4rdon7]

Imagine being in kindergarten watching Big Bird explode in a space rocket. That experience would be the emperor of childhood trauma right there.

[@extraemail4961]

B-b-but, fried chicken!

[@Starfleet8555]

Agreed it would've been far worse than watching some teacher that a kid, most likely never met before. Don't get me wrong it's still absolutely tragic. But I'd have to admit the thought of Big Bird dying in big ball of flame made me crack up.

[@downrighttt]

My entire town in a certain age range got to watch their teacher blow up. Literally every classroom in town was watching

[@darthroden]

Trust me, for an 80s kid it would have been Artax drowning in the Swamp of Sadness X 1000 level traumatic.

[@bluemoon1115]

I'm in tears at work just imagining that shit.😂😭

[@Butter_Warrior99]

I honestly love how deprarious the idea that Sesame Street would have to canonize the death of Big Bird in the show.

[@gennybaratta2460]

I mean they did (very tastefully) canonize Mr. Hopper’s death so I could 10000% see them very delicately talk about Big Bird’s death

[@waitithoughtihadtousemyrea5976]

It certainly would have made the show's lore more interesting.

[@loneneotank.5687]

No no, he escaped the explosion and safely flew down.

[@Copperkaiju]

"Deprarious"? That's a new word for me.

[@GeneralJarrett1997]

@@Copperkaiju It's a good one for sure

[@The_Joshuan_Empire]

0:24 about this canidate, my mom's science teacher that she loved was the 2nd pick that if christa got sick or died or something else happened to where she couldn't go, they would go instead

[@lucass5980]

I know this is SUPPOSED to be an april fools video, but really think how much darker a lot of peoples childhoods would have been had this happened. Id even dare say due to the many communities here on youtube dedicated to talking about older/obscure/nostalgic content the Challenger Disaster would be a much more fresh event in the minds of many people.

[@Oliviagarry69420]

Like if it did happen a whole fucking generation of kids wouldn’t know who big bird was!!

[@38tales]

I was one of those many children who were watching this live. It was a shocking thing as it was, if Big Bird had died in giant fireball I can't imagine a single kid there wouldn't have lost their minds.

[@bananawitchcraft]

So I guess we're saying kids care less about human lives, if the human in question isn't dressed as a familiar fictional character. Yeah that checks out.

[@itsh7311]

​@@bananawitchcraft *COULDN'T care less

[@waitithoughtihadtousemyrea5976]

@@Oliviagarry69420 On the contrary, every child would know about the muppet who exploded on TV.

[@sirunklydunk8861]

Moral of the story: we need Big Bird to solve the world’s problems

[@concept5631]

In Big Bird we trust.

[@rodrikforrester6989]

Bir Bird should've died for our sins.

[@robertwillsea3338]

Big Bird is love, Big Bird is life

[@charlieclark9552]

And I believe those problems begin with you(the U.N.) call of duty was awesome imagine big bird giving that speech

[@l.tc.5032]

I think the moral is launch rockets in May.

[@sgauden02]

To be honest, if they actually went with Big Bird, modifying the shuttle to fit him would've resulted in delays that probably would've prevented the disaster.

[@Thedarkportalshow]

How the F do you modify the Shuttle?

[@sgauden02]

@@Thedarkportalshow As Alternate History Hub himself said in this video, "they sent men to the Moon with technology less advanced than a key fob. I'm sure those engineers could find a way to squeeze that fat bird into a seat."

[@fleurpouvior2967]

My dad was in the running to be the teacher on challenger. He made it through several rounds of the selection process. I'm not sure how far he got though. I know it wasn't the final rounds, but was farther than the first couple. He doesn't talk about it a lot, and was extra shook up about the whole thing. My uncle mentioned he was interested in space travel before that, but stopped even reading scifi all together after, and avoids space movies and media

[@zillatattoo]

mine too.

[@onerustydatsun951]

My brain pictured yellow feathers comically falling to earth after challenger exploded… and now I know I’m going to hell for laughing at the thought of it

[@patricklaird264]

My image exactly

[@judet2992]

Bruh same😅

[@jtrocker9976]

Bro I thought I was the only one!!!! 😂

[@toatakanuva4846]

I’ll be seeing you there 😅

[@godlikefish1193]

Don't worry, we're all going to hell together 🤣

[@NamelessGamer29]

I can only imagine if Big Bird died on the challenger what Elmo’s speech would’ve been like at the funeral.

[@Tomneom]

😂

[@stevemc01]

Some BS about not giving him back the stick

[@robertwillsea3338]

"Elmo would like to say that Big Bird was a good friend and loved his nest so much." Then Elmo reads Big Bird's favorite book. 2001: a Space Odyssey

[@ATMAnubis]

Imagine if it had been Bert instead.

[@paulhickie6974]

@@ATMAnubis Thats why Ernie as butt plugs.

[@kiartoons2010]

Love how this becomes a GENUINE history video once they stop talking about Big Bird and ask "wait what did they want the launch on the 28th?" Great work.

[@PuzzlingGoal]

Even before that this was a great video. An April fool's episode centered around the death of Big Bird could just be a lazy pile of jokes but instead it's talking about very real and possibly very significant effects it would have on the American public consciousness.

[@deleetiusproductions3497]

@@PuzzlingGoal And it ultimately reaches a very serious conclusion: *Big Bird would have prevented the disaster.*

[@ccvcharger]

@@deleetiusproductions3497 Or postponed the disaster for another launch. If not the Challenger, which shuttle would've been the unlucky one? As someone else asked in another comment, would NASA have even taken the time to look into the problem if Challenger hadn't exploded?

[@gohanr1271]

for some reason in 2013 when i was in 4th grade, my homeroom teacher started talking about this. granted, this disaster happened WAY before any of us were born and as 10 year olds we had never heard of this explosion that took 7 lives. but for some reason, the dude SHOWED IT TO US. like he was so shocked we hadn't seen it, he brought us all to the neighbouring classroom with the interactive projector screens, and showed it us. nobody really knew what they were looking at, I don't think my classmates got the gravity of what they had saw (thank god honestly), I had seen some shit in my life up to that point so *I* knew what I was looking at. at the moment I was honestly a bit disgusted and appalled at my classmates making jokes and going "that looks like a bunny rabbit'' -"no that looks like a race car" etc. when the video ended my teacher who, genuinely was a pretty chill guy, who was honestly one of my favourite teachers of all time and was my absolute favourite at that point kind of went off at the kids for not having the reaction he wanted them to have. talking about how disrespectful we were. i was still kind of brooding at the point and when he calmed down he noticed I was the only kid who looked somewhat serious at that point and when we locked eyes i kind of saw his face sadden for a bit, like the reality of what I was feeling had set into him -and he sort of realised what he did. went on about our day after that. granted this was in Australia, but from what I've observed I've seen a lot of Americans be like this about 9/11 -another national tragedy that was widely traumatic for those who witnessed it. and I can't help but make the comparison of my teacher, who was so upset at us making jokes about it, an event we couldn't possibly understand the scope of (most of us, I was not normal), because it happened decades before we were born. and because we didn't have the same reaction, because we weren't traumatised by it, we're met with indignation and outrage. at certain point, you can't expect us to feel 100% the same way. if you do, then the only course of action is to traumatise the newest generation so they can feel the same as the previous generation -that is intentionally causing intergenerational trauma at the expense of kids. at some point, let us laugh, and be insensitive, it's a sign things are getting better. idk why this video brought up this memory, i think going on about the preamble to the disaster awoke the slumbering memory in me lol.

[@smileyface81mc77]

Hey, just wanted to say, I’m glad you made this comment, and can sort of empathize with your situation of adults expecting a stronger reaction to a horrible event. I was born a few months before 9/11, so I obviously don’t remember and couldn’t comprehend what was happening or what it meant for the country. In 2013, my sixth grade teacher did something similar: she showed us the footage of the planes hitting the towers, and while I knew I was watching a tragedy, I didn’t really have any sort of connection to it. It was just a weird, sad video. I feel like the teacher expected us to have some kind of super strong reaction, most adults here in the states expect it too, but how can we? In our minds, those buildings held no significance to us, we had always been at war in the Middle East in some way, shape or form, and TSA had always been super strict. Watching the footage wasn’t as traumatic as maybe the teacher expected, and she too got a little miffed at the underwhelming response, but I wasn’t watching the end of the world as I knew it like she was. I was just watching a video of a couple of skyscrapers exploding. It’s like someone who was born blind vs. someone who can see slowly going blind. The sighted person may feel angry because to them, it’s a harsh, unfair situation that greatly alters the way they live their life. To the person who’s always been blind, they don’t know anything else, so it’s just life to them. We’re not broken. We’re not sociopathic. We’re just younger and maybe traumatized in different ways.

[@Man77772]

I remember in 3rd grade me and my homies were laughing at the Japanese tsunami. It was funny cause it was in 2x speed and looked goofy

[@sonicultimateyt1090]

"dark humor is the way some people cope with tragedy" - Gelatin BFB 14

[@Lee-hq6tf]

Well, given that putting "big bird" on the shuttle, would have required logistical considerations. Which might have caused yet another delay. It's possible that a decision in favor of big bird on the challenger, might have saved everyone's lives.

[@snaketooth0943]

What a strange world we live in where putting a man dressed as a bird being flown into space would've saved actual human lives.

[@stevenroshni1228]

They planned in advance the logistics

[@imEden0]

@@stevenroshni1228 but you’d have to spend more time figuring it out. They may have just sat him on a later flight and that specific flight of challenger would be delayed

[@bentonrp]

Oh so u think it's all peachy keen huh? Well, I come from the alternate timeline where big bird was scheduled to go, and there were so many delays that the Soviets launched their pop character, Cheburashka, first. This led to a Soviet resurgence and jealousy that spurred a few pre-eminent attacks that caused a major war (not WW3, but it might as well have been). Not so confident now are you, sir?? 👽🧐

[@dr.archaeopteryx5512]

@@bentonrp That's kinda funny considering the various 'firsts' the soviets made in space travel that basically nobody gave a shit about

[@AbhNormal]

"A tiny, evil part of me almost wishes that it happened, I mean it's just so indescribably absurd." - Sam O'Nella

[@theomnissiah-9120]

I was wondering when I’d see this

[@bearwade9513]

I really wish he'd start making videos again! The how to ride a unicycle is one of my favorite videos ever, "you gotta use your taint as a fulcrum."

[@Mephitinae]

Some part of me wants to know how the damage control would have played out. Would they play it straight to the kids, make a special show explaining the man inside the suit died? Or would they incorporate it into the show's canon, insisting it was the yellow bird who died? What about the live coverage? What would they say? "This is a very sad day kids, but we here at NASA ensure that Big Bird did not feel pain. He died instantly, and now he's in heaven with Mr. Hooper."

[@personperson.7744]

@@bearwade9513 he made one recently

[@GustavoRubio]

​@@personperson.7744 sure, if you count 6 months ago recent

[@user-bz3kd2mt3u]

Actually a really good pop alt hist video: 1) Killer hook 2) Discusses a scenario everyone knows *of,* but doesn't know much about 3) Discusses the consequences of a change 4) Seamlessly starts diving in to the actual nuance of the history being discussed, tricking the user into learning more about history when they think they're watching useless entertainment 5) Uses the knowledge of history to provide a more insightful take than "haha wouldn't it be weird"

[@akorn9943]

I did not expect a very thoughtful and important story about bureaucracy literally killing people when I clicked on a video called “what if Big Bird exploded on the Challenger” but well here we are

[@SniffHeinkel]

Ironically, this is probably the most informative video about the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster that I have ever watched.

[@will_from_pa]

It’s actually really sad that big bird being there could’ve saved so much pain and grief

[@leaderofnoone9087]

Somehow this is correct, which makes me question the existence of NASA.

[@Enyavar1]

Buuuut - if that muppet had saved Challenger, how much longer would the Shuttle program have gone on?

[@will_from_pa]

@@Enyavar1 probably until the actual disaster that finished the program: Columbia

[@Kumimono]

@@will_from_pa Probably would not have happened, says butterfly flapping it's wings.

[@SecondVelcory]

We'll never know for sure though. I mean there was no reason for NASA to play fast and loose with the first civilian in space either, so there's really no reason to assume that Big Bird wouldn't have ended up dying instead.

[@justinmoe3171]

Truly one of the alternate histories of all time

[@Mardoxx7]

One of the videos ever

[@TheHonoredBacon]

certainly is one of them

[@waffle6376]

The Best one of all time

[@haveawonderfulday5846]

So true

[@HuffinStufff]

Yes

[@patrickt7]

A much anticipated video, can't wait for "What if Elmo died in the 1943 Battle of Kursk."

[@justinbecause5939]

Sure am looking forward to "What if Cookie Monster was involved in 1989 Romanian Revolution."

[@L33Reacts]

“What if Oscar the Grouch prevented Vietnam”

[@yigitoz8387]

@@L33Reacts like the existance of Vietnam? Did Oscar save French Indochina?

[@penismightier9278]

@@yigitoz8387 No. The existence of the land that Vietnam currently occupies. That land just never existed. Where Vietnam is right now is just part of the South China Sea.

[@1224chrisng]

​@@penismightier9278 Oscar the Grouch went back to the Jurassic and killed trillions of shellfish exoskeletons

[@Deadsphere]

"Elmo, these temperatures are the lowest we've ever had for a launch! Did you manage to run a quality check on the O-Rings around the right SRB?" "No."

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Dang, that last line hits so freaking hard. But here's a corollary to that: even IF Big Bird had taught a lesson in space, people would have tuned in no matter what day the lesson might have been shown. The science teacher would have certainly been seen by most students in most schools at the time. But Big Bird? EVERYONE would be tuning in.

[@kathrineici9811]

I’m gonna be honest, when I was a kid I don’t think I would have cared that some random teacher I don’t know was doing whatever in space. Genuinely the explosion would have been the only thing of interest to me. I was a kid in the 2000s though and not the 80s so maybe they were less jaded back in ye olde times.

[@MLBlue30]

​​@@kathrineici9811The 20th century was less jaded. We peaked in the 90s. I mean, just watch our movies. It was all fun, goofy stuff.

[@morbidsearch]

​@@MLBlue30 I love fun, goofy movies like Schindler's List

[@carlosemilio5180]

​@@MLBlue30we peaked in 1511

[@sentinel427]

​@@carlosemilio5180we peaked in 12 BCE

[@brgorham68]

I remember watching this launch in my high school physics class. My teacher was actually a former NASA employee. He was in actual tears after the explosion happened. It's one of those generation defining moments, like the JFK assassination, or 9/11.

[@honkhonk8009]

or the "Thug Shaker" Pentagon Leaks

[@mariotheundying]

@@honkhonk8009 I think there's a major difference between people dying and some papers getting published 💀btw I know it's a joke but still

[@connormclernon26]

@@mariotheundyingit’s entirely possible people are going to die as a result of those leaks. Gives Russia a better idea of Ukraine’s weaknesses, and thus where to push to get results

[@harveywallbanger3123]

The Shuttle was the high tech of my childhood but the actual airframe was compromised garbage, not nearly reliable enough for what they used it for. The reusable shuttle scheme demanded a much higher degree of attention to the turnaround rehab after each mission, and NASA simply wasn't up to snuff. They ran late and cut corners on literally every launch and nobody ever heard about it until it was too late. It was a product of Carter malaise that the program never recovered from, too much PR and fluff and promises made to Senators and schoolteachers instead of actual hard decisions about aeronautical capability, go or no go. "Go or no go" was scary in those days, it was uncool. After all was said and done, the shuttles had a mean failure rate like three times higher than the Apollo program. If Apollo had failed that much we never would have gotten to the moon, we'd have lost a dozen astronauts and Johnson would have pulled the plug.

[@zillatattoo]

ACTUALLY OMG!!! eyeroll

[@JunkyardDigs]

Came here for big bird, stayed for the history lesson

[@Avi727]

Random JunkyardDigs sighting. Hello, Kevin.

[@atombombapocolypse1984]

HEY KEVIN THIS IS RANDOM BUT I LOVE YALLS STUFF KEEP GOING STRONG

[@noahhamilton9028]

Didn’t think I’d see you here man hope you’re having a good morning friend :) not much point in saying but cool videos by the way, you’ve built a pretty cool life for yourself and others with your channel.

[@SueBobChicVid]

I was tricked into learning something.

[@justanormalpokemon4014]

me fr

[@tectamk.thorne7837]

I misread the title as “What if big bird caused the challenger disaster”

[@theguy1111]

Your profile picture adds so much

[@NickNembus]

Allan McDonald(director of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor Project for Morton-Thiokol, a NASA subcontractor) was the only sane one at NASA during the time. He yelled and pleaded with them to not launch because he and the other engineers knew it would explode in the first 10 secs in cold conditions they figured under 53F. They tried to get him to send approval papers for the launch and he refused, but they went over his head.

[@guildwarrior3232]

Too little, too late, but I wish he had personally told the astronauts his concerns...

[@artcasual99]

Someone above you said Bob Ebeling (an engineer) raised concern about the O-rings but was ignored and he carried the guilt over those 7 deaths for years before being helped by the populace to release his guilt after an interview where he told his story a little while before his death.

[@NickNembus]

@@artcasual99 Yeah there was many engineers at NASA concerned with the O-rings because of recent partial burned ones even the outer seal during previous flights in colder weather they nearly burned thru causing this disaster several times. After doing investigations all the engineers behind the booster determined if you launched under 53F where the rubber does not reform properly you risked a major explosion in less then a second.

[@Low.quality.aviation]

Allan McDonald actually went to Montana State University, and MSU is in the city next to the one I live in. That being Bozeman, Mintana

[@user-bz3kd2mt3u]

How did people NOT get charged with murder

[@jeremyanimatespoorly9573]

Look up Bob Ebeling. He was one of the engineers who raised alarms over the weather conditions, the o-rings, etc. And nobody listened to him, despite him doing literally everything in his power to get them to. And then Challenger blew up and he proceeded to blame himself and carry that undeserved guilt for most of his life. IIRC, he did an interview on NPR and told his story a few years before he passed and the resulting support from listeners and the interviewer really helped him drop the guilt. He passed away a little while after that, finally free of the guilt and shame he never should've felt. Meanwhile that dumbass head of NASA failed upwards, likely without an ounce of regret or introspection.

[@alarcon99]

That’s usually what happens with those in charge wielding weaponized incompetence. I truly hope there’s a special place in hell for the likes of Graham

[@amas7636]

My grandfather worked with Bob! I have actually met him; my grandfather was one of the engineers who warned NASA and had an experiment on microgravity on the shuttle.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

There's a Netflix documentary on this. The guy not only failed upward, he literally said yeah I'd do it again if I had the choice. What an asshole.

[@pierrebegley2746]

Wasn't his daughter on the Netflix documentary? His story was unbelievably tragic...

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

@@pierrebegley2746 Yes she was and it was absurdly tragic

[@danielbishop1863]

BTW, NASA did end up putting a teacher in space, sort of. Christa McAuliffe's backup was Barbara Morgan (then teaching at an elementary school in Idaho). After the Challenger disaster, she resumed her teaching career, but then in 1998, she quit in order to begin training as a full-time astronaut. She was scheduled for a flight in 2004, but it got cancelled because of the Columbia disaster. Finally, in August 2007, Morgan went into space on the STS-118 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Unlike the ill-fated STS-51-L, STS-118 got little media fanfare, and Morgan did not teach a school lesson from space. The mission's Commander, Scott Kelly, just referred to her as "a crewmember who used to be a teacher".

[@wasabiflavoredcocaine]

Damn after two close calls with the space coffin, I wouldnt have gotten into that space shuttle

[@cherriberri8373]

@@wasabiflavoredcocaine 1 out of 65 is your chances of blowing up on the space shuttle, and there were easily a dozen VERY scary near misses. Meanwhile, the soyuz which has primarily been used to take astronauts and cosmonauts to the ISS, has the chances of roughly 1 in 1000. Disturbingly, the Falcon 9, Space X's rocket NASA uses frequently for the ISS, has a failure rate of 1 in 50. That is WORSE than the shuttle.

[@ryanhodin5014]

@@cherriberri8373 How do you get 1 in 50 for the Falcon 9? It has launched 260 times and failed twice, that's 1 in 130. If you narrow it down to only the current iteration , the Block 5, there are 197 launches and zero failures. By comparison, the modern Soyuz-2 rocket has launched 163 times, and failed four times - that's about a 1 in 40 failure rate. Soyuz-FG, the predecessor that flew between 2001 and 2019, had 1 failure out of 70 flights. If we look at all Soyuz variants together, there's about 30 failures over about 1900 flights, which sounds pretty good, but it's also a 1 in 63 chance of failure, which is slightly worse than STS. If we only look at crewed flights, Dragon/Falcon has never lost a crew member, while Soyuz has had two fatal accidents - Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11 (though it's been a while, and I'm willing to give modern variants a 100% safety rate, even if unlike Dragon there have been some safety-endangering incidents).

[@infinitespace2520]

@@cherriberri8373 Wrong, the Falcon 9 Block 5 which is the one that is crew certified and has launched the crewed missions to the ISS hasn't failed once, only having a single landing failure (which was during a satelite launch, and the landing operation doesn't count as part of the launch itself). This means it has a 100% success rate, making it one of, if not the safest crew launch vehicle ever made.

[@goldenfloof5469]

@@cherriberri8373 Falcon 9 has about 250 successful launches in a row so far. 273/275, with the last failure happening over 7 years ago. It's literally the most reliable rocket ever. The booster landings, are now more reliable than any rocket ever, save the falcon 9 itself.

[@Sherbert1118]

Fun fact: The teacher in space program did actually inspire a kid to get into the STEM field… That kid was me, i learned about the challenger explosion and i went “i want to make sure this never happens again.” I now study Astrophysics, Astronomy, and i’ve built Model rockets using motors, a 3d printer, and a cardboard tube. Hey, its not much, but is a great start. Now, when i grow up, i wish that i achieve my whole goal, and im actively working towards it. What do i want to be? Heres 3 choices. - Astronomer - Rocket Scientist - Astronaut Now, if i do achieve any of my goals, i want to work my way to the others, i love space, i’ll always love space. And this, The Challenger, empowers me to make sure to make incidents less common, less likely to happen, while there will always be tragedies in the world, its our job to stop it from happening often, to learn about our mistakes, and improve, thats what i want to do.

[@Sir_Pie]

You're going places

[@zacharynguyen7286]

You’re an inspiration

[@Hello-pv1xw]

Gigachad

[@argiemeneses3387]

This is like a f**king anime backstory

[@concept5631]

If what you say is true, you're a hero man

[@evantallant1437]

Doing a deeper dive into the Challenger disaster is really troubling for me because, as Cody said, you lose a lot of respect for NASA when you learn how they (and the government) truly operated when it came to huge events like this. It also hurts because I was also a kid who used to idolize astronauts and the shuttle program, but once you examine it without nostalgia and the rose-colored glasses, it feels like a huge part of your childhood and who you used to be as a kid is kinda torn apart.

[@WasatchWind]

If it helps, NASA and the spaceflight world as a whole has become far more safe (not Russia though). NASA kept a keen eye on everything when they were developing the commercial crew program, and when you watch Crew Dragon launch people to space today, it is a well oiled machine, where everything looks a lot simpler and more reliable. Crew Dragon can get people away from an explosion, on the pad or in flight very easily, while such a capability was never really developed for the shuttle. Other spacecraft coming in the future, like the Boeing Starliner, Dreamchaser spaceplane, and others, are similarly a lot more safe. I am, unfortunately with the statistics of reality, sure that we will have more people die in pursuit of space, but it will be much smaller, especially as we get way more people into space than ever before, and the reliability of that will help safety. A very optimistic, successful mission flew in 2021, called Inspiration4, where SpaceX flew it completely on their own without NASA involvement, making it the first all civilian spaceflight. I feel like it carried the spirit of what the teacher in space program original aspired to, making the mission a fundraising event for St Jude children's hospital. One of the people on the flight, Hayley Arceneaux, had been a cancer patient at the hospital as a child, who recovered, returned to work there as an adult, and became the first person to go into space with a prosthetic (an artificial bone), which would have been an instant no if she'd applied as a NASA astronaut. It was a very inspiring mission, where three regular people got to go to space. I highly recommend looking up footage of the mission, or its netflix documentary "Countdown: Inspiration4 mission to space."

[@vrrooooommmm123]

Can you please explain?

[@niffirg1113]

soyuz is considered one of the safest human space vehicles in the world, NASA didnt design the falcon 9 or crew dragon, LES has existed since the earliest human space vehicles its nothing new.

[@WasatchWind]

@@niffirg1113 I never said that NASA designed crew dragon, they were very involved in helping SpaceX's work on the capsule, however. And in regards to Soyuz... Yes, Soyuz has a reliable record, but all the recent coolant leaks are very concerning.

[@biggestfan.]

Problem is that the power a career politician wields is only sought by those that wish to manipulate said power. No one in their right mind seeks a lifetime of bureaucracy, only a person not sane of mind.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

I must add that John Denver was almost on Challenger at one point. Imagine the horrors of Big Bird and John Denver blowing up. The world would never recover.

[@funnelvortex7722]

John Denver never really did have any luck with flying machines now did he?

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

@@funnelvortex7722 Its like Final Destination. He lucked out one day but the Reaper didn't forget...

[@JacobHillSBD]

Given how integral John Denver was to the history of The Muppets either one would’ve been a very dark day at the Jim Henson Company.

[@mollof7893]

Lmao who

[@Zarvanis]

@@mollof7893 According to the internet, the guy who sang "Take Me Home, Country Roads". I was a toddler in 1997 when he died, and he clearly didn't leave enough of an impact that his name remained in the cultural zeitgeist like Elvis or Freddie Mercury, so I had also never heard of him until today.

[@sorio99]

This video is like 1/3 exploring the hypothetical, 2/3 “How did the Challenger disaster even happen?”

[@a_wazza]

I'm just reading the comments ngl

[@felixw19]

Tbf most recent videos on this channel are structured like that.

[@rootbourne4454]

Honestly real history is interesting enough that I’m ok with that

[@ccvcharger]

I really like how you lured us in with a seemingly absurd premise, just to make us think about why the launch had to happen on Jan 28.

[@tonyyoung8477]

Truly, the alternate history episode I have waited my entire life for.

[@waffle6376]

fr

[@concept5631]

We've all been waiting for.

[@HuffinStufff]

I didn’t know I needed it but it turns out I’ve been missing this my entire life.

[@jaredhansen5364]

Right? 10/10

[@JavaScrapper]

I’ve been waiting for years

[@NateYet]

I live out near where Christa McAuliffe is buried and actually visited just yesterday coincidentally. Having family that had her as a teacher, the challenger disaster has an interesting place in my life.

[@Blazzes1001]

At least Big Bird is still with us

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

Isn’t she buried in Arlington? The most hallowed ground in America where honored soldiers are buried? I know for certain the crew of Columbia are buried there, but is she there too?

[@Alfonso162008]

​@свевский if I had to guess, I'd say just an empty coffin, or maybe something belonging to her, more symbolic than anything else. Unless some part of her somehow survived intact enough and identifiable enough to be buried, so in that case probably that.

[@NateYet]

@@therealspeedwagon1451 no, she was buried in concord NH. Though if I'm not mistaken, I think I heard there is an honorary gravesite/monument out near or in Arlington

[@Copperkaiju]

​@@lazarusglue Wikipedia is great for comic books and stuff but it gets things wrong sometimes. Like with musician bios for example. Take it with a grain of salt.

[@GeorgeCowsert]

Imagine the Sesame Street episode where Kermit is giving a lesson to all the other grieving muppets, telling them how "the world is cruel. That is why we need to be kind." A genuine heartfelt lesson could be taught to millions of children who grew up in the peace and luxury of America at its peak. Maybe then, we would be wiser about our current political landscape.

[@Brian0045]

Sad fact, Morton Thiokol (the company that built the SRB's) engineer Roger Boisjoly was literally screaming during the "go no go" meting with NASA and systems engineers before the launch saying if they launched the crew would be killed and was overridden by his superiors under pressure from NASA. He and his fellow engineers expected the explosion to happen on the launch pad, so for a couple of minutes they thought they had dodged a bullet that day.

[@VisualXploration]

Crazy

[@amh9494]

Lmao the USA doesn't remotely live up to its marketing.

[@lesigh3410]

@@amh9494 as an American it really does not

[@wwiiinplastic4712]

I had an uncle-in-law who worked at M-T's Orlando office at the time. I was in college at UF, studying Astronomy of all things.

[@customsongmaker]

​@@amh9494Compared to which other country's space program?

[@VillagerMan2006]

I feel like had Big Bird been destroyed, Sesame Street as a whole would end with it. Remember that at the time, Big Bird was not only the show’s most popular character, he was the lifeline. Such a massive loss would have pulled the plug on the show. In our timeline, the only character that came close to Big Bird’s popularity is Elmo. But this was only true around the mid-late 90s. At the time of Challenger, Elmo was still unpopular, not to mention that Kevin Clash, who succeeded the muppet after Richard Hunt and Brian Muehl was still new. Oscar, Barkley and Telly Monster were closest to Big Bird in terms of popularity.

[@LivingBattery]

Barkley?! No. This is Grover erasure and I will not stand for it.

[@TacomasterStudios]

barkley? Telly? Where are grover and cookie monster

[@Derivedwhale45]

I think Episode 847 have it not been pulled would've kill off Sesame Street forever much eariler than the Challenger incident because have PBS were ignoring the parents complaint about said episode n didn't give in to the complaints especially since some of their notes involving shooting up the whole studio, alot of people would've been killed at that point that the show cancelation would not been covered by the media at all & everything related to SS would've been swept under the rug forgotten forever & the only way people might have known about Sesame full cancelation is from the mouth of survivors of said attack about the awful reason for the end of Sesame Street forever on random forums that nobody will find. It almost happened bud really, it almost happened n could've went down the path I described have they not pulled episode 847. THAT would've been the end of SS forever have the parents shoot up the studio that was owned by Sesame I guarantee ya that

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@Derivedwhale45 But it DID air, it was just pulled from reruns.

[@bikecaptain8015]

​@@TacomasterStudios snuffalupagus too. Who in their right mind liked telly more than snuffalupagus?

[@yungspaghetti]

My parents both were coincidentally home from their high schools when the disaster happened. But, my mother told me that when she was staying in a hotel in DC for a school trip, her and her friends had a lovely chat with one of the teachers who was competing for that spot on the Challenger. It turned out to be Christa McAuliffe because she recognized her hair and her face when she saw it on the news.

[@SIGNOR-G]

Your profile pic is...interesting

[@tendrilartist3609]

@@SIGNOR-G reimu watermelon

[@rootbeerguy690]

Wow, can't imagine what your mother must have felt after seeing that unfold

[@shawnathin7450]

Here’s a sad thing I was home from school that day to because I live in Canada and they said it was to cold outside like -40 so knowing the weather jet spring it was to cold for them to but NASA didn’t care about the people just about how they look.

[@emilyr3175]

“I guess my point here is, and the point of this whole video, is that if Big Bird had been on the Challenger instead, it wouldn’t have exploded.” crazy ass statement

[@amas7636]

My grandfather was one of the group of engineers that tried to warn Mission Control not to launch because the O-Rings were not stable. He had an experiment focusing on microgravity that was on the shuttle. Really sad what happened and that they never listened.

[@shonenjumpmagneto]

Lol, nerd.

[@harveywallbanger3123]

The whole shuttle program was a lame donkey that was being flogged up a hill by a team of Senators because Jimmy Carter needed a jobs program to keep NASA from experiencing fatal brain drain in the 70s when the country was deep in malaise. It was too flashy, too ambitious, and designed 110% by Congressional committee. They promised this reusable vehicle that would enable 10x the orbital missions at only 2x the cost relative to Apollo capsules, and could be rehabbed and turned around for a new launch in a matter of weeks. Problem is it wasn't reliable. It had constant problems. The contractors weren't properly supervised. Nobody had the stones to crack down on anything. "Failure is not an option" as an emergency management ethos became a PR ethos instead - "We must launch on time, or the journalists and the Senators will be angry." This is toxic and deadly in any kind of air operations. It was allowed to persist because NASA culture had been structured to allow for dingbats with "vision" that lived in government contracts and not in reality. Now Elon Musk, a private individual, has built a Buck Rogers rocket that is more capable than anything NASA has conceived since Apollo. They ought to just abolish NASA these days, it's a waste of money.

[@snakewithapen5489]

@Quincy Arbalest Hell let's just not do space travel at all anymore, because that secondary option doesn't seem any safer or more trustworthy

[@gwendolynstata3775]

​@@harveywallbanger3123Elon Musk didn't build shit, he just threw money at people who could.

[@Bessux]

Yeah, my uncle worked at NASA and told them big ship go boom, too. Sadly, they didn't listen to my uncle and big ship did go boom.

[@OfficialCyaned]

Oh God, I actually learned this fact from a Sam'O Nella video. Imagine a timeline where this actually happened, how scarring.

[@waffle6376]

It would of been more traumatize to every child

[@androzani]

@@waffle6376 Unless it didn't happen.

[@MalcolmIIofCaledonia]

Trying to imagine Sam reading the script of this video (out loud)

[@androzani]

@@MalcolmIIofCaledonia "Woah wait, you're a historian in Alternative actions and this the dribble you give me? ... I like it, you do you."

[@Catfishuwu]

We must get this done

[@BigBoiiLeem]

Some good news to add to this really sad and kinda sh*t story: the teacher who was the backup for Christa McAuliffe *did* end up going into space in the end. She went on the ISS in the mid-2000s, and finally realised Christa's dream of teaching live from space.

[@Ambibsopmop]

0:53 props to that guy calmly listing off the coordinates of the crashing airline

[@JuanTonSoupXP]

This question has kept me up at night for decades. Finally, I can have the answer to my inner turmoil.

[@concept5631]

I am glad you have been enlightened.

[@big_sea]

yes

[@waitithoughtihadtousemyrea5976]

This is one of my favorite alternate history subjects, both because of the absurdity and how close it came to really happening.

[@dimitrescu182]

It sounds like a South Park episode.

[@mysticmystery7300]

@@dimitrescu182 kinda...

[@RAAM855]

Fun Fact: 2 years after Challenger. Atlantis had the exact same type of incident that killed the Columbia crew in 2003. In fact the Astronauts even saw this on the camera while in orbit. However the entire Mission was a classified mission to send a Spy Satellite for the CIA. When mission control was confronted with the danger, they straight up ignored them and told the Astronauts to proceed. The Astronauts legit though 100% they were going to die and the captain even planned to cus out mission control if something went wrong in reentry. Miraculous unlike Columbia, the piece of foam that took a larger chunk from the shuttle than that of the 2003 mission Hit a spot that wasn't as vital and they survived and the crew even noted that they saw the material on their plane disintegrate. What did NASA do after the mission? Nothing. They just brushed it off and that's why 15 years later Columbia happened. Imagine the absolute PR nightmare for NASA and the Raegan administration if only 2 years right after Challenger. Another Shuttle disaster happened.

[@Melonist]

Dear god

[@andrasbiro3007]

Same thing with the Challenger. Another similar incident with the O-rings happened earlier and only dumb luck saved that shuttle. The easy solution was to not launch in cold weather. Later they found out why it was the Challenger that blew up and not the other one. Turns out the burning fuel creates a lot of soot that plugs the hole that the too rigid O-ring creates, so there's no leak and no explosion. But the Challenger met very strong cross wind that shook it just enough to dislodge the soot plug. That's why the trail of the shuttle seems to turn 90 degrees just before the explosion.

[@stevenroshni1228]

There's a saying that aviation regulations are written in blood. Very many we came very close to tragedy, we should probably fix it, have been ignored.

[@imEden0]

One reason is because they had to send low quality photos back to ground since it was encrypted. Engineers thought they were shadows.

[@kirkkerman]

The Challenger Accident was kind of a fluke, that specific failure may have only been possible on STS-51L. The Columbia Accident, on the other hand, was *going* to happen ever since the moment the space shutt'e's design configuration had been approved...

[@LudicrousH]

Dude amazing video. Very engaging/informative the whole way through and a solid ending haha.

[@littykitty040]

"Oh no thanks, I'm on my way to space!!!" I died, just like Big Bird would

[@ban1kam]

Can you edit a time stamp to that moment

[@ryanbauer3680]

1:22 Also its not; "Oh no thanks, I'm on my way to space!!!" Its; "Oh no thanks, I'm on my way to-sSpACe!!!"

[@Stephanie-uk8be]

Hearing Tim Curry's voice coming out of Big Birds mouth caused a profound amount of cognitive dissonance lol I also choked on my water XD

[@Attmay]

You make it sound like he’s Trippin balls.

[@Attmay]

At least he’ll be embalmed with 11 herbs and spices!

[@kurtsteinert7569]

A little factoid about the launch. Grey Jarvis had completed a Master's degree from West Coast University and the diploma was on board and was to be awarded to him in orbit. The diploma was found in the debris and was returned to West Coast University.

[@rjrowley3887]

Jeez that's is sad

[@judet2992]

Wat. That is…uunnngghhh

[@mangrove]

Ellison Onizuka brought a soccer ball from a school soccer team that he had coached. The ball was recovered, and eventually brough tup to space in 2016.

[@adg9042]

@@mangrove why would they bring it to space that’s like the worst place it could possibly be

[@logandunlap9156]

couldn’t give it to his family or something? that’s actually more fucked up than the fact that he died, they just took his shit because he was dead

[@SkylightCiel]

Would love to see the alternate timeline where Big Bird did blow up and they had to make a Sesame Street episode canonically acknowledging he died.

[@Attmay]

Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letters RIP.

[@bellyfries6891]

I don’t think they would kill off such a beloved character, like another comment I saw, he would probably fall out of the sky and would be cleaning the dust off his body

[@TheUplinkExperiment]

@@bellyfries6891 The thing is you'd have to take into account the family and friends of everyone at actually died on the Challenger. Having big bird just survive, with the comedic explanation or not. Is going to come off as pretty rude to those people since they had to witness their friends or family die in a rocket accident and now some kids show with puppets is making light of it pretty much.

[@modernmajorgeneral4669]

I mean, Sesame Street has been known to deal with very serious and weighty topics, and I think it would be really hard not only to explain how Big Bird survived, but it would also be hard on the cast and writers to not feel like jerks as they were doing so.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

They would almost assuredly have him die canonically. They might have replaced him with his brother, Large Toucan going forwards or something, but Sesame Street has usually done good about acknowledging sad things and pain, modeling appropriate responses, and usually avoiding show status quo type cynicism. At most, he'd survive the fall, but be seriously injured and spend a while getting better.

[@MCDreng]

I hadn't heard of the part where the teacher was going to give a lesson. That sadly makes a lot of sense for why they forced the launch to be on Tuesday instead of wait. I feel like people would have still tuned in to watch her on a Saturday, but I guess the optics of a teacher teaching in schools from space was too good to pass up.

[@michaelfutch2598]

Horribly dating myself. I remember Mr Hooper's store being run by Mr Hooper and his death. Looking back on it, this was handled excellently. It acknowledged both the actor and character's death. It validated the sorrow the other characters and the children watching felt. Henson brilliantly dealt with the subject of death in a way that his audience, who mostly were experiencing their first awareness of death, in a healthy age appropriate way. Had Big Bird died on the Challenger, I have no doubt Henson would have addressed this in the show similarly.

[@LizLuvsCupcakes]

if anyone could have handled this tastefully and helped kids understand what happened, it would’ve been Jim Henson.

[@JoeApplebrook]

I think they sorta retooled that scene’s script for the scene where Elmo’s dad told him his uncle died

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@LizLuvsCupcakes we got a very special ep of punky brewster, lmao

[@shoggothsirloin]

I’m dating myself too and yeah it’s horrible :/

[@StraightestDakregor]

I know it's funny how Cody said muppets are people, but in all seriousness, they sort of are. Not just because of the necessary skills to bring the character to life as he said, but more often than not, even if you have the person tamper with the puppet right in front of you, people _still_ prioritize the puppet over the human. Multiple interviewers incorrectly give the microphone to the puppet instead of the voice actor, they look at the puppet as they talk and not the person, it's a "phenomenon" that multiple puppeteers have experienced.

[@CrypticCharm]

that is so true, i know someone who was in a production of Avenue Q, playing Trekkie, and when he came out, for his final bow with his performance partner, people were confused about who he was. he had spent two hours+ on stage, and no one ever saw him!

[@Robb1977]

I imagine its the sort of thing where people might say "hey did you know Indiana jones was in... wait, sorry i mean harrison ford..." The character comes first in their mind because thats the part they actually know. The human behind it becomes secondary.

[@panqueque445]

Out of ALL the Sesame Street characters they could've chosen, they chose the giant one.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

Imagine if it was Elmo instead, the most iconic character of all time.

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

​@@therealspeedwagon1451The only reason it wasn't elmo is because Big Bird was more popular at the time.

[@dsadgegdsg4740]

NASA approached Ernie first but he would only agree to spending no more than one afternoon in space

[@midnighthope7752]

​@@dsadgegdsg4740 you say that as a joke but I'd like to remind you that Ernie was originally performed by Jim Henson himself and if that went through oh god oh jesus

[@ATMAnubis]

Imagine a Challenger crew of Ernie and Bert, Oscar, Telly, and Cookie Monster: Ernie touches things he's not supposed to, Commander Bert constantly yells at Ernie, Oscar bitches and complains, Telly has a freak-out, and Cookie Monster wants cookie on the moon. With this crew, the Challenger would never get off the ground.

[@DrZomboss01]

I missread the title and thought it was actually "What if Big Bird blew up the challenger?" 💀

[@LabRat8899]

My mom’s middle school science teacher actually almost made it on the Challenger. He was a finalist, but he and his wife just had a baby so he didn’t go. But I completely forgot about the plan to let big bird on the challenger.

[@jugginator2.068]

My mom's science teacher from HS had the opportunity to go, but thankfully his wife begged him not to go. How chilling that day must've been especially for he and his wife

[@thetoughunicorn1679]

Wow

[@Patodeagua213]

Wow

[@boomboom-wn9jm]

🧢

[@SomeRobIoxDude]

Wow

[@Elephant56565]

​@@boomboom-wn9jm no

[@Simphd]

Now this is the content I’m subscribed for.

[@waffle6376]

fr

[@gamerzlog6963]

Exactly!

[@koisnotreal]

Something crazy about this project, my middle school english teacher in sixth grade was one of the students of Christa McAuliffe. She told us in class about when it happened. She was particularly close to her and watched it all happen, and left the school immediately and walked home crying.

[@klutzysole9569]

Hey, just a piece of information regarding O-Rings since you seemed a little confused about them. They are commonly used seals in mechanical engineering. I am a mechanic on the KC 135, and we use O-Rings in a few places to seal grease, hydro, and oil in their proper systems so that they can keep running smoothly or so they don't corrode the rest of the systems around them. They often times break or get knocked loose.

[@robertbrazier5097]

The KC-135 is an intimidating plane to fly behind whilst refuelling. Must be interesting maintaining that 60 year old aircraft. (Not a real pilot, just a DCS pilot)

[@klutzysole9569]

@Robert Brazier it's fun to maintain but at the same time it is a piece of shit and certain numbers are always a headache to fix or send up on missions

[@noahjackl2240]

I work in water tank manufacturing and we use O-rings in evvvvvvverything. Multiple O-rings in the tanks, connecting parts, tools we use to hold the tanks, robots, tanks that pressure test the tanks. So many O-rings

[@jpriedy]

So are they basically rubber gaskets?

[@samuel010898]

@@jpriedy I want to disagree, but that’s basically correct. The rings on an SRB have little in common with the seals these guys are talking about, but it is in fact made of EDPM rubber and functions as an enormous gasket between the main sections of the SRB

[@zachjohnson9674]

I find that videos on these smaller, more “obscure” what-ifs are often the most compelling. I’d love to see more of these.

[@wulf37]

Having worked at the place that made those srbs and talking to people who were there at the time, the main feeling I got was deep anger, sadness, and regret. It is really such a tragedy that something so preventable took the lives of some amazing people.

[@judet2992]

Wait you worked at the SRB plant? Neat. Sorry to hear that it affected you like that, but you definitely had a cool job, even if it was just on the assemble line.

[@neuronoc.7343]

The mental image of David Clark Company tailors scrambling to turn the *Big Bird* costume into a working flight suit for Caroll Spinney to wear as the character and accidentally preventing Challenger from ripping itself apart KSP style is both hilarious and harrowing.

[@thedarkduchess7556]

Thank you so much for making this video. I've never cried laughing so hard in my entire life. The idea that hundreds of millions, if not over a billion given how famous the muppets are, could've watched big bird reduced to cinders via massive rocket explosion is one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life. Elmo would've delivered a eulogy along with all the other sesame street characters at Big Bird's funeral. Life would carry on with every human knowing that the United States Government blew up one of the most iconic characters of all time. A character known for how sweet, kind, and friendly they were; a friend to all gone out in a blaze of glory. It's unimaginable how much that would influence the mindsets of everyone around the world. The ripples of every child in the western world watch big bird get blown up would change life as we know it. It would mark the beginning of a new era of humanity due to the US government murdering a muppet. Thank you so much AlternateHistoryHub for making this amazing video, you've truly done the world a great service

[@N3therWolf]

So much words for telling us you are autistic

[@icat0753]

I could see about being written in this timeline called: BIG BIRD: BLAZE OF GLORY what actually happened during the infamous challenger incident?

[@josepsamarrafarre]

@@icat0753 I think another title from that timeline would be FRIED CHICKEN: A MUPPET TRAGEDY

[@doctorecho3007]

I’m so awful for this, but this just has dying of laughter just picturing it all in my head.

[@LaceNWhisky]

If they had actually gone through with sending Big Bird into space instead of a teacher, I could see an argument for dressing up one of their trained astronauts as Big Bird instead of sending up the actual actor, then having his lines either prerecorded or voiced-over. And when the Challenger blew up, they could have announced Big Bird survived somehow. Would have maybe been less traumatic for the kids, although the publicity would still be a nightmare.

[@user-kw7mr6xt9n]

The idea of a NASA astronaut having to go through training to perform a muppet up to the expected standards to make the lipsync and movements look passable is very funny to me

[@iprobablysuck9107]

It’s very “Armageddon” in a way. Is it easier to train a muppeteer to be an astronaut, or the other way around?

[@ez_company9325]

@@iprobablysuck9107 thats a good point.... the whole premise of that movie is wack really.... you gotta imagine our best and brightest astronauts would find it easier to train to drill than it would be vice versa.

[@mariotheundying]

For some reason this scenario is f'd up, guy in costume dies, "dw guys big Bird is alive, idk where this dead body came from tho, that's weird"

[@homestuckfan8844]

Somehow Big bird returned…

[@elizatoponce9375]

I remember in my sixth grade math class my teacher describing the challenger disaster in detail, saying it was people getting their math wrong that caused it, and telling us if we couldn’t get the questions on our homework correct we could cause a disaster just like it. Boy did that freak me out as an eleven year old.

[@connormclernon26]

I mean, the engineers knew it was fucked, the problem was the idiot in charge, William Graham, chose to launch even when the engineers were telling him not to

[@Marcus-nn6js]

Is your teacher one of the Brothers Grimm?

[@Champiness]

Take your teachable moments where you can get them I guess

[@ladysilverwynde]

That's beyond messed up.

[@littlevirus3562]

That's fucked up... But efficient

[@amoran2011]

Oh my god, I thought you sounded like Pointless Hub lmfao. Love your videos, got a whole new channel of content to watch now!

[@matthewmoser1284]

"Big Bird could have saved the Challenger" is a hot take I was NOT prepared for.... 😅

[@Reddigdug]

My grandfather was one of the main engineers working on the rockets, as well as one of many who spoke out about the o rings

[@aNerdNamedJames]

Did he ever tell you about his subjective PoV of any other high-ups besides Graham?

[@leviticus2001]

Did he know?

[@Daniel-yy3ty]

@@leviticus2001 "as well as one of many who spoke out about the o rings" if I read that right he did

[@AndrewPonti]

I agree - this is tragic in so many ways. As a kid in the 90s who idolized astronauts, NASA, the shuttle and all that "optimistic" glow that the space program was moving into the future, this is horrendous to find out all that actually happened. I was born January 29, 1988, almost exactly 2 years after Challenger, and then I was in high school when Columbia was lost.

[@lesigh3410]

I think that may have been the day the space program died - or maybe it was before then, when the shuttle program was even made.

[@adanalyst6925]

@@lesigh3410the shuttle program was the remnant of NASA’s grand plans they had back in the 60s that included a shuttle, space stations, moon bases, and a mission to Mars. However after Apollo 11 really the politicians lost any desire to fund anything that pushed the envelope as far as manned exploration went

[@aaron.0303]

@@adanalyst6925 I think in the 60s people thought we would be LIVING on the moon by now. Like, there should be hotels and stuff up there by now.

[@ehsbe1056]

The fact that big bird was initially supposed to be on the shuttle is my single favourite trivia fact of all time

[@fasillimerick7394]

Also, I was an older child when Mr. Hooper died, and the CTW handled that rather well. Losing Big Bird could have been a "We choose to go to Mars..." moment that saw the country rally in support for NASA. Or, there would have been millions of children in the streets with torches and pitchforks.

[@RyanSellman1]

Probably the latter. Definitely the latter.

[@dukefang1001]

Thank you for putting that image in my mind. Almost helps distract me from Big Berd’s potential death aboard one of the worst space disasters in history.

[@patrickfrost9405]

@@RyanSellman1 I'm imaging them marching with sand-castle equipment, because their parents didn't let them take the real pitchforks and shovels.

[@robbie131]

An O-Ring is a rubber gasket that's there to create a seal between two parts. In this case, most likely to prevent air from getting to the fuel booster.

[@stevencooper4422]

To assume Reagan has anything to do with the O-ring on a NASA spacecraft is giving Reagan way too much credit.

[@thekidfromcleveland3944]

More to keep the hot gases from exhausting out the side and into the external fuel tank........which is what happened when they failed

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

​@@stevencooper4422 No he's responsible by pressuring his lackey's, who had no qualifications to even have such a position

[@Jst.a.Normal.Bottle.of.Mustard]

People dont understand how accurate everything needs to be for something like a rocket O-Ring, the tolerances for something like that are at most +/- .002, a single human hair is .005 Edit: also temperature plays a huge role in shrinking or expanding different materials some metal expanses something like .003 per inch per 10 degrees

[@imEden0]

@@Jst.a.Normal.Bottle.of.Mustard yup temperature was the issue not because they froze but because the o rings expanded at a different rate

[@Mac_in_the_Hat]

(Friday night on Seseme Street) "You know, I was supposed to be on the Discovery." Muppets in unison: "WE KNOW."

[@lorddevilfish5868]

“I guess your chances CRASHED AND BURNED WOKKA WOKKA!” “FOZZY STFU!”

[@wadejg_blaze0n213]

@@lorddevilfish5868 Waldorf: ‘you hear about the challenger?’ Statler: ‘At least the rocket took off and blew up, this act went straight down the drain!’

[@jakethepillowsnake5302]

I would love to see a Mad TV sketch where all the Sesame Street characters learn about the Challenger disaster. The look on Big Bird's face when he finds out he was supposed to be the one on the shuttle would be amazing. Big Bird: "Oh no, if that happened, I would have been blown up!" Gordon: "Actually, probably not. They launch would have been delayed and carried out safely." Long, painfully awkward pause. Elmo: "So Big Bird blew up the rocket?" Gordon: "Yeah, basically."

[@ValueNetwork]

You forgot to mention that not only was Carol spinney Big bird, He was Oscar the grouch as well. So in this event the 2 main characters who interacted with the humans in the street segment are gone, the show might have to get restructured at that point to go away from the actual street set and more towards the Muppet segments Also this happens in 1986, and Mr. Snuffleupagus was only revealed to the humans, with big bird proving that he’s not an imaginary friend in 1985. So in this scenario Snuffys reveal is the last thing Carol ever performed as Big bird before he passed, and we get a really awkward situation where Snuffy is now only interacting with the humans and not big bird (or he’s probably probably retired as a character alongside big bird almost immediately after he finally escapes big birds shadow)

[@DIEGhostfish]

Option 3 they meet him at the funeral.

[@bryandraughn9830]

So, have you ever been in a rocket before? Ehh...does a trash can count?

[@lemuel1976]

For here Am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do

[@thehammurabichode7994]

How on Earth do you know so much about both _Sesame Street_ lore and The Challenger Disaster

[@LiliOfTheValleyIZkewl]

​​@@thehammurabichode7994 I'm autistic and currently hyper fixated on Muppets and the Challenger. that's how I am so knowledgeable on both. Personally speaking.

[@stever089]

My great uncle was an O ring engineer. He took me to watch the shuttle take off in 2002 it was the most amazing thing I have EVER seen! Great uncle Wally was in his mid 70s then. First off it was like 5 am and dark out the launch made it into daylight. The fire ball was as big as the Sun from my range (25 miles) . It absolutely baffled me with the power that mankind could light the night from 25 miles away... That being all said Wally was all choked up and so negative saying that he told them Bastards the O rings would fail. Him and over 20 engineers BEGGED!!! to stop it, that the temperatures and O rings themselves would fail. He was a WW2 vet and he started to weep it was really upsetting as 13 year old to see someone so "tough" cry like a child in guilt. He passed 3 weeks after the Columbia disaster. Basically what he taught me as a NASA engineer from the 60s-84 that it was all politics. That we had the brain power to do whatever we could desire. Unfortunately it came down to political media coverage and a basic dick measuring contest between USA and USSR.... Still with out any doubt it was the most AMAZING thing I have ever seen with my eyes and I will never ever forget it RIP Wally.

[@bogusmogus9551]

After the blame passing bs at the press conference Richard Feynman did a simple practical science example with a glass of cold water and a piece of the rubber that had been in the freezer, he took it out of the glass and snapped it in half, Richard Feynman is a hero of mine, he was awesome. I would have loved to have met him.

[@chikennugetandfri8192]

The scariest part, is that when the ship explodes there is 2 large pecies of debris trailing white smoke. One of these is the capsule with the crew, and all of them where still alive. At least 2 crew members survived the explosion as the wreckage showed that the safety harnesses where frantically being pulled at, as the astronauts tried to undo the straps holding them to the seats. They died on impact with the water.

[@ryanhodin5014]

The two large pieces of debris trailing smoke are the two SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters), which kept running after the breakup because they weren't destroyed and didn't rely on the shuttle to keep going (Actually, they couldn't be shut off once turned on except by destroying them, which would also have destroyed the Shuttle, which is why Shuttle had so many "If there's a problem here everyone dies" moments in flight). They just kinda kept firing (one deployed its recovery parachute and started spinning) until the Range Safety Officer responsible for making sure the vehicle didn't fall on anyone came to his senses and sent them the order to self-destruct. Otherwise, yeah - The crew capsule was actually visible, just not trailing smoke, and the crew members did survive - They were toggling buttons trying to get power back online, and they activated emergency oxygen supplies, before being killed by impacting the ocean surface.

[@WobblesandBean]

​@@ryanhodin5014 They were experiencing such high G force in the fall that they would have lost consciousness within seconds. They were not awake when they hit the water.

[@ryanhodin5014]

@@WobblesandBean At least some of them were conscious for some time during the fall. I'm not sure if it's known at all when during the fall or for exactly how long, but some of the crew had tried some debugging measures and donned emergency breathing equipment.

[@olliegoria]

Morbid curiosity of mine is wondering what they looked like after they hit the water. Obviously the funerals were gonna be closed casket, but did it smear them? Rip them apart? I know it's dark but the potential visuals fascinate me.

[@violetmensa8604]

@@olliegoria you’re genuinely weird

[@francescopili5076]

The premise, the topic, the delivery… everything about this video is fire

[@EthanBoBethan]

It’s funny how Big Bird being on Space Shuttle Challenger could have either ended the Shuttle program early or it could have prolonged it by preventing the disaster

[@oliversherman2414]

Crazy to think that such a random, insane alternate history idea could've been such a drastically different timeline

[@Pyratemime]

One item that Cody missed is that George Bush, the VP, was supposed to be present for the launch. He was a major advocate for the program and the cancellation the previous day had forced the reshuffle of his schedule. NASA knew they would not get a second reshuffle and did not want to risk alienating a proponent of the program at that level of the administration.

[@blixer8384]

So it’s Reagan and Bush’s fault.

[@amh9494]

​@@blixer8384the pathetic American culture of sucking up to your boss in desperate fear of being fired like some medieval peasant before his liege lord because there is no legal framework to protect workers is also partly responsible.

[@JVR10893]

4:08 if the Space Shuttle program ended in the 90’s, that means the Columbia disaster in 2003 wouldn’t have happened…