Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Investigation, Photo and TV Analysis Team Report (1987)

The NASA/KSC VHS cassette that is the source of this video has a label with the date May 27, 1987. The report documents the video and photo evidence that led to the conclusions of what caused the loss of STS-51L Challenger on January 28, 1986.
Visit our web site at www.afspacemuseum.org. We're on Twitter at @afspacemuseum.
VHS_1175VHS

[@confidential2277]

I love the fact that nobody in the comments remembered that the guy who warned of O-ring failure was fired from NASA as a reward. It’s the American way I guess.

[@peterbeales3679]

I believe he worked for Morton Thiakal the manufacturer of the O rings. You’re right, he was fired. Got to be the most awful ‘I told you so’ moment.

[@yuri_nazarenko]

Yes, it is exactly YOUR guessing (and a quite biased belief). It's not American way, it may happen everywhere and in any country. Or do you think in the former USSR - another major space player those days - everything worked differently? 133 successful shuttle space travels of 135 - it is also the American way.

[@executivesteps]

He wasn’t fired from NASA. He was re-assigned within Morton Thiokol. When a Rogers Commission member (Col Kutyna) found out he straightened them out and the engineer was reassigned to head the redesign project of the failed joint.

[@Duval-Dame]

@@executivesteps exactly.

[@executivesteps]

@@peterbeales3679 Also, Morton Thiokol didn’t manufacture the O-rings.

[@pateva2003]

Roger Boisjoly was almost spot on in his prediction of the disaster. He said the SRB field joint would fail on the pad at T-0. Oxide residue plugged up the leak until Challenger flew through the windshear and dissolved the clog and the failure sequence resumed. He was off by 73 seconds

[@ryanvandoren1519]

Will never understand why they fired him. Should've been head of their engineering.

[@yes2sdiomain335]

@@ryanvandoren1519 NASA is satanic and this is a ritual sacrifice. Having someone try to stop it is probably not what they wanted.

[@songsalon7868]

O.k. Brain

[@andrewhillis9544]

Poor Roger Boisjoly The Hero Whistleblower Was Just As Much A Victim In This Tragic Story As The Unfortunately iLL Fated Challenger Seven Crew!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@suchabadkitty1293]

@@songsalon7868 ??

[@willisingo]

I grew up in Melbourne Fl, which is about 25 miles south of Cape Canaveral. By the time of this launch, shuttle launches were so common place that we rarely went out to watch them at school anymore. This one was kind of a big deal because it had a school teacher, but it had been delayed a few times, so no one was sure when it was going up. I was 16 in my junior year of high school and I rode my bike to school. Sometimes I would see launches on my way to school, I remember looking for it that morning as it was being talked about on the news because of Christa Mcauliffe. It was super cold that morning especially for Florida and I figured they scrubbed the launch because of the weather. During a science class two guys that were coming back from the bathroom came in and said to the teacher, "I think the space shuttle blew up" Some people laughed but no one payed them much attention and then a science teacher intern went out and then came back in and said, "It looks like the SRB's prematurely detached" Everyone started going out side and we all saw that famous contrail in a bright blue clear sky. It was the first time I experienced a national tragedy. The school principal announced over the intercom what had happened. I'll never forget the silence in the halls when they dismissed us early in light of the tragedy. I could still see the remnants of the contrail on my bike ride home as there wasn't a cloud in the sky that day.

[@possum303]

That’s insane.. I can’t imagine being there and just hearing “I think the space shuttle blew up”

[@willisingo]

@@possum303 Shuttle launches had been part of our lives as students for almost 5 years at that point. We basically grew up with the shuttle program living so close to the Cape. Everyone figured they were just trying to pull a prank saying that.

[@ginog5037]

Wow, did it sound any different meaning shorter and louder?

[@K.Spade7902]

I was living in Salt Lake City where I'm from. We were used to the extreme cold. I can't believe the shuttle still took off despite the obvious ICICLES around the bottom of it! I thought maybe it wasn't that bad being it was in warm Florida. I was wrong! NASA put themselves under pressure to take off. They were desperate to have a teacher teach from space. (Great idea to begin with. )People were fired, I'm sure because of what happened! Now every Anniversary of that disaster is a sad day for NASA.

[@K.Spade7902]

​@@possum303 President Reagan eulogized the seven astronauts lost at that time. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was appropriate.

[@brentortman6485]

I remember being in high school when this happened. I was so shocked when this tragedy occurred. I never heard such detailed analysis until now. RIP crew

[@chrisconley8583]

Ditto, I was in study hall and a history teacher told me.

[@Michaelobama184]

@@chrisconley8583 don't be Deceived. The Real shuttle gets it's altitude from a piggyback ride on the top of a specially designed military jumbo jet airplane and then it detaches and then they hit the throttle and the shuttle flies to a very high altitude and then glides back down to Earth.

[@suchabadkitty1293]

@@Michaelobama184 😆😆😆

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@Michaelobama184 Flagged for misinformation.

[@MsBerries25]

Same. In high school, walking to the school library when a guy friend ran up to me and said with a smirk, "The space shuttle blew up" in a comical way. Initially, I didn't believe him because he was the class clown. Tragic

[@pateva2003]

The narrator was ice cold and direct in his description of events. Chilling delivery!

[@bunzeebear2973]

Can't sugar coat FACTS.

[@stephenholmes1036]

Correct

[@essbe7158]

This was an incredibly detailed video. I was really impressed with it when it came out back in the day. Still have the VHS.

[@trentaccid2177]

These cameras cost taxpayers 2 billion dollars are you still shocked at there ability or dont care

[@HoLeeFuk317]

@@trentaccid2177 2 billions pocket change compared to other US government spending.

[@suchabadkitty1293]

@@trentaccid2177 👈🏾🤡 *their

[@bobbigeehan7221]

@@trentaccid2177 yes, still impressed. Without them, they’d have no definitive information on the cause of the demise.

[@Daniel-yy5tx]

Thank you so much for uploading both this analysis and the full five hour session of the February 25th session of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. These are so important to have available for public viewing--I think they're excellent examples of analysis and scientific/government inquiry. I feel like they should be required viewing!

[@marygerstle7991]

Fewer people remember that private contractors tried to confuse Congress as to why the spacecraft exploded, providing esoteric engineering explanations. Then Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winning physicist testified with a pencil and glass of ice water. The pencil had been cut in half and glued together with the same O-ring rubber cement used on the spacecraft. He then dipped the pencil in the water. The two pencil pieces separated. 'That's, lady and gentlemen, is why the Challenger exploded."

[@RedbeardMaximus]

Important to note that Feynman was tipped off about this by Donald Kutyna who was himself informed of the O-ring problem by Sally Ride, both NASA employees at the time who knew it would be taken poorly if they called out the cause themselves. There were also a number of engineers at Morton Thiokol who knew exactly what happened but were ultimately silenced by the execs.

[@replaycraig]

15.50. Did not explode.

[@t-rex4211]

Sounds like not enough wd40 😉

[@richardmorgan8027]

MORTON THIOKOL WAS NOT TO BLAME. THEY SENT A MEMO TO NASA TELLING THEM USING THE SRB IN LOW TEMPS BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF GASKET MATERIAL FAILURE. I REMEMBER SEEING IT ONCE - ONCE - ON TV. NEVER AGAIN. POLITICS KILLED THE SPACE PROGRAM, NASA KILLED THE ASTRONAUTS.

[@brucechamberlin9666]

I thought he pinched a piece of o-ring in a small c-clamp, put it in cold water, released the clamp and the o-ring stayed deformed, didn’t spring back to round.

[@corrado9683]

They were warned about the o-ring several times before the launch. But after several postponements, there warnings were ignored.

[@TangleF50]

😠😢

[@DrummingWriterTrekfan84]

Just last year (2022) on the history channel a show about a small team of guys went searching for a specific set of planes that disappeared in the Bermuda triangle, and one of the first two places they looked with divers was not far from cape Canaveral. They thought the underwater currents might have brought some planes up that way, the first places had a small plane engine, the second place they went to had a very large and unusual plane piece, they took video and pictures of it and showed those to a friend that was a military and NASA veteran. He identified it has the bottom of one of the wings from space shuttle challenger. They went to NASA and told them what they found and where. I've never seen a team of divers/ treasure hunters have so much reverence and respect for a historical piece or artifact like that. They knew not to touch what they found. NASa said that was the first time since the late 90's that something of the challenger was found.

[@diecastcupseries7317]

I heard about that, it was amazing when I heard they found a piece of the shuttle. Iv'e seen a documentary on planes that were lost over the Bermuda Triangle during a training mission following World War II. I think the planes they were looking for were TBM Avenger Dive Bombers of Flight 19. They weren't found in the documentary but they did find a Martin PBM Mariner Amphibious Aircraft (Flying Boat) that was sent to search for Flight 19 in the documentary.

[@rushmore3927]

So when the Parker engineers begged the launch not to take place and NASA did not listen, who was held accountable?

[@stick9648]

NASA couldn't wait to be their own cheerleaders and pat backs , shake hands and feel important and wise.

[@dextermorgan1]

Nobody.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@stick9648 Bullshit. That was Reagan

[@erniewagner4737]

I was 16 years old when this happened. I remember vividly as I was in high school and my science teacher brought us to the library to watch the launch live... Everybody was stunned when the shuttle exploded and then tears flowed.. I was one of the worst days of my life and It still haunts me to this day... RIP my brave astronauts who deserved a better fate....

[@jtveg]

Lots of detailed photos of recovered parts that I've never seen before in other reports or documentaries. Thanks for sharing.

[@marimatsumoto372]

What happened to the crew members’ bodies? This program onLy mentioned the machine. Do they retrieve them? To me, this is as important as the complicated machine. I wish at least they mentioned them. Extraordinary people. Rest in RIP.

[@jtveg]

@@marimatsumoto372 Why didn't you just enter that question into Google? It amazes me that even after more than 2 decades of the internet and Google, people don't turn to it first before asking anyone else. I literally typed: _"What happened to Space Shuttle Challenger crew members bodies"_ and got this result. // _"Jarvis was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Unidentified crew remains were buried at the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial in Arlington on May 20, 1986."_ // Well I acually prefer using the mic and spoke my question into Google,

[@marimatsumoto372]

@@jtveg I must explain why I wrote the comment. I am 73 years old “old lady” who happened to be interested in aviation. ( I am Japanese live in the US) I know very little about aviation but something about it fascinates me. I am the first one to admit “the computer idiot “ Try to find out what I want to know through Google didn’t even occur to me. I apologize if I offended you. PS: My husband’s brother was an electrical engineer at NASA. He recently passed away but his wish was to scatter his ashes in the somewhere near NASA in Florida. I find it rather interesting that his wish was the same as a lot of people who worked there. Very good resting place.

[@jtveg]

@@marimatsumoto372 I'm sorry if I was abrupt and offensive. It's just that I deal with a lot of wilfully ignorant people on the internet. Sorry for your loss and again, I apologise if I was offensive.

[@miaflyer2376]

@@marimatsumoto372 - This video was an engineering analysis explaining only the technical failures of the rocket propulsion snafu, not the human interactions.

[@tracymiller1149]

This analysis shows how complicated the shuttle system was, and it is quite amazing that we had so many safe shuttle flights. RIP, brave astronauts.

[@captmcneil]

While the Shuttle wasn't the safest way to get into orbit and had her fundamental design problems (and the Columbia crash can definitely be led back to design flaws), you can't argue with the fact that with Challenger the booster engineers knew the risks and explicitly told NASA not to launch. If you use a vehicle outside its safety margins and it breaks, you can hardly blame the vehicle.

[@daryldoyle7871]

@@captmcneil j

[@daryldoyle7871]

@@captmcneil iiuhhg man

[@el.aye.bee.4477]

@@captmcneilexactly! All those nasa officials that argued in favor of launching should have been put in jail.

[@tucko11]

What’s sad is some of the family members were watching the live launch 😞

[@roberthale8407]

I watched this with my own eyes in the school courtyard that day. Never will forget that day.

[@MadScientist267]

Definitely not. Was a Tuesday. Home sick from school. Thought it was a joke when it first happened. A lot more details that would snooze most. I'm sure I'm not alone there. Knowing you just witnessed something tragic happen tends to make otherwise meaningless and would-have-been forgotten details about everything else we experience get burned in just as deep as the triggering event itself. I surmise it's some type of protective evolutionary mechanism... We witness something horrific happen to our own species, we "must pay attention so as to *never* make this mistake"...? Providing the extra details for later context (be most valuable in a "tribe" setting rather than now in civilization)... I have NFI I just know what happens 🤷‍♂️ Also, America has this thing with... Tuesdays... (See what I mean?) 😟

[@laila6855]

They've all came back to life, at least six of em😂 , they found them in 2015/16 alive and well taking up a normal jobs, research!

[@ethannamos]

@@laila6855 another “space shuttle program is fake” person?

[@mwhitelaw8569]

After watching it unfold I was genuinely curious as to how it happened. When this analysis first came out Me and my social studies teacher watched it And were kinda sad it could have been prevented.

[@MadScientist267]

@@ethannamos Can't fix stupid 🙄 Besides, someone's gotta do it. Without the fruitcakes, we wouldn't have... A lot of things 🤣

[@markgabriel5797]

I was just about 4 years old when this happened. We watched every launch as a kid. I vividly remember watching the shuttle break apart and make the shape of (what looked like to me) as a caterpillar. My mom didn't say a word she just got up and turned off the TV. The phone rang (it was my Dad calling from his office to see if we were watching) she didn't say a word. I knew something was wrong. I asked her what happened and I could tell she was upset. She suggested us kids go in the other room to play. That night when my Dad got home I learned of what happened. I was ripped apart. As a kid Its one of the saddest memories of my childhood. May we never forget, and may God bless the crew of The Challenger tragedy.

[@killbill5486]

Sounds like you have a good mother.

[@The_ZeroLine]

My mother would have blamed me for its explosion. “If you weren’t born, this would have never happened!”

[@bobbigeehan7221]

@@The_ZeroLine 🤣🤣

[@MisterCasket]

I was almost 7 when this happened, I have memories of watching this with my parents and sister on the news. Seeing over and over the footage of the explosion. It was horrible.

[@KARENboomboomROXX]

Seems it was a Hollywood production. At least 6 were alive as of a few years ago. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4i6k62CbbeHf9E

[@vmgquick]

@@KARENboomboomROXX That is a stupid and worthless video. An insult for the Challenger crew and their families, it should be removed.

[@josh10177]

And You just watched a 30 minute video here explaining to you how it was NOT an explosion.

[@MisterCasket]

@@josh10177 all right. "disappearing in a ball of flame". Fixed.

[@trentaccid2177]

So why are we still seeing it. Can you imagine the families of these people loosing there lives for nothing.

[@Soffity]

When you look at the size of the fuel tanks and think they only are used for a couple of minutes it makes you realise just how much fuel is required to launch this space ship.

[@ryanvandoren1519]

Just think about how big the Saturn V was for such a small payload. Fuel is what makes me so skeptical about Mars. Imagine how HUGE the rocket would have to be to get a habitat not only to space, but to Mars safely.

[@ATSaale]

@@ryanvandoren1519 which is why the vehicle would be launched in pieces, assembled in space, refueled in space, and then travel. The engines won't fire the whole time either, they'll fire one or two main burns that will accelerate the vehicle to Mars. During the majority of the travel the vehicle will be essentially coasting. Once you reach Mars the vehicle will have to perform an orbital burn or else it could just fly by without getting into Mars orbit. The vehicle would then orbit Mars and then a smaller lander would be released from it allowed to land and then come back up and reattach much like the Apollo moon missions. Getting the vehicle there isn't really the hard part, keeping the crew alive the entire time and bringing enough supplies for them, That's where it gets tough.

[@ryanvandoren1519]

@ATSaale yeah I remember watching a video about the logistics of supplying people on Mars, and we basically need star wars technology to realistically do it...which I just can't see happening in the next 3000 years or so. But, hey, ya never know!

[@tehjamerz]

​@@ryanvandoren1519 nuclear energy

[@tehjamerz]

​@@ATSaale that video of the lunar lander launching off the moon is hilarious. The sparks and the perfect pan up. Sad we left the cameraman up there

[@andrewhillis9544]

EVEN NOW AFTER NEARLY FORTY YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THIS ACCIDENT I STILL FIND IT UNBELIEVABLE THAT A BUNCH OF ENGINEERS AND MANAGERS GOT TOGETHER IN A ROOM AND DECIDED TO LAUNCH THAT DAY ON 28TH JANUARY 1986 DESPITE ALL THE ENGINEERING DATA SAYING IT WAS UNWISE TO DO SO IN THOSE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WOULD LEAD TO LOSS OF CREW AND VEHICLE!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@johnnylongfeather3086]

YOU ARE SO RIGHT

[@donotfuckaround]

It all comes down to money bro. They had a deadline and said fuck it, no one will know

[@andrewhillis9544]

@@johnnylongfeather3086 I AM NOT ALWAYS RIGHT BUT WITH THIS ONE I WAS ! ! !

[@angelheart7643]

And they all got away with murder...

[@Matthew-ut6ed]

Because Ronald Reagan was due to give his "State of the Union" speech that evening and the White House had arranged to have a live link up to the shuttle so he could talk to Christa McAuliffe from Congress. The NASA managers and Morton Thiokol engineers felt they couldn't disappoint their paymasters so they said "go ahead..." even though they knew the risks.

[@Radio478]

This will be with me till I'm gone.

[@stevemason5173]

I was working in construction in Titusville Florida at this time. I had seen the previous launch in the early evening which had been also delayed several times also. I finished my work and again waited to to see this launch, but was also delayed several times. I decided to head home for Christmas with my family on December 23rd. I was totally shocked to see this launce on TV explode in the air. I had a dear friend who worked for the company that supplied the "O" rings that failed. She was fired because she would not sign off and give a passing mark on the testing of the "O" rings. Someone had forged some sloppy initials where her name should have been signed on the paper work, and passed on. So damn much corruption goes on behind the scenes that we don't know about all due to the rush and the all mighty dollar. This greedy deed cost the lives of those awesome astronauts.

[@cobar5342]

Wow! That is terrible to hear. Thank you for being brave and posting this news

[@rrrrr4550]

Pederi

[@katiejon17]

I’m a nurse and while-heartedly wish the American public would apply as much reasoning and ethics to what happened over the past three years. Specifically with the “vaccine”. How anyone still trusts anything led by the government is something that I cannot comprehend.

[@briannaodonnell2572]

r/thathappened

[@chris-thumper7205]

I still remember tricking my parents from staying away from school that day. I was "sick" in the 80's and nobody questioned why a 15 year old in a small town was "sick"... you just stayed home in those days, just to be able to see the launch. I was watching the Price is Right, then changed the chanel to watch the launch. It was a long.... long wait to see it. I even recoreded it on VCR live on (I still have the VCR tape) on CNN, one of the only 2 or 3 channels we got in our rural town. Then bam! I was distaught. Called my mom and dad both at work and they both came home right away. My brother was released form school as he watched it on the19 inch tv on the cart... live as well. To this day I stil believe in the space program and Space X taking hold of the lead. Every launch and landing I'm still on the edge of my seat. We need to keep exploring space and then deep space. I'm just (I was and still am) a kid that believes in space exploration. We can do better than the ISS though and start building a better space station... it's 2022. And still we're floating around in "pods"? WOW that was a long one, but I think we should've been so much farther than this by now.

[@LetsGo__111]

I’ve watched and studied this disaster for sometime now. Many videos and a lot of reading. This is the best I’ve watched so far

[@billhinton9787]

A very well put together analysis.

[@mikedelgado5144]

Excellent research. Finally we get a detailed explanation of the events. Thank you very much for presenting this research. It is greatly appreciated.

[@djbeezy]

They didn't make this video.

[@redblade8160]

Mike Delgado "A detailed explanation" was already given out just after the time of this disaster; you need to keep up!

[@tehjamerz]

​@DJ Beezy it's easier to not reply to NPCs

[@kaintgetritedonetried]

Lol What's up old world

[@miaflyer2376]

About 3 minutes into the video we see frosted pipes and icicles and learn that earlier morning temperatures were into the low 20°s (Fahrenheit) and that at launch time it was 36°F, just 4°F above freezing. But that was ambient temperature and the internal metal surfaces were likely to have still been in the freezing zone. I was shocked seeing those frozen photos hours before launch, thinking what's the hurry to get airborne.

[@brianping3105]

Clearly a case of "get-there-itis"

[@ginog5037]

What were they thinking launching 15° colder than any other flight. Commonsense would dictate ice is not a good sign. ** A PIECE OF FOAM BROUGHT DOWN COLUMBIA, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT A PIECE OF ICE CAN DO...

[@wilfstor3078]

Spaceflight revolves around specific launch windows based on the destinations position in orbit relative to the launch site, they probably were pushing the limits on the launch window, and pretty much forced the launch as another delay would mean cancellation of the launch in its entirety as they'd miss the launch window

[@johnodo764]

We new before hand it was too cold to launch. We new before hand that Columbia's wing was damaged in lift off. We knew before hand inward an opening hatch and 100% oxygen atmosphere were a bad idea.

[@josephastier7421]

The cause of the accident was determined to be "engineers not getting listened to".

[@taunteratwill1787]

This was no ACCIDENT! The engineers knew that the rubber sealing rings had become too brittle due to the cold and wondered whether they should start or delay and/or replace the rings. The decision was made to go ahead anyway. This was murder due to negligence and they all got away with it! 😎

[@wendyrivera476]

💯 agree!

[@brianping3105]

negligence is the operative word

[@FoundationsSoundLab]

First time realizing humans suck?

[@davidca96]

It was an accident, but an accident caused by negligence by those in charge. They were warned, chose to take a chance, and that chance failed. No one wanted it to blow up, it was an accident, but could have been avoided.

[@taunteratwill1787]

@@davidca96 Think very carefully about what you wrote here and then seek help. 😂

[@naughtydevil3285]

The Moral of the Story.....ALWAYS listen to the Engineers.

[@shawndouglass2939]

No doubt about it, trust the Engineers😉

[@thegrassyknoll7792]

Imo the problem was known, so therefore it could never qualify as an accident, it was just plain stupid, people just lost respect for the danger, and was thinking of it like a regular plane, doing a regular trip, that has to keep a scedule, Well it might be some day, who knows, that day is still to come, and that day we were taught a serious lesson to NEVER let our guards down, Even the smallest of error will be punished to the Max but all this is pure Logic i just had to let my frustrations out sorry Rip

[@executivesteps]

The engineers who designed a seal that shouldn’t be used below 50 Fahrenheit. Was that a design criterion?

[@executivesteps]

@Stephen Beck-von-Peccoz So you WOULD launch at 40 degrees even if the engineers said not to launch below 50 - because somehow you knew it wouldn’t fail at 40??? So intuition overrules the engineers. Seems exactly what happened that day.

[@tucko11]

💯

[@FaCePlaNt_4_YAHUSHA]

I lived in Tampa area and the fact you could see the fire ball of them lifting off that far away is astonishing and powerful.

[@leftR-tardation]

Watched such vids many times and each time I get chills.

[@johndenoyelles9377]

So sad. My youngest was almost 2yo. It’s amazing that we have had so few tragedies. Consider all the losses by other explorers and scientists.

[@SLow-fb3qm]

Astounding, comprehensive analysis as a concise narrative. Exemplary summary in video format.

[@djbeezy]

He didn't make this video. He just uploaded a NASA video.

[@libradacastro5248]

Instead of putting billions in to space program, give me the money ok

[@djbeezy]

@@libradacastro5248 Nah man. I called dibs. You know how dibs works.

[@eamonnsweeney6302]

@@libradacastro5248 give me half of the money

[@thinktwice3211]

That seal broken allowing pressure and smoke to release, I am surprised it did not explode on the Launch Pad.

[@nacinthewoods8464]

So were the engineers.

[@nicholasspinicelli2911]

I just joined the procurement team supporting the SRB’s. I cried at the KSC Visotors Complex where they have a Challenger memorial. If I don’t do my job right, people could die in the world stage. Talk about a humbling experience.

[@herculesballz1905]

I was 7 when this first happened and I will never forget. I was watching this in school and all were shocked when it burst into a ball of flame. RIP to the Astronauts and families who lost loved ones during this tragic accident.

[@Gabriel_Cook]

Same.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

This video states literally there was no explosion.

[@mikeway2223]

I was the same age and watched this launch in class as well. It was shocking.

[@ryancool-pq5vu]

I remember buying the VHS set in walmart. Back in 1997.

[@Logan_67]

That's the most incredible analysis of this event I have ever seen and at the end of the video it states another that is better.

[@The_Unobtainium]

Well, read the conclusions of the ONLy scientist in the investigation board (all others were politics), mr. Richard Feynmann. He was brutally honest about the accident and the causes...

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@The_Unobtainium Excuse you ... Sally Ride and Neil Armstrong were on that committee.

[@yorinov2001]

the engineer was Roger Mark Boisjoly. more important is the names of those at NASA that pressured them to approve the boosters for launch

[@ashfaq1999]

Great documentary of this tragic event back in january 1986.

[@Liquid_Mike]

It still breaks my heart that I will never see a space shuttle flight ever.. I moved to FL and I get to see SpaceX launches all the time (and it's awesome) but damn, shuttles were just too cool

[@walkerpendleton760]

I didn’t get to see one either

[@Scratchingforcash]

What an amazing video. Thank you for clearing this up for me. I always wondered why this happened and I can clearly see from this video. I always thought there was a panel issue by the fuel tanks.

[@djbeezy]

He didn't make this video. He just uploaded a NASA video.

[@Scratchingforcash]

@@djbeezy yeah, I get that but I back burnered my thought on this and this video kinda cleared things up for me which I appreciate. No biggie. I know he didn’t personally tape this but in all actuality he did post it which I’m thankful for.

[@emily._.1398]

@@Scratchingforcash you can just look on Netflix they made a whole show explaining exactly what happened it's called Challenger the final flight

[@Scratchingforcash]

@@emily._.1398 I’ll definitely check that out. Thanks for the info!!

[@portobelloedinburgh8891]

The temp was to low for the seal to handle. They were strongly advised by several engineers not to launch but the engineers were ignored & told to shut up.

[@sssarzzz]

The ones who made the decision against the safety of the crew to launch this vehicle....ignoring engineers that designed the solid rocket booster that the seals would not hold in such a low temperature, should have all been arrested, tried, convicted and thrown in prison for manslaughter. Not to mention the fact that these criminals tried to cover all this up after the fact and attempted to punish the ones who brought the truth to light.

[@ocean88eagle9]

I agree. They should have known better. It could have waited until conditions improved.

[@zakobrien8764]

You are absolutely right. The reason they weren't is because there is no accountability in government.

[@Gramatic69]

NASA is a huge waste of tax dollars and should be shut down. SpaceX should receive the funding because. SpaceX put US astronauts back in space before nasa could. NASA wasted $2,000,000,000 on the next generation space plane that never made it past the RND phase.

[@sssarzzz]

@@Gramatic69 u wanna get rid of NASA cause they used space x to have multiple ways to get humans into space for NASA missions that involves.humqms? I have no idea why anyone would want NASA gone. .maybe to make America look pathetic?

[@Gramatic69]

@@sssarzzz dude I want nasa gone because they are a waste of tax dollars. NASA has received billions in funding for projects that never make it past the RND phase. In 2003 McDonnell Douglas approached nasa with a reusable rocket proposal for $50,000,000. NASA said no and spent $2,000,000,000 on a space plane that was never even built. NASA makes America look pathetic.

[@markjohnson7508]

So so sad. My father in law worked 4 other sts missions post Challenger accident as a systems engineer and the new safety procedures in place were as stringent as ever.

[@garyhost354]

Sure he did buddy

[@shadownet4597]

@@garyhost354 don't be such a Gary, Gary.

[@MrSapperb3]

@@garyhost354 I mean, it’s a workplace, it has employees. What’s so hard to believe? NASA employees have relatives and they live in our world so there’s every chance you bump into one 🤷‍♂️

[@OSTARAEB4]

I can’t imagine the sounds and breakup these poor souls endured for whatever milliseconds they had. Doomed from launch due to greed and I certainly don’t mean to be callous. I have difficulty fathoming the safety of these astronauts were sidelined to produce results.

[@stephenfortin9485]

they lived the whole way down to the water... even some used to oxygen tanks on the backs of the seats.

[@HailAnts]

Yup. Personal parachutes could have saved them. Maybe. They were not burned, they were not injured by explosive fragments (there was no explosion), the orbiter was torn apart by aerodynamic forces alone. They were alive all the way down until they hit the surface of the ocean and died from blunt force trauma..

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@stephenfortin9485 They did not have oxygen tanks. They had emergency air pump packs. They were unconscious in seconds both from anoxia and the tumbling of the ruined crew cabin. There's no proof anyone was alive at impact either.

[@melodiefrances3898]

For those of us alive at this time this was shocking and heartbreaking. We had gotten pulled into the story of Christa McCalluf. She was SOOOOOO excited and could have been any of us. I heard about it while on call waiting. It was terrible.

[@kevinkiso4579]

No. It's impossible for any of us to have been her. I think you're suggesting that she was chosen to participate in this flight by complete luck (or horrible luck, depending upon how you look at it). I'm not trying to sound like a smart ass - but none of us could have been here. Because only she was her.

[@624radicalham]

@@kevinkiso4579 You are indeed being a smart ass and pedantic to boot. I assume you are on the autistic spectrum and cannot understand simplified language, figures of speech and other such parts of normal human conversation. You'll be ok. You just need to concentrate more when responding to a comment like this one that correctly says that it "could have been any one of us.' It certainly could have been any one of us. You were wrong this time but as you learn to understand nuance in language you'll improve.

[@leokimvideo]

Every time I'm doing something with an O ring I think of this disaster

[@Pouleto74]

Challenger mission is the nasa equivalent of a holey condom

[@tehjamerz]

Lmao

[@N1njaSnake]

Fascinating and very detailed!

[@djbeezy]

He didn't make this video. This was a NASA video produced in the late 80's.

[@Dan-nt2yb]

NASA will forever have blood on its hands for this preventable and unnecessary catastrophe.

[@Quintos.]

It's terrible, rip to the brave souls who lost their lives that day

[@6daysago167]

I was in 3rd grade and my teacher had this on live for us to watch because she was so proud that another teacher was onboard and when it exploded she started crying. I will always remember that.

[@heydj6857]

very hard to see any details at 480p, great doc though apart from this. is there a HD version somewhere else on the web ?

[@incog30]

This proves that when one good man screams from the mountain top, no one listens.

[@briannotafan3368]

that poor teachers class watched from mission control broke my heart R I P to all who lost there lives to science

[@grahamjordan1040]

Oh no another broken heart

[@bobbigeehan7221]

@@grahamjordan1040 so unnecessary of a comment 🙄. Who hurt you?

[@heidithompson6895]

Be kind you guys. It’s true that classrooms were watching

[@heidithompson6895]

Tell me your an asshole without telling me you’re an asshole. Lol

[@kathyyoung1774]

Her parents, husband, and children were watching.

[@ddrgkd]

I was at the college lunch room watching this on the tv, I couldn’t believe it

[@skeltonjuanita6515]

The voice mentioned that at the start there was no indication of any disturbance in the telemetry. I thought he stated that due to dynamics there was a lot of structural things happening that were never indicated while they were reducing thrust and then increasing it again to 104 %. Would it be possible for so much dynamic stress factors acting on the solid rocket booster at the strut that telemetry is not invented yet that can put out significant warnings when dynamic stress exceeds the materials known capacities?

[@wolflover968alphamale8]

I and my classmates were watching this on launch day on the news as it happened. It was horrible :(

[@ManahManah77]

The biggest problem was the low temperatures. It just goes to show you that when you ignore the experts in favor of politics disaster is inevitable. Kind of like what's going on today.

[@ryancool-pq5vu]

The crew was completely in the dark about this. They let them die for no reason.

[@FP194]

And after this happened they added heaters to the joints on the SRBs to keep the o rings warm

[@MrBen527]

There will be more space disasters in the future.

[@albertsampson6568]

@@ryancool-pq5vu actually, the commander and pilot both expressed concern over the temperature and launch conditions. Every red flag was present. Engineers, crew, and many builders said they thought they should wait. Flight commander on the ground was often heard that in the day prior that he will have the shuttle in the air no matter what. Even told politicians that the teacher will be in the air so the media can record students reactions. I guess they got the reaction all right.

[@philip167]

yes ignoring the experts cost 7 brave astronauts there lives

[@crazy12lol]

So sad, thanks for the detailed analysis. The crew was alive until they hit the water. RiP

[@BrandiHilton-pq2km]

I remember this so well like it happened just yesterday. We were so excited that Christa was going to teach in space. A couple of my teachers were included in Washington State in 1986. So sad.

[@jasonwalker6825]

28:24 I love how they threw the SRB engineers under the bus by blaming the design of the seal/joint despite the engineers warning them that this could happen due to the low launch temperature. NASA ultimately decided to launch despite knowledge of the issue. NASA is to blame, and nobody else.

[@ryancool-pq5vu]

The managers overruled the engineers. Are in their own personal hell today. They looked awful like they're being tormented. In the recent documentary. They are living still but in misery.

[@nhlpa17]

@@ryancool-pq5vu they should be living in prison.

[@Mike44460]

RIP Roger Mark Boisjoly, the enginee no one listened to.

[@captmcneil]

Thanks, I thought the same thing. Yes, the Shuttle design was deeply flawed. But by all means, the only necessary consequence of this should have been excessive cost. You can't blame the design for a failure if you use it well outside of anything the people who built it think is safe, just because you decide that you don't want to pay the cost for your stupid design-by-committee anymore.

[@rancosteel]

Groupthink mentality also known as plausible deniability.

[@richwall6304]

Just as with Apollo 1, pressure to keep to mission schedule overrode safety concerns. Tragic and avoidable.

[@LardGreystoke]

Apollo 1 was just a careless oversight.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@LardGreystoke For five years?

[@wang1001023]

很棒的一部影片，紀錄了整個過程

[@ThePwig]

I wish we could get new 4K/8K scans of the NASA film footage in the archives. It would be amazing to get constantly new stuff every week on their KZbin channel.

[@devinjanosov]

They knew for years the O rings were incapable of withstanding low temperatures and maintaining the necessary flexibility. The Mission Control people basically killed those astronauts by insisting the launch go forward on the 28th because they had postponed so many times; and were trying to squeeze in a certain number of launches each year to keep their budget. Well blowing up a space shuttle and killing 7 astronauts (including a school teacher) certainly didn’t help with that.

[@friotaiocht101]

Extremely sad.... never forget the day this happened... RIP all those brave souls...

[@daveyjones5702]

and then RIP again to some of the same people as they died AGAIN on columbia.

[@noodles169]

Did this shuttle have a video recorder in the cockpit? I've seen video footage of takeoff from inside the cockpit on other shuttle launches.

[@dmanc85]

Not in 1986

[@ocean88eagle9]

The minute u saw the video on TV it was quite obvious what triggered the event. I knew it immediately as I had worked out there at KSC during the early Shuttle years .

[@viejaspeliculasfilipinas3621]

If you didn't know: They were alive in the moment of explosion, but they could lived when they had their parachutes on their back of their suits, their death was the cause of impact against water/ocean.

[@woopimagpie]

You might want to proof read that comment.

[@brandihilton8485]

They didn't survive the explosion!!!

[@shailashelu8075]

More critical more problems, so I think that apollo 11 was more safe from challenger spaceship!

[@waynedrefko8458]

very informative information,now I can sleep properly with most of the questions answered

[@kmarasin]

If you read "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" by Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize Winner and member of the Rogers Commission, one of the main issues associated with regular deadly accidents is the refusal of the civilian management (roles usually held by former politicians) to accept that human space flight is much more dangerous than is popularly believed. When faced with the idea of a 1% failure rate (a figure very consistent with the history of human space flight) management usually refuses to accept that all the time and money and advancements and checking and rechecking and failsafes and contingency planning CANNOT bring this figure down. They insist that things must be safer now, just because. A lot of this has to do with entirely new personnel combined with entirely new spacecraft designs. Without a record of usage, there's no way to predict all the circumstances a craft can behave. Without people who worked on older spacecraft, the little behaviors and quirks that may have coincidently saved lives before no longer exist. 1967. 1986. 2003. The years of the biggest disasters in NASA history. They average 18 years apart. That makes us overdue for the next one. So when you hear about the latest delay in the Space Launch System, don't think, "when did NASA get so incompetent?" Instead, be glad that maybe, just maybe, they'll be careful enough this time.

[@williamfulgham2010]

I remember watching the launch live when I was in South Texas running my own radio station that I had built. I remember seeing the explosion and I was hoping that they had just jettisoned something. but then I quickly realized what had happened. We later found out that at least 2 engineers from the contractor Martin Thiokol had called NASA the night before and tried to stop the launch. We also later found out that those 2 engineers were fired on the spot because they blew the whistle in trying to stop it. So many times engineers are just jacked around and screwed because the bottom line is, engineers have to be right whether they are popular with the rest of the crowd or not.

[@FuckYouWhosNext]

Engineers get put into compromising positions alot of time. South Texas, you built a radio station???

[@williamfulgham2010]

@@FuckYouWhosNext I have built 18 full powered stations. Most have been FM but 5 AM, also a few low powered FMs. I presently own 2 full powered, one in Freer, Texas and 1 in Jackson, Mississippi.

[@BudSchnelker]

So who would have made the call to detonate the SRBs? It appears that happened approximately 35 seconds after breakup, even before the "obviously a major malfunction" call was made. I ask because it seems like many people were still unsure what they had just witnessed. Whoever pushed the button on the SRBs must have been completely sure that doing so wouldn't have jeopardized the crew -- in other words, that person knew that all was lost.

[@jrockett73]

The SRB's or any rocket is detonated by range safety which is run by the Air Force which owns the Eastern Test Range.

[@confidential2277]

I watched the break up life on TV when I picked up my glasses in Miami. I’ll never forget it.

[@scottpowers5191]

Remember , was in sub school,everyone eating breakfast waiting to go to class, just watching the normal shuttle flight. Then it happened 😢 Everyone was stunned. Life got real as we were small volunteers going into the submarine service knowing how dangerous it was. RIP Challenger.

[@debt.2210]

Very informative, interesting.

[@djbeezy]

He didn't make this video. He just uploaded a NASA video.

[@josephdupont]

Dear Editor, In 2003 STS-107 and it's crew were lost on re-entry due to damaged tiles. This was not the first time insulation falling off the fuel tank had damaged our shuttle. Whether a rushed rescue mission could have saved the doomed Columbia crew will never be known. But I have a feeling that Linda Ham did not want the public to know how bad the tile damage was . Why? Because life is cheap and the shuttles had squeaked through similar insulations before. Ask Hoot Gibson about his Atlantis flight.

[@robertgift]

What did Hoot Gibson say?

[@JEANSDEMARCO]

There are no tiles on the leading edge!! The carbon fiber edge was smashed open, and the rest is a sad history!

[@jdwilmoth]

Man I remember watching this on TV when it happened it was so heartbreaking

[@rossspyke2362]

This is an incredible video.

[@jamesabrothers8117]

Extremely sad day in American history. God bless their souls, rest in peace.

[@disneyslittleeinsteinsfan8602]

Not only cold weather were to blame but human and material failures created the disaster. Morton Thiokol rocket engineer Roger Boisjoly and his team knew that January 28th,1986 wasn't a good day to fly and tried to warn Nasa Managers and the Nasa Managers tried to warn not only the press along with the firing room but mission control as well. Because during the Teacher in Space contest that took two years everyone didn't know about the O-Ring problem until on the 28th of January on that everyone felt a little bit of guilt because everyone had participated in this event that went so wrong. I bet the Challenger accident is a good lesson to learn for not only Nasa but public as well about being in a rush to put a Teacher in space. If they are planning on putting a teacher in space I believe that there is something could happen. They should postpone the Challenger flight until 1988, 1989 or 1990 to fix the O-Ring problem along with design changes to the Shuttle in case something happens onboard during liftoff like an explosion for example and the astronauts along with High School teacher Christa McAuliffe will still be alive today. Also here is something you didn't know after the Challenger accident. The 1986 movie Space Camp was released 6 months later around the same year as the Challenger accident.

[@jordanjoestar-turniptruck]

They didn't even need to wait that long, they just needed to wait for a day warm enough to launch. It was pretty stupid for the O Rings to only be operable above 50 degrees, but they should have respected that constraint until that was fixed.

[@Cal90208]

They could’ve waited a few days to a week. Nothin structural was at fault, it was the choice to launch that day

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

Always wanted to see this program in higher quality. Thanks for publishing.

[@cs512tr]

fantastic analysis

[@douglasspende6685]

Wow great job at explaining the cause of the explosion of the orbiter. I heard the crew were still alive at time of the explosion. The drop and hitting the water killed the crew!

[@shawndouglass2939]

That is what I've learned also.

[@viejaspeliculasfilipinas3621]

The engineers could've just added backpack parachutes incase their impact against water, but NASA never listened

[@Capri_00]

Technically it was not an explosion.

[@rekunta]

It’s always impressed me how investigations are able to forensically dissect chaos in the determination of cause. Why couldn’t they have implemented some form of rescue system like the Saturn V had? Like instead of a small rocket that would lift away the crew capsule, they reinforce the crew cabin and make it so the orbiter would break up around it, and have a bunch of parachutes that would deploy? Would that have been impossible to engineer?

[@OffTheBeatenPath_]

$$$$$

[@natetete1379]

Because the Saturn V is too expensive. Because being safe is expensive. Also the Saturn V is massive and can fit more safety features.

[@OzzyInSpace]

I need this guy to narrate everything... I could listen to that voice explain things for hours.

[@detectivedan6411]

In the picture at 18:35, it looks like the crew cabin is facing down toward the ocean. Knowing now that they were all most likely still conscious, I can't even imagine the horror and shock the crew must've felt as they fell for 2 minutes to their death. RIP.

[@gisellesinclair6811]

They might have been knocked out, it was a violent breakup

[@gisellesinclair6811]

Nope, I just read the cabin was intact till it hit the water. At least it was instant.

[@chrisbibber6199]

@@gisellesinclair6811 You are correct. The crew cabin did maintain structural integrity until water impact. NASA tried to say the crew was either dead or unconscious from the G forces of the breakup, but 4 of the 7 PEP's(personal egress pack, or emergency oxygen supply packs) were activated. During launch they are in default mode and HAVE to be manually turned on. That means at least 4 of the 7 crew were alive for the 2 minute ride down.

[@8-bitsteve500]

@@chrisbibber6199 Yes, and it must have felt like hours to them. Utterly horrifying.

[@torimig2151]

@@gisellesinclair6811 it happens so fast they didn't know what happend

[@gordonmckay4780]

I read a book once that theorized about the joint failure. It said that when the seal failed on the launch pad, a piece of aluminum slag may have gotten jammed in the opening. This temporarily sealed it. The wind shear that blew the ship around caused the slag to dislodge reopening the seal. What is most disturbing is that a couple of the emergency oxygen masks had been turned on by the crew after the explosion. They may have been awake for the entire 2 minute fall into the water

[@07Flash11MRC]

You're mostly right: It was a piece of rubber (two pieces actually), that was supposed to seal off the space between the joints. It melted through and almost escaped but since the temperatures on the ouside of the SRB were way below the temperature surrounding the space shuttle, it froze and turned into a ceramic seal. They were indeed alive until they hit the ocean. The crew cabin is pressurized like the inside of an airplane and the crew cabin separated intact from the rest of the vehicle.

[@johncoaleii1423]

They were alive. The cockpit escaped intact and was pressurized. The astronauts also had back up compressed air. I believe 4 we're activated and ceased use after the 60-65k free fall. It took over a couple minutes the impact speed was a couple hundred MPH. I've heard through the static a breakthrough transmission occured saying "hold my hand or take my hand". It is debatable who was alive and who was unconscious but they were alive....... No doubt.

[@viejaspeliculasfilipinas3621]

@@07Flash11MRC wait, so that was there real cause of explosion? God, that's disturbing and sad.

[@07Flash11MRC]

@@viejaspeliculasfilipinas3621 Later analysis show, that the ceramic seal was broken by strong wind currents in the upper atmosphere. If it wasn't for the wind, they probably would have made it into orbit.

[@jcs7217]

@@07Flash11MRC Exactly - and right at Max-Q - It was said that the jet stream was pushing it off-course. The nozzles then compensated, which compounded that stress to the stack.

[@billdubya9626]

This was released for sale as part of a four VHS tape collection. This was the 4th tape in the series.

[@topgrain]

Interesting how commercial jets have locator devices on board that constantly ping, but, seemingly, the cabin of this thing couldn't be found for over a month.

[@rogermisner3368]

The SRB's were destroyed at 110 seconds and total breakup occurred at 73 seconds. This means the SRB's traveled under their own power for 37 seconds. That's a long time !

[@craigusselman546]

It had to be detonated by the range safety officer who must have been in shock.

[@dongtingwong]

Postflight Analysis: NASA killed seven astronauts

[@eccotheorca7745]

the angle at 6:21 gives you a small peek at the orbiter break up, when you can see the back of the shuttle curve and break up

[@briannotafan3368]

i remember watching this live i went from amazement &joy too angwish & despair in a split second

[@droneawaywithme]

Freakiest part of this was the crew survived the explosion but not the impact of the cabin on the ocean.

[@pateva2003]

Indeed. With Columbia, it was more apparent that the crew knew something was wrong with the ship for it was 40 seconds between loss of control and decompression from the breakup. They tried valiantly to recover but to no use.

[@Capri_00]

Yeah if the cabin had some kind of a parachute or something that could have slowed their descent to the ocean, they could have survived. They would have minor injuries and be traumatized but alive. 😔

[@torimig2151]

No wrong they died instantly

[@hookednrolling2009]

@@torimig2151 they found water in their lungs therefore they drown

[@torimig2151]

@@hookednrolling2009 Omg I don't know that but how did it happen

[@Jhihmoac]

Simple! Thiokol begged and pleaded with NASA to scrap the mission in January and wait a few months for a warmer time, such as in May or June...In the interim, Thiokol suggested that everyone could attack the problem on the questionable o-rings and possibly re-design and test them, disassemble the SRBs, put the improved ones on, and go from there... NASA chose not to listen, complaining about a so-called "timetable" they never kept with anyway!

[@hines57a52]

We were in the library at Southside elementary in broken arrow Oklahoma watching the shuttle take off as there was a teacher on board. I remember watching the launch and then the explosion. Teachers were in shock and it took them a minute to realize they had to turn the TV off. I remember asking mrs. Brown our librarian did everybody just die. A few kids were crying. But it's a memory I don't believe I'll ever forget.

[@Piscatorialveteran]

That’s a sweet model rocket did you get that at hobbies r us?

[@markbearpellerin6346]

It's disturbing and pisses me off they took such risk at launch when there's life on board! Why there's no fire plume observation sensing and eject systems is dumbfounding! It seems a do or die design from the start. I've always highly respected NASA. This shows me something I never knew... Cut corners, probably to stay within budget.

[@erichaynes7502]

you're right, it was a horrible design we won't see another side mount spaceship again, not in our lifetimes.