Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Major Malfunction | Retro Report | The New York Times

On Jan. 28, 1986, seven astronauts "slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God." America's space program was never the same.
Produced by: Retro Report
Read the story here: nyti.ms/1u8bQWN
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Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Major Malfunction | Retro Report | The New York Times
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[@danm4320]

Managers telling engineers how to do their jobs. Could not get worse than that.

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

There is always an engineer saying it won't work. If we left it up to the engineers to give the green light, nothing would get done.

[@Premjeras]

you sure buddy?

[@sushitime8622]

Its almost as bad as the USSR, with a dash of the later Roman Empire. And it is only getting worse.

[@goagardner]

Listen to this genius (David S.) and you will have have more fatal launches

[@bry117]

this is pretty typical

[@plasterdbastard]

As an engineer that often feels pressure from managers... I frequently reach back to Challenger and Columbia to remember my motivations for pushing back. God bless those men and women.

[@insaneapples1559]

The STS program was a death trap. It's a miracle more astronauts weren't killed.

[@vccancerkill5047]

Okay whatever

[@1224chrisng]

insaneapples sadly, I don't think SLS will be any different

[@Crlarl]

Random Guy I think it will be: I don't think it will launch more than twice.

[@evab.6240]

I wish managers would be engineers, not economists and other all-sorts. It would be way easier to work with them and maybe they would actually for once understand how things function haha.

[@dejihuam]

There’s a reason “it’s not rocket science” is a phrase. When you’re dealing with such delicate technology, everything matters. Every little detail is important. If one thing goes wrong: the entire system fails.

[@x8evelyn8x]

Yea.

[@DavidSmith-ki2we]

That's exactly right. I remember watching this as a teen n it was unbelievable.

[@angi5096]

No more

[@angi5096]

Stern sucks

[@aa697]

You are absolutely right.

[@fifiladu2659]

I was one of those teachers that was showing this exciting mission to my classroom of elementary students. I felt so conscious-smitten that I allowed them to witness this emotionally overwhelming and heartbreaking tragedy, live and unfiltered. What a horrific day.

[@robbhahn8897]

Kids are tough, they can deal with it... Didn't they?

[@fifiladu2659]

@@robbhahn8897 It was a tough day. It hurt to see so many of them in tears.

[@susannpatton2893]

We watched it live and in real time

[@raygreen257]

@@susannpatton2893 sure did think a lot of schools show it

[@susannpatton2893]

@@raygreen257 I think so as well, there was a teacher going, a civilan - regular person, she was the 1st one ever so yes, I believe many schools had students viewing. We didn't get any counseling or safe place to go to. We got President Regan and a speech televised for the Nation

[@lovespeppers]

Watching the astronauts happy and excited is painful because I'm watching them knowing exactly what happens. It's just so tragic. They had no clue.

[@LS-Moto]

Molly Baker Its like you wanna go back in time to tell them not to board. May they rest in peace

[@darrinf.9701]

I think it was best they never knew what happened. They were happy for the last few minutes of life.

[@notthefather3919]

Darrin F. Not really. They likely spent their last minutes aware of what was happening.

[@NDNmixedblood]

Molly Baker What horrified me was they have a documentary of the families of the victims on ground and their reactions were unimaginable as they watched in horror when it exploded. So sad..

[@Mrbfgray]

Molly Baker Hard to believe 'they had no clue', rockets were always extremely risky biz and they should have been well aware of that.

[@lifesshorttt]

This is what happens when the people who aren't risking their lives make the decisions. I bet a few of those managers would have taken a better look if they had to climb aboard.

[@umpygoodness2369]

"NEVER TRUST A COOK WHO WON'T EAT THEIR OWN FOOD". It's THAT simple. EX: our commander in chief should ALWAYS lead the troops into battle. (That's why we have a spare: Vice President!)

[@mitchsal2988]

hiccup1001 no one is commenting with the intent of insensitivity. We all understand the severity/tragedy-- innocent people died. The point is to call out the dangers of (managerial driven) agendas. Sure, accidents happen, but when said accidents are preventable, and even cautioned against by engineers who have a far better understanding of the issue at hand, yet overturned by rather foolish decision making, clearly someone is at fault. In this case, it's those who overlooked the warning and approved the launch, anyways. Harsh, but when lives have been lost, it's the reality.

[@ramborigs]

@@hiccup1001 Did we watch the same video?

[@RedDragon-og8wn]

@@hiccup1001 it was 100% management's fault they were told it would fail by engineers. But they chose to launch anyways.

[@brice7411]

@@hiccup1001 do you have any braincells that allow you to operate the gray matter you are supposed to have on top of your shoulders?

[@noname-qo4wg]

The astronauts that willingly got on the next flight are truly some of the bravest humans ever.

[@David-cv1se]

AstroNots 👍

[@MrTee-hw7mp]

Christa’s poor parents. That footage of them staring up at the exploded craft is still heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what they must have been feeling as it slowly dawned upon them what just happened.

[@kennethestes4741]

Kinda like watching your kitten get run over

[@geedee1264]

Your child being run over

[@Nigelsmom2136]

Her husband and both their children were there as well. I can't even begin to imagine.

[@butlerbees6639]

@@kennethestes4741dude what?

[@jamesrobert4106]

The worst thing is people assuming they died instantly as the booster failed causing the assembly to explode. The astronauts in reality had 2m40s of free falling at 207mph before being instantly obliterated as it hit the water.

[@everythingfangirl4532]

Watching the beginning of this it's so unsettling, since you know what's going to happen. I was so tense up until the explosion, just waiting.

[@jennasample9148]

Everything Fangirl me too I felt my heart racing

[@shammydammy2610]

My stomach sinks everytime I hear "Go with throttle up."

[@MellyMae44]

I probably haven't seen this from the beginning since back then when I saw it live home from school with the flu. I just cried now like I did then. So sad.

[@brittinijoyo2342]

It makes my heart sink as well. It's so sad. 💔

[@RandomStuffMego]

My heart was about to explode

[@foofung9961]

The astronauts being so happy and excited is heartbreaking :/

[@Matches771]

Of course they were. They thought, they were going home.

[@maazkalim]

@Mat Beck Spirituality? Or are you specifically referring to the Columbia crew?

[@TimothyDMurry]

@@maazkalim Columbia crew

[@knightscroftsquire-muldoon]

There's a video of Barbara Morgan the backup teacher who lost to McAuliffe, watching Challanger ascending and cheering her on. In McAuliffe's honor Barbara passed many tests and convinced NASA to finally let her go up.

[@UNcommonSenseAUS]

Theyre all still alive stupid. Well all but one..

[@meehleibfamily3070]

That shot of their eyes after he said we made a grievous error is epic. You can see the pain, it’s still there.

[@KH4444444444N]

It will always be there.

[@gulen739]

Which part?

[@YukiChanSP7]

@@gulen739 it's @12:45

[@MansSuperPower]

So, no one has ever gone to jail for this? 🤦🏾‍♂️.

[@severetiredamage6754]

They are probably paying in other ways.

[@AccidentallyOnPurpose]

I don't think it's possible because it's not exactly one person's fault. Yes, there are major players, but it was a huge systemic problem.

[@randomness4588]

@@severetiredamage6754 *probably* LMFAOOOO that’s 🧢

[@marymicrogram9194]

So these weren't random "accidents" that couldn't be avoided; they were the result of "better sorry than safe" policies. Typical. It's easy to throw caution to the wind when it's not YOU up there in the shuttle.

[@kendalekyle7527]

Mary Microgram Soo true

[@umpygoodness2369]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN "ACCIDENT". JUST CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE. And no accountability. That's why NASA killed astronauts over and over and over and over. ZILLIONS of negligent acts.

[@umpygoodness2369]

YESTERDAY, I was reading about Challenger and was stunned to find Christa McAuliffe is buried in Concord NH... as I was getting ready to go to an afternoon music show in... Concord NH! "If the cemetery isn't so far, I'm going to drive over and smoke some pot on her grave and pay tribute to her, MURDERED BY CROOKED GOVT." INSANELY, her grave was directly across the street from where I was headed!!! Uncanny! It was spiritual (and next to it was a grave with a large statue of jesus on the cross... BEING MURDERED BY CROOKED GOVT). (!!!!) I wept a bunch of times. Just Christa and I hanging out. (Heck, the only reason she was ON that death trap was Crooked Govt: it was a PR stunt to trick the public to support spending money on space rather than education (!) or repaving roads!!) (Evil govt is killing us all, a thousand different ways. Last week, for instance, we found out the 20 people in that NY limo, all dead, DIED because the govt KNEW the intersection was a death trap and didn't solve the problem. SAME PATTERN EVERY TIME: govt or big biz CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE.)

[@veryhappyboi6944]

Reagan argued with NASA about Challenger. NASA didn’t want to do it, saying it was unsafe. But Reagan overruled it and this happened. Also there was a miscalculation in the engine. I did research and you didn’t. 😀

[@MrBruh-pf8nd]

@@veryhappyboi6944 What's your source? :D

[@TQM]

Never trust managers. Always listen to engineers.

[@bobsingh5521]

TQM 😂👍

[@marimatsumoto372]

It sounds very familiar…….Boeing.

[@BrazilianImperialist]

Communist sabotage

[@thomasdouglas2006]

Same Managers who worked at Ford and Produced the Torch Series, Pinto. 🥴🤔

[@5federline]

The engineers been pressured by the managers. While the managers been pinned down by the high table or other stakeholders. It seem obvious.

[@pussycatjackson]

My mother witnessed the Challenger explosion. She was living in Florida, 15, and in school, everyone was looking out the windows to see the shuttle take off. Nobody could really grasp what happened, it was an absolute shock to everyone. I can’t imagine being a teenager and witnessing something like that. RIP Challenger crew

[@Johna41223]

1:04 that guy's reaction is definitely how everyone felt watching this

[@KadeSauce]

True

[@allanbaker7247]

I Iove these mini docs. I've watched so many! Very well made

[@msmarisol14]

They're amazing. We need more of this on MSM.

[@maazkalim]

They're merely an half-an-hour show you otherwise watch on TV. Nothing different.

[@TheKonga88]

Why do you like dwarf doctors? 🐸🐸🐵😀😀😀

[@paulgernandt6623]

@@Anonymous-KB 0

[@justsomeamerican5283]

I like how you are talking about mini documentaries and being happy about them while watching a video that has several people being obliterated by an explosion that occurred in the rocket

[@SweetasSugar42]

In my history book instead of showing a photo of challenger exploding, it showed the faces of teenagers sitting in a high school who watched the launch. It shook me to the core, as I had never thought of it from my own point of a view, as a teenager sitting in class watching historic events happen live. Heartbreaking.

[@Faceghost881977]

It was middle school for me, just puzzled me.

[@zurirobinson2749]

My mom was one of those kids. She went to the Bronx High School for the Sciences in New York, so the student body was generally very excited about the launch because a significant number wanted to be astronauts. She told me that when the shuttle exploded, she sat there in stunned silence for about 20 minutes as several students around her started to cry. Nothing else got done that day, as even the teachers had no idea what to do, and a sizeable number of students just cut the rest of their classes that day. My mom had a younger friend from junior high (then 13 or 14) who'd wanted to be an astronaut since she was little- after that day she never mentioned it again. That woman is now 50 years old (my mom would be 53) and still refuses to talk about the disaster or her childhood dream.

[@tiffanybowe2416]

I was watching it in elementary school live on TV.

[@whywelovefilm7079]

The silence when the Crew in Mission Control first see the explosion. Look at there faces. Utter shock…

[@darcieljamison3811]

“The love of money is the root of all evil.” It’s not the money that is evil. It’s the love of it, the “importance of it”, and the constant desire to make it, that creates evil. In the case of NASA, it was the ravenous desire to get these payloads out to space as quickly as they could, That greed cost 14 human lives between Challenger and Columbia. “Management” didn’t want to delay to make things right because it ate away at their profits AND their egos. They destroyed not only 14 astronauts lives but hundreds of lives of their families and loved ones. “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

[@2Phaktz]

My parents had Kennedy and I had this...my entire 4th grade class was assembled to see this gross negligence being carried out which lead to the deaths some pretty talented people, including one of my heroes, Ronald McNair.

[@MatthewAGilbert]

I was in 6th grade; we weren't watching it live, but heard about it almost immediately. I was going to give a speech about Christa McAuliffe a day or two later. This still affects me very deeply.

[@CorbCorbin]

Same. I was in class, and the teacher froze up when it happened, like it couldn't be true. She just stood there, for quite awhile, before the feed was cut(by the school), and she snapped out of it and left the room. Many of the kids still didn't realize what happened, and were talking about it. I finally said, "Hey! The shuttle exploded, those people are dead." Kids were crying, and wanted to go home, looking back, it was very surreal.

[@beeeeans311]

And I have a bunch of mass shootings, climate change, and a political mess(I live in America)

[@SuAva]

That has been for all ages.

[@purpleflametarot39]

RetroGuy76 - I remember both, as well as 9/11. Sad times in our history.

[@idanoreilly]

They really should have learned from the Challenger, but made the same mistake not listening to warning signs with the Columbia

[@umpygoodness2369]

They'd made these same mistakes MANY TIMES before the Shuttle program. EX: Apollo 1. EVERY SINGLE TIME it was CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE and MANSLAUGHTER. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Because no one was jailed.

[@arianebolt1575]

GrandProtectorDark Mistakes do happen. But when NASA breaks their own protocols to get a shuttle up, that’s s choice, not a mistake.

[@rotor13]

@@GrandProtectorDark They literally bent or broke the rules. Period. There weren't "mistakes". People were literally trying to get more information as soon as possible before they started the decent home. Because there were people requesting the photos of the tiles to see the extent. People in power literally resigned because they were the ones who made the ultimate decision and there were even more remorseful people who KNEW something was wrong. I used to build missiles and bombs for the USAF and it is ENCOURAGED to say something is wrong and stop an operation, no matter how big or small, to make sure everything and everyone is safe and secure. I've had to stop an operation of building and retrofitting 54 missiles by yelling on the shop intercom "KNOCK IT OFF OR YOU WILL BLOW THE PLACE UP" when i saw several people were not wearing grounding straps when assembling the nose cone and tail fins. I was given an Article 15 for it until i got QA and Jag involved - squadron leadership got a nice reaming from the Base Commander and Inspector General because of it. My Article 15 was literally removed from my record, and my shop was essentially off-limits to any non-essential personnel except for QA when there is running operation in the bomb-dump. Even if we were simply moving empty trailers.

[@mariazapata5064]

I agree with your comment 1,000%😡 This is my pain about such a great loss that people don’t listen. I think 🤔 that all the failures is some kind of a sign to stop 🛑 ✋ going up there.

[@solomonaerospace5932]

Columbia was not due to SRBs at all. It was due to failure of heatshield tiles on the left wing. While gross incompetence was the core cause, Challenger disaster and Columbia Disaster are in no way related in technical terms.

[@SaritaLovesLiving]

I actually thought of this as I watched the Space X launch. I felt so much anxiety. I saw the Challenger disaster on live TV in third grade. That was a very traumatizing event. So I was feeling on edge for the astronauts in this launch. Thankfully it went well.

[@angel-nv7jk]

My teacher witness this in Highschool. She talked about how traumatizing it was and that screams echoed through the auditorium when it happened. The teachers and staff scrambled to turn it off. Everyone was sent home after that. She still teared up years later when she told us the story and what it was like to witness that first hand.

[@jcast39atmsn]

The kicker is that its generally assumed that the astronauts didn't die from the explosion but rather from impact. The crew cabin remained intact when it exploded leading for the astronauts to die when it impacted the ocean.

[@divineperigrinefalcon1891]

Jackson Games They were vaporized, get real!

[@cynthialyman2636]

Research the recovery operation and save the insults.

[@trecooledge1326]

jcast39 this is the main thing that disturbs me. NASA engineered the cockpit to hold it's integrity if there an explosion. I don't understand why NASA didn't have parachutes engineered to the structure of the cockpit that would deploy if there's structure separation. Why were there no parachutes?

[@docpossum2460]

Parachutes are heavy, and fuel is money.

[@arianebolt1575]

Whether the cabin actually lost pressure, or how quickly, remains disputed.

[@MatthewAGilbert]

I will be showing this tomorrow in my Organizational Behavior class tomorrow at the American University in the Emirates (in Dubai, UAE). I will then ask my students five questions about the culture of NASA and how poor decision making resulted in the death of the Challenger astronauts (and later the Columbia astronauts). 30 years later and this still makes me get teary-eyed. Thank you for this thoughtful and thorough documentary that is the perfect length!

[@lettyguerra371]

Matthew A. Gilbert , the culture of NASA is in all organizations. Even the mom and pop restaurant that decides to serve older past the sell by date food, and give people food poisoning just because they don't want to throw out food and waste money. Cost drives everything!

[@Kalumbatsch]

+Matthew A. Gilbert Will you ask your students five questions about the pros and cons of living under a dictatorship?

[@Kalumbatsch]

Maybe you should just think about the questions, don't want to see you arrested :)

[@justjon_6844]

Wow my management class used this example this semester too! Only it was a case study about a racing car and at the end it was revealed that it was using the same number values in the Challenger case.

[@xyzsame4081]

Systemic riks in complex organizations with HIGH risks - Not only Challenger or Columbia launches. Further examples: Fukushima or Three Mile Island. Then of course Tchernobyl. or Windscale with a luckier ending. Those who know best would have ignored the engineers but the winner of the Nobel Prize Lord Cockroft continued to have objections. The chimney with the filters that were added later looked like a minarett - the locals coined the term Cockroft's folly for them. (They did not know that material for a nuclear bomb was to be produced there). That "folly" saved the day when the fire of which enineers had warned actually broke out. And then of course several incidents in German nuclear power plants and in Sweden. Nothing really bad happened, but they show the potential of how human "ingenuity "and hierarchy !! and being unaware of systemic risks effortlessly neuter whole handbooks on procedures and safety rules.

[@jonholmes6551]

Right after the explosion an engineer was awakend by several phones ringing and pagers as his daughter described it. Poor guy immediately had tears streaming down his beard all the way to work. I'm sure his heart was very heavy from that day forward. More families than you realize are affected by one loss.... this was devastating to say the least.

[@Bigmommafluffy]

I watched this in school. I was in second grade. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. We were so excited to watch it. Our school prepped us all week. We did space projects, and presentations. When our teacher wheeled the television in, we were so happy to be able to watch it. When the shuttle exploded, I could hear a loud gasp from my class, and the others around us. Our teach jumped up so fast to turn the TV off. Our principal came on the loudspeaker to say something, but I don't remember what it was.

[@budthebud9108]

Maybe the astronauts, the ones who's lives are on the line, should be in on the discussions? Just a thought.

[@maazkalim]

You meant interviews?

[@crocheting1]

I agree. The crew was never told, not even the commander.

[@justinbenoit4]

Thank you! I’ve been trying to find out if they were even in the discussion. I guarantee that they would have been ok with taking a closer look and rescheduling the launch.

[@abibnoor]

There are too many detail to overwhelm them. And in case of Columbia they were aware of the form debris hitting the wing.

[@DevinEMILE]

@@abibnoor the crew was aware it had happened and that it was common. Just not how big of a deal it was

[@leebruno7685]

I still remember watching this on TV at school... so disturbing they sent us all home. Such a horrible memory, so traumatizing. :(

[@johnmoreland8139]

Lee Bruno I still remember my teacher screaming and scrambling to turn off the TV...

[@marcjtdc]

Me too. I was in 6th grade. All my classmates were crying.

[@darrinf.9701]

We watched the Challenger explode on TV at school, we stayed, they sent you home. No wonder this generation is so overly sensitive.

[@johnmoreland8139]

Darrin F. Well yeah, totally agreed. But they were a bunch of little kids. What' do you expect.

[@darrinf.9701]

I was in 2nd grade

[@glpdrum]

A family friend had a large ranch in upper east Texas and heard the Columbia debris falling and said it sounded like a plane crash. He found what he thought was a piece of a suit or glove as well as several metal objects. His ranch was cordoned off for weeks while they searched for debris.

[@ramal5708]

Managers want money and results Engineer: the science, safety and perfection That's the difference

[@bull1234]

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". Murphy's law

[@umpygoodness2369]

"Anything that humans do, they will corrupt" - Confuscius

[@garcsstuff6734]

It applies to everything

[@Defender78]

Linda Ham's Law

[@seanholm8957]

@@RishuKumar-je9ty >:/

[@RishuKumar-je9ty]

@@seanholm8957 I am not aware of that 😕

[@ratboyninja]

When arrogance trumps intelligence.

[@colewales9308]

ratboyninja “‘Trump? You racist and anti-feminist!”’- my uncle

[@Ram-lr6ud]

This comment is before trump's era. The word trump has its bad meaning from the beginning of time.

[@docpossum2460]

At first I thought you were talking about our president and I couldn't figure out what you meant

[@docpossum2460]

Get over it billy

[@zubbys]

billy vandory Sigh.

[@uriahthegreat5004]

The look on the mans face when it exploded is heart breaking

[@jonathan8039]

Everytime i hear this story i think about my grandfather (may he rest in peace) who was a worker at nasa at the time. I hope he did his best and tried everything he could to prevent this tragedy.

[@jrockett73]

Lockheed built the tank not NASA.

[@jrockett73]

Morton Thiokol built the boosters.

[@rakaman27]

Larry Mulloy should have gone to jail for this thing. He really should have.

[@itssk1092]

agreed. he wasn't concerned because he wasn't in the shuttle.

[@roshieifra]

You could say the same about Linda hamm.

[@umpygoodness2369]

MOST of them were clearly guilty of MANSLAUGHTER. That's why the entire press REFUSED to use that word. The Establishment protects The Establishment. They are a threat to all public safety.

[@datboibarlos6766]

Kelleymarie Jones Guaranteed.

[@jtn191]

@@kelleymariejones6388 you can't impeach an organization 🤦‍♂️

[@KeyLimePunk]

Every time I hear the words “Challenger, go with throttle up.”, I can’t help but think, “Please don’t got to throttle up!” Am I the only one?

[@MichelleMoonMaddox]

Kellie Elder That's when I held my breath 😢

[@freddyflintstoned913]

?

[@crocheting1]

Same. I'm glad to not hear Mike Smith say "Uh oh" a split second before it fell apart.

[@jeffcarroll1990shock]

Screaming at the dead won't save the living.

[@pandawan4]

He says "Challenger, go at throttle up" which is meant to say challenger is steady at throttle up or all is okay at that point

[@natalieleal4578]

I love these little docs. Short, to the point and very informative.

[@penelopecopetas5321]

who’s watching this after the space x launch

[@cwil57]

how the heck did you know

[@Joseph-uh9pz]

me

[@Vic_Lit344]

Me

[@nytimes]

Looking back at Challenger and Columbia, and what they tell us about the nature of calamity.

[@christianbuczko1481]

To advance, you have to take risks, that's how you learn. I watched challenger blow up on TV, and remember those 72seconds very clearly. I understood exactly what happened even at age 11, and would still have got on a shuttle given the opportunity.

[@gothivore277]

The New York Times hi I was wondering if you guys ever did a story on the pepcon disaster?

[@jenzim3639]

my first memory is this...............

[@purpleflametarot39]

Christian Buczko - That was an unacceptable risk with KNOWN danger. Totally preventable. :'( I live in Florida and we walked outside at work to watch, and saw it happen.

[@tag180rotax]

NASA, Need Another Seven Astronauts

[@mouija1450]

I was in elementary school when this happened. I distinctly remember my teacher being disappointed when Christa McAuliffe was announced as the teacher selected for the flight. Apparently she put her name in the hat. All that changed later. We were so excited about space as children, and then the explosion happened. The space program basically shut down overnight.

[@o_foxxyfoxxy_o]

I remember watching this on tv when I was small. My dad let me stay home that day so we could watch it together. Thank God he did in hindsight. When it burst, I asked if that's normal, but I could tell by the look on his face that I just watched a bunch of people die in a fire in real time.

[@carriel1384]

It is almost like they are forever in that final moment, facing upwards into the sky. It happened so quickly.

[@jordancao2265]

Many tears were shed over this video, may the men and women who lost their lives Rest In Peace.

[@FloppyPigeon]

RIP Challenger And The Crew, May God Be With You

[@DaLULZ8]

gob

[@justathought973]

Shouldn't god have been with them before the explosion? He could have put out the fire then grabbed the shuttle with his giant hand and lowered it back to earth.

[@alfiloide6067]

There is no such a thing as god

[@freddyflintstoned913]

God if it exists is a meany.

[@maazkalim]

@JustAThought Bwahahaha! So true. The OP sounds no more than the lady waving the stars and stripes atop her rooftop.

[@shannonhondo260]

I was 10 when this happened and remember my teachers watching it and screaming, then they brought us kids into the room to watch this unfortunate bit of history being made. God Bless those that died that day

[@BlackParadeMarcher1]

this always gets me misty eyed every time I watch a special on it. It seems every time there's a major disaster, it's when the upper echelon decides not to listen to the people actually working on whatever it is.

[@ohreallyeliza]

I was in 2nd grade when this happened. We were watching on TV in our classroom. It was a special day all the kids were watching and I remember this happening and my teacher burst out in tears and ran out of the room. It was awful. Still makes me tear up. At least they didn't suffer.

[@learo05]

They did suffer, they were alive until the cockpit hit the ocean.

[@docpossum2460]

Some controls were activated in attempt to do something.

[@justmyopinionokjustmyopini7101]

Liz Bee I think that they DID suffer. I heard that they were still alive when they hit the water.

[@chrisgast]

I was 1 year and a half when this happened.

[@sebclot9478]

Our class was part of the program, but we didn't watch the launch. On the west coast, the launch occurred before the start of the school day. We were told about it when we arrived in class.

[@birdsong985]

Guarantee the people that had to fly in the shuttle was not privy to that information before lift off. That is terrible all the time going on behind their backs on their life. They was not given a choice. Never trust your employer

[@umpygoodness2369]

HOW DOES EVERYONE NOT KNOW THE WORD "MANSLAUGHTER"??? EVERY journalist LIED, LIED, LIED to protect The Establishment as did NASA et al. APOLLO 1, CHALLENGER, COLUMBIA, and all the rest ALL PROVED INTENTIONAL MANSLAUGHTER. OVER AND OVER. BY LAW, we taxpayers are owed TRILLIONS by everyone in charge of the FAKE SPace Race. But who will stick up for us? Every person in "Law enforcement" is a criminal who serves THE ESTABLISHMENT.

[@kelleymariejones6388]

Think4yourself especially if your employer is part of United States government!!!!

[@festina_lente7655]

Adjust your meds big guy

[@JimMac23]

@@umpygoodness2369 Calm down. An accident is not manslaughter. Yes, bad decisions were made. But it wasn't intentional.

[@goodvibes1807]

I feel so bad that there is nothing that can bring them back ,but just knowing how young they were is heartbreaking

[@U2FanSanFran]

Netflix put out a series “Challenger: The Final Flight” and goes into detail on what happened. Horrible day and I remember like it was yesterday

[@slapshot68]

I don’t think I want to watch it! It will be too sad n scary!

[@HamzaSalem]

The opening scene is very spooky to watch knowing what's going to happen. Excellent reporting by the NY Times

[@umpygoodness2369]

The #1 WORD re these stories is "MANSLAUGHTER" --- so how do you explain the NYT never ONCE mentions the #1 fact / word in this story??

[@cdex9288]

Nice pfp

[@boringperson-zb8vy]

@@umpygoodness2369 Because that is for a judge to declare. Not the news. It's just like a person's death. A doctor pronounces the death, not the news.

[@ElliotMcDonell]

Chilling, absolutely chilling. I still remember the day it happened, Challenger, I was in kindergarten and we were all so excited about the teacher going up.

[@Billy2011C]

Don't lie.

[@gideonkloosterman]

Lmao liar.

[@anime_weeb436]

How can y'all tell he's lying?

[@rj-nj3uk]

Teacher going up and he was excited. He aint lying.

[@yoursilly2106]

U lying bra

[@bjrn-andrehenriksen6289]

Shivers goes down my spine as he responds with: "Roger go with throttle up"

[@bipadmaster6981]

This is an amazing video. Speak up when your manager is wrong, especially in a life and death situation! They’ll thank you later.

[@JimMac23]

The engineers did speak up. The managers ignored them.

[@Lunar_Blacksmith]

I have never cried so much during a Retro Report. I cried three times during this. That opening was so terribly sad. The people who accept pressure to ignore life threatening data not only in these missions, but other everyday situations...why can we, as humans, not take that extra moment to consider things? The extra moment that could save lives? That extra moment to stop a disaster? Those poor people who died, and those poor people responsible. Nobody wins in times like this.

[@everythingfangirl4532]

Katie Wahl that opening was chilling. The total absence of music

[@nutsaboutnames3805]

Most of the time, management doesn't know what it's like at the coal face. I'm experiencing this right now in my workplace. But in my workplace, it's the people at the coal face who get the blame if things go wrong, not management who make all the decisions.

[@maggie210]

It's all about the MONEY!!!If someo e dies???Who cares....Very very sad

[@davidhenderson3400]

I watched this on TV live as it happened. I will never forget it. When it blew I did not need to be told what I happened. I knew I have just seen those people die. I started screaming as loud as I could "NO!" over and over. My mother came running to see what was going on. I just lay on the floor crying like a baby. Even now as I type this I can barely see the keyboard for the tears.

[@randomness4588]

🧢

[@davidhenderson3400]

@@randomness4588 I do not know what that blue cap emoji means but it says online that is you calling me a lair. I need you to explain just what you mean.

[@boni9033]

this is either a lie or dramaticized. lmao nice try

[@thespankmyfrank]

@@boni9033 How so? People definitely had these reactions to the event. I wasn't alive at that point, but even I know how traumatising it was for everyone watching live. How is this NOT a real account?

[@Nicoletta13]

And the most heartbreaking thing is... Everyone thought t they died immediately when it exploded. but they were alive the entire time.

[@pwk22]

Wow, this was great. It gives you insight into the dynamics of group crisis decision making. But moreso, I found the explanation of the two failures, especially the double O-ring, as clear and fascinating.

[@ShotByHex]

I remember my dad telling me about this. It’s so sad and to think it could have been avoided.

[@umaxen0048]

I remember this vividly. I was listening on the car's radio as I exited I-95 and actually saw the rocket's flames during takeoff directly ahead of me, probably less than 10 miles away. I pulled the car over, got out of the car and told my parents who were with me, "look how beautiful it is". 15 to 20 seconds later, I saw a large plume of smoke and visually saw the 2 rockets flying in all directions. I immediately told my parents that the Challenger had exploded. Their initial reaction and words were, "That's impossible..." After all these years, I can still clearly see what happened.

[@gonzalo060375]

In Engineering the chances for failure are so high, that even manufacturing a flashlight without killing someone in the process is like a miracle. That's why we have procedures, our roadmap to dodge all chances of putting someone at risk unless 'The Boss Up There' wanted otherwise. Managers depend on reliable data from engineers to define the budget and schedules of any project. When data is too optimistic or not thoroughly checked, they set unrealistic deadlines, and that's how we end up with rockets blowing up, software bugs and patches, vehicle safety recalls, etc.

[@JosephFabian91]

gonzalo060375 It is appropriate that you brought up software bugs, because the shuttle software development team is a perfect example of low failure rate engineering done *right*. A team committed to perfect engineering, redundancy, documentation and thorough bug-hunting. Because any flaw was the result of many people's input, nobody was ever assigned blame when there was a flaw - it was considered to be a result of a flawed development process, and their organization was changed to make similar flaws impossible in the future. The result was very arguably the most perfect code ever written. The guys who wrote that software must have lost the plot when they heard about the O-ring issue being given an "ehh, it's probably nothing" response. It's exactly the type of systematic flaw that they had weeded out. I guess that's the outcome when the smart people are peons and the actual decisions are made by yes-men.

[@blueflamingo1]

Joseph Fabian Couldn't agree more, your comment was almost as good as the shuttle's software itself!

[@Bribosome]

+Joseph Fabian what you have to keep in mind also is that quality control is crucial with the development of projects of this magnitude and precision. remember, this is a government project that vendors bid on for the projects. usually opting for the lowest qualified bidder.

[@bananian]

Maybe we need better engineers, lol. I don't think any of the engineers where I work even know high school algebra.

[@bfg2600]

google ariane 5 failure to see what happens with bad software

[@OxC-BIRD]

12 years old when this happened, there had been so many cancelled launches that morning I told my mom I did not wat to go to school because it was going to blowup. My mom sent me to school and it exploded while we were in reeses.

[@ikercompeanleroux1315]

These retro reports are something else. This documentary short is particularly powerful. It is as interesting as it is moving. My deepest congratulations to all involved.

[@jebbie2595]

Can you imagine the guilt they carry? And deservedly so. So sad.

[@H20fanatic20]

I saw it in their faces. When Larry said we made a grievous error..

[@windsorongchan3836]

Super unclickbaity title but an unbelievable documentary. Should have way more views than half a mil

[@xxphosphene]

Imagine standing down there, knowing that your child is in that Shuttle and then watching that scene. This was beyond horrible

[@inkadinkadoodle]

I remember this. I was a senior in high school, about to graduate in June. Everyone was talking about it at school. In spite of things being business as usual for us, the whole day had a still, grey cast over it. There was no one who wasn't thinking of the Challenger that day (except maybe those shop-class guys!)

[@Kipkemoi]

This is an interesting story of how sometimes what we think is the problem is not the problem.

[@Kipkemoi]

Just rewatched this one more time - and it is even clearer that sometimes the root cause isn't where you think it is.

[@amydee0074]

We didn’t watch it in 6th grade but my science teacher came into class after lunch and was white as a ghost. He told us what happened but we didn’t really understand. We thought it just landed in the ocean and they were going to be saved. It was very sad.

[@EaglesPro]

It is so sad that this happened

[@melliemel32]

I was in 5th and I think I recall feeling that way too. I thought somehow they would be okay.

[@JimMac23]

The crew cabin did land in the ocean, but the impact on the surface going 200 miles an hour was like hitting concrete. They were all killed instantly.

[@topturretgunner]

I was on the second floor parking lot the rental car return lot at Tampa international A/P watching Challenger ascend when the explosion took place. My first thought just as clear 10/06/21 as it was that awful fateful day "My God.... those people just died." The flood of memories watching this video leaves my heart just as heavy as witnessing that tragic event that day.

[@sheilatruax6172]

I was in my late 20s. Had watched Mercury and Apollo launches and reentries all my life. I had come into work that morning, requesting to plug in a radio to listen to the launch. It was granted. I was immobile when I heard the explosion. As soon as they announced that Challenger had exploded, I went to my desk and sat down. I can remember hearing myself say "No", several times. Cried off and on for days. Went to a memorial at the Denver Museum of Natural History a few nights later. I was a Houston kid, had toured Mission Control and had a Saturn 5 rocket as a piggybank. This was devastating!

[@jeremymiller1513]

I live in Florida and in the winter if the temperature is low all you have to do is wait a day or two and the temp will go up.

[@mattgator14]

But they didn't want to wait any longer because if they didn't launch that day it was going to screw up the teacher's scheduled lesson plans with all of the schools. smh

[@JimMac23]

@@mattgator14 Plus Reagan had the State of the Union speech that night.

[@luisguadalupe1741]

I feel sorry for them........... I never had idea of this.

[@bryannguyen8440]

Same here

[@mb4lunch]

It's a hoax. They did not die.

[@marias7599]

@ For The United States to publicly accept that they had to ask Russians space system to carry American astronauts into space it takes alot of humility and sense of responsibility. Which means that these disasters really happened. The US would never bow down to Russia like that if this were a hoax.

kell yup. I think one died or just cant be found.

[@JimMac23]

@@mb4lunch You are a hoax. You don't exist.

[@rhrh2025]

Redesigning the "O" Rings had been discussed since the late 70s, as and nothing was done! We as always have to learn our lessons the hard way!

[@KingmanRoss]

I had recently moved to Ft Lauderdale and went outside my apt to watch it in real time,with my own eyes.Holy cow,did not expect what was to happen next.

[@williamwhite317]

This is one of the best-made documentaries I have ever seen. Well done!

[@KidsCancerTree]

Human arrogance kills. Its what also destroyed the Columbia. Very sad. They ignored the blow by evidence and assumed the secondary would always hold, when that was a major warning total failure was very possible.

[@umpygoodness2369]

Human Arrogance causes BILLIONS of crimes per day (ex: car crashes) (ex: govt and press telling us for centuries that tobacco was GOOD for you!).... b/c THE ESTABLISHMENT PROTECTS THE ESTABLISHMENT.

[@thedumbbitch7639]

@@umpygoodness2369 why are you like this

[@JimMac23]

@@umpygoodness2369 Grow up.

[@kihunipunk]

That last line is especially telling- and deeply powerful. Well done, NYT.

[@ryro3515]

I had just turned 5 years old a few weeks before Challenger. I was fascinated by what I was seeing on TV. I don’t know if I fully understood that people had died. I’ll never forget that day!

[@andreacarroll3851]

Caroll Spinney was actually supposed to go on the Challenger while portraying his character Big Bird, but was not able to due to complications with the puppet suit. Thank god.

[@SheppyPaws]

I really love these Retro Reports. I really miss the Space Shuttle Program so much...

[@kdmcollegebd2012]

We watched this live. I was a 15yo high school Sophomore. They sent us home. It was devastating to watch!

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Thank you for Remembering them. God Bless their souls, and God Bless You.

[@ninaschenk4727]

I remember being in school gathered around the tv super excited to witness; then the explosion...it was tragic!

[@bullwinkle1989]

This is tragic but a great report.

[@MrJanes-cl5sj]

OMG I am Loving these....I can't stop watching them

[@ityler95]

12:45 really takes your breath away. Like they’ve blamed themselves all these years.

[@kenanharvey2724]

If you look at 5:44 mark you will notice that the black guy is Ron McNair, he was one of the astronauts who died during the Challenger explosion.

[@crocheting1]

The crew was wonderfully diverse, with two women (one Jewish), a Black man, and a Buddhist of Asian heritage.

[@nadi5960]

Julius Gilliard learn to spell

[@RitaMalikfour]

How horrible for the family watching loved ones blown into pieces in front of their eyes, heartbreaking beyond words? If that had my son I would have died right there with a heart attack

[@holdmyhalo6752]

No accountability. Greed and narcissism were responsible, not pressure. That’s just a bad excuse.

[@cymtk]

Keep a watch out, guarantee theres going to be someone in here claiming to be childhood friends with every single crewmember at once with vague anecdotal stories that cant really be confirmed or denied but also dont amount to much so that people dont press. Happens on every single video of a disaster.

[@conconrace5775]

Rip, may God be with you Xxx

[@hunterjackson8657]

1:05 When the flight controller realized what happened, I burst in to sobs and tears. 😞

[@dhritishukla9480]

“Roger , go at throttle up” And then boom! RIP!

[@Lin_The_Cat_]

I grew up in the space coast area and one of my older teachers from elementary school supposedly knew her. It's chilling to watch how excited they are while knowing their ultimate fate.

[@honkeykong9563]

Gut-Wrenching to see and hear her enthusiasm 7:25

[@DeathShouldTakeMeNow]

I remember I was grade school, 2nd grade I think, and the school had a special assembly so we could watch the shuttle launch live. When it exploded I remember all the kids were in an uproar. Some laughed, some screamed, others were just sitting there frozen. It wasnt until I looked over at the teachers and saw one of them crying that I knew something horrible had happened. I didn't quite understand what had happened but when I saw her crying I knew it was serious business. I dont remember much after that except one of the local papers put out a special edition with huge photos of the explosion and a two page spread that had the classic photo of the astronauts in their suits.

[@darKILLusionnn]

Reading your comment made me want to cry.

[@cdex9288]

What were they think when they laughed?!?!?!

[@bruce92106]

You, or anyone else, couldn't have done a better job making this! 👍

[@charlesfoster141]

Fine report from beginning to end. I was 32 years old when Challenger exploded during throttle-up. I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when the news came live on the radio. I was parking my truck in a Taco Bell parking lot on Lapalco Blvd. in New Orleans when I heard the broadcast. I ran into Taco Bell and told everyone what had just happened. Everyone was shocked.