Why The Challenger Space Shuttle Exploded | Countdown To Catastrophe | Spark

[@rthelionheart]

It's extremely easy to make careless decisions when consequences are paid by others.

[@steveschaff4620]

The Head Engineer (Allan McDonald) that spoke to the Investigation Committee is one of the most HONORABLE MEN I have EVER SEEN! GOD BLESS YOU SIR!

[@giminai8000]

This is what happens when you don’t listen to the engineering experts that you hire especially if they had warned you about multiple fatal flaws since the start of the shuttle program the O Rings in the Solid Rocket Boosters being one of them and the foam impacts too and because NASA decided not listen and take action we lost 14 brave astronauts in the shuttle program

[@christopherfoote4643]

That's true but there are hazards associated with space flight. Unfortunately they were accelerated in this circumstance. It was probably an ill fated decision. I agree

[@LindaMerchant-bq2hp]

Exactly

[@stanleydavidson6543]

From what I understand the foam impacts were unexpected damage that broke heat shield tiles. They didn't think it would damage the😢 shuttle

[@giminai8000]

@@stanleydavidson6543 it’s always been that way the thing you suspect the least always ends up being the most deadly

[@pcprodoc]

@@stanleydavidson6543 WRONG SHUTTLE. This is about Challenger, not Columbia.

[@IAmSweetPea]

I was in North Miami atop the Golden Glades interchange when the rocket took off. It was a super clear day. I watched the explosion as it happened. It was far so I didn’t realize what I was looking at until I got back in my car. The radio announced the explosion within minutes. Even after all these years, knowing I watched those amazing people die, live, makes me sad.

[@respectdawildo_danjones508]

I thought you were full of 💩 at first but then I realized I misread, and Miami although far is within range

[@KevinKram-is7zm]

I was in West Palm Beach, on top of a Best Buy pharmacy replacing a a/c filter and saw it all happen. I got down and went into the pharmacy( I knew the two pharmacists had a small TV. That is where I learned that all seven had perished. Then later on reading it was because of an O ring that failed because the higher ups Wanted it to be launched THAT day! I sure hope these higher ups have learne a very strategic lesson from this. Of course, it doesn't matter now that they have stopped using the Space Shuttle

[@Charles-lane277]

This is why I always tell people in the manufacturing industry that the littlest details cause the biggest problems.

[@TorontoJediMaster]

Almost all disasters are caused by a number of small details, that each on their own would be harmless, to combine.

[@mikedicenso2778]

One thing this video missed was the best and most critical example of schedule slippage and pressure: the 24th flight, STS-61-C Columbia. Columbia had been scheduled for December 18, 1985, but was delayed six times until January 12, 1986. This in turn delayed STS-51-L Challenger's mission since components from Columbia were needed for Challenger's. The mission's duration was curtailed from seven down to four days to get Columbia back, but due to unacceptable landing weather, Columbia could not land at KSC, but at the alternate site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, which necessitated several days in getting the orbiter back on the 747. Had Columbia not been delayed so severely, it's likely Challenger would never have seen that severe cold weather on January 28, and would most likely have launched safely into orbit.

[@Kyle-gb9dq]

Had they launched that Sunday, they would've been good too. The weather prediction was wrong, imagine that. They could've launched Monday, but they had problems with a locking bolt on the crew cabin door.

[@mikedicenso2778]

@@Kyle-gb9dq True, but they never would've been close to being pushed up against that schedule "wall" had Columbia launched in December or even very early January.

[@olivergrumitt2601]

The Columbia launch preceding the Challenger disaster should not have taken place at all and the main payload on board could easily have been put back to a later mission. The unnecessary Columbia flight added needless pressure on management to launch Challenger, even in conditions too dangerous to launch. Challenger could and should have been launched earlier when the weather was warmer and likely would have reached orbit safely. Of course, though, the o-ring problem would not have been addressed if there had been no no tragedy, the tragedy would probably have happened On a later flight instead.

[@pcprodoc]

@@olivergrumitt2601 Dead wrong! Many factors in which played a role in the demise of the Challenger. The key was the below freezing temperatures. Did not give the o-rings time to bounce back to do their job. The mere fact that the strut mount where the plume blew out which "torch" the mount off caused the SBR (right) to put stress on the external tank (the upper) as the SBR broke away from the aft causing the E. T. to breach which gave the illusion the launch blew up (exploded). But in actuality this was just the E. T. depressurizing because evidence clearly shows there weren't any "shockwaves" from a typical explosion. The conclusion is the Challenger disintegrated from the plume causing the strut mount to dislodge from the SRB (right) which caused the E. T. to rip apart causing the rest of the components to break apart as well.

[@heathhalfhill6401]

I stayed home from school on this day to watch the launch. My uncle, aunt, and myself were all about the space program and so excited to see its progress. We were immediately heartbroken and in tears of disbelief. We all said at the exact same time…”NO…NO…NO! This can’t be! I will never forget this moment till the day I die. All for money. That’s why this happened. If they would just have waited a few more hours till the temperature rose🤦‍♂️

[@markwentz8332]

i was only 9 but i kind of remember watching this in the gymnasium. RIP

[@forrestvision1905]

HBO gotta make a mini series about this like they did for Chernobyl

[@TorontoJediMaster]

@11:40, there were no launch suits in 1986. The crews launched wearing the blue coveralls they'd wear during the flight. It was the "just an airliner" mentality that NASA had prior to the disaster. (The first crews, during the earlier test flights, when it was just the commander and pilot flying, did wear traditional pressure suits. But, by 1986 those had been deemed needless.)

[@DCGreenZone]

You know what happens to rubber seals when they are frozen and subjected to those kinds of forces eh? There was ice on the chain link fence in West Palm Beach that day, I watched it come apart from there. I had seriously bad feelings about their decision to go up on such a frigid day.

[@BruceChamberlin-y4r]

Another example of, “Always listen to your engineer!”

[@TheLifeofRiley0]

That thumbnail does a real disservice to this tragic event.

[@chadb9270]

When you get Richard Feinman telling you you fucked up, you’ve done fucked up.

[@simonbyrd6518]

Kinda says something when you pick the southernmost point in the (contiguous) United States (would've been cost prohibitive to use Hawaii) and it STILL can get icy cold in the "Sunshine State.."

[@richie0408]

If you want to be a real know-it-all at parties you can tell your friends that Challenger didn't really explode. It disintegrated in a cloud of burning fuel all being released at once. There was technically no detonation, so no explosion. We just call it an explosion as a kind of shorthand, and because it looked like one. Be prepared for some blank stares, though.

[@joshsteward7353]

Broke apart!⚡️

[@robinm1729]

Parts of it sure as hell exploded when it broke up. Lots of volatile stuff in those orbiters, used to power the APUs, OMS and RCS thrusters.

[@richie0408]

@@robinm1729 I'm sure some component parts of it with relatively small fuel tanks did, but IT did not, neither the orbiter itself nor the external fuel tank. And that's the point. I'm not looking for an argument, and I don't go around correcting people in casual conversation who say it exploded. It's a convenient shorthand to say it exploded because it looked like an explosion, and that's fine. But it technically did not.

[@kpatcharette21582]

I don't know where I heard this tidbit of information years ago regarding Dick scobee and the probability being very high that if the capsule that the astronauts were in had survived the separation from a boosters that Dick would have done everything in his power to guide the capsule back to the ground in order to save the day because that was the type of person he was and his commitment to others was higher than most astronauts at the time. Unfortunately Dick could not have known how unflyable the crew compartment was when it was no longer attached to wings or flight control services because those crucial pieces of the puzzle had been sheered off and were no longer one piece of a hole that we would call the space shuttle. Unrelated but still worth sharing is the fact of the African American who also died on Challenger McNair in his expertise during the space shuttle programs. There was speculation that McNair actually was the CIA plant or CIA operative that has existed on every space shuttle mission since the first and the very last. In my honest opinion we lost some of the greatest astronauts in that Challenger exploded but didn't explode unless you were in observer from the ground. My biggest problem with all of it, is why in the hell weren't redundancies for the capsule containing the astronauts themselves, been installed to save their lives and bring them back to the ground safely in case the capsule had detached from the rest of the shuttle be it through an explosion not of the shuttle but of the solid rocket boosters around it combined with the enormous fuel tank holding liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Well most people will say that there aren't any redundancies that can exist to allow this capsule to make it back to the ground safely but I disagree oh do I disagree because I use perhaps an abstract view to see past limits when I suggest something like parachutes that used to bring the capsules down from the Apollo missions to the ocean and something like that could have easily been installed into the capsule itself holding those astronauts. Three or more enormous parachutes could have been deployed and easily saved all astronauts on board even though the capsule was the only thing that survived the breakup. Don't get me wrong I know how extremely complicated the entire space shuttle was and that is also admitting how unbelievably complicated the capsule was as well. As I recall it was one or two million moving parts that facilitated and allowed the spatial to launch in the first place. What really sucks is the fact that I was a first grader who witnessed the Challenger and it's demise on television on that fateful day back in January of 86th. My teachers and myself were extremely excited for the lessons that we're going to be broadcast live from space by McCullough. I was quite disappointed that that never took place and it never occurred to me fully what had really happened, at all astronauts were lost until many years later. I am that person who has tidbits of information for parties and shares it with people because usually it's those tidbits that tend to make the biggest impact in the most profound impressions. This goes without saying but I have always remembered the abstract over the obvious or in plain sight for most of my life and that's why I took the time to respond with this lengthy reply to your comment which I found to be worthy of a response. Thank you for saying what you said because I agree with you entirely. They didn't have to die though and it wouldn't have been too much money to have tethered parachutes extend out and deploy from a capsule as it return to the Earth.

[@kpatcharette21582]

​@@robinm1729I understand what you're saying but the order did not blow up even though the systems it had on board and the volatile fuels that ran them such as APUs OMS and RCS thrusters weren't the reasons for their demise or why the space shuttle didn't make it safely in one piece back to the ground. The capsule, the wings and the flight control surfaces were sheared off in several different pieces which made it impossible to glide back to the Earth safely. The oxygen systems on board inside the capsule prove that the astronauts were alive until the moment of impact with the ocean. There are also sensors that could only have been shut on and off manually that were operated manually by the astronauts and that was recorded within the capsule all the way down to the ocean at which point the space shuttle did break apart into more pieces after its collision with the ocean at over 320 mph. However yes from the observer's standpoint on the ground it look like an explosion but an explosion but have also exploded potentially the capsule that contain the astronauts as well. That capsule is the most reinforced structure of the entire space shuttle therefore it would survive any explosion or separation and catastrophic separations between wings cargo Bay and capsule were thrown and ripped off of the space shuttle in different directions caused by different forces in friction from the air being that they were going 3,000 ft per second at a speed in excess of Mach 7.... The boosters and the fuel tank shared off but because they were attached to the space shuttle they caused it as well to split apart into several pieces but the important point to make is that the capsule was intact after the order separated from the tanks and boosters but capsule containing the astronauts was ripped to pieces after making contact with the ocean at over 300 30 mph or the speed at which terminal velocity would occur when factoring in drag and the speed at which objects no longer accelerate given that they're falling from a height that allows them to reach terminal velocity in the first place.

[@iiigraghu]

Pray Peace to the Immortal Souls of the Space Mission.

[@TaylorCrane1312]

The voice over for the Italian astronaut is excellent

[@justsumguy2u]

The maker of the seals (Morton-Thiokol) told NASA before launch that the seals were not designed to handle such cold launch temperatures----in true cowboy fashion, NASA said "it'll be fine, saddle up"

[@BradH2024]

47:30 - “…hastened the demise of America’s Space Shuttle.” The Columbia disaster hastened the demise of the shuttle, not Challenger. Before Columbia, NASA was making plans about how to keep the shuttle flying well into the 2030s.

[@kirkmorrison6131]

Bless those who crewed Columbia and Challenger. Bless their hearts of the supervisors who refused to listen to the experts

[@jude999]

Great explanation in the simplest terms. Thank you.

[@adventaursadventure7785]

Remember, this tragedy happened because of Money.

[@southbronxny5727]

And the lady with the final green light still works for nasa....smh.

[@jeffhermida4788]

Every regulation and policy change is written in blood.

[@kevinburke6055]

Their biggest concern when Shuttle program began was something from the tank foam hitting the shuttle during launch. Guess they didn’t think O rings weakening was a top concern. Ironically their top concern would happen with Columbia years later.

[@kpatcharette21582]

A great movie was made where I believe it was Jeff Bridges or definitely not Jeff Bridges but another actor equal of his caliber who played Dr Feynman on the same panel that Sally ride and Neil Armstrong were part of. The same doctor fineman who put the o-ring under a small vice into a nice cold glass of water for 30 minutes and then took it out to show how it did not return to its original shape and kept the shape that it had been manipulated into by Dr fineman for several seconds or minutes after it was removed from the ice water. One of the most fascinating chit bits and all should know is that Dr fineman was part of the Manhattan project and also witnessed the first nuclear test in person not behind or inside a bunker. He died because of direct radioactivity exposure from that nuclear test. It killed him before he could even turn 60 years old, or within 35 to 40 years after that first nuclear test. I believe the first test was called Trinity because that's how they named the glass that it fused underneath it as trinititem

[@dashdotdot]

This, along with the Smarter Every Day's presentation towards the folks now managing the Nasa missions back to the moon is really fascinating in creating a culture of communication and openness. Very interesting.

[@danieldougan269]

Is that photo in the thumbnail real? If so, was it really from the same launch?

[@williamf7401]

It's kind of common sense cold and heat comming together makes cracks and gaps

[@danielcruz8347]

Oh💍 🏴‍☠️ Bless the brave Challengerr crews hearts!! 💐

[@susiedyer3260]

The ones that made them launch should have been locked up 4 life and nasa should have had 2 pay out the ass

[@Sunnydawgon]

I was at the corner of the grass when this happened and thought gee golly what’s going on

[@SpartacusErectusJR]

They were warned.. 😔

[@mooonman66]

I never knew Reagan gave that speech

[@rekunta]

I’m surprised that as the O-rings were a part that, even with redundancy, was a single-point failure, they weren’t preheated to performance parameters by wires or such prior to lift off. I mean, car windshields can be defrosted, why couldn’t this crucial component be? 19:55 How the heck do you get hired as an astronaut for the Space Shuttle and not speak English? Did he have a translator go up with him? Doubt all the other astronauts spoke Italian.

[@ximalas]

Maybe that interview is from a different occasion. Most Europeans speak English somewhat fluently.

[@robertseymore3565]

Totally preventable

[@mvaiks]

Challenger didn't exploded. It break up due to aerodynamic stress.

[@Autshot20]

It appears that unless the engineers could not 100% guarantee there was going to be a failure, NASA decision makers were going to launch. Wonder is their decision would have been the same if they had a family member on board.

[@tylergoldstein]

This thumbnail was made with midjourney and doesn’t make sense haha

[@scubastevedan]

Anything A.I. is dumb and needs to stop. It's lazy.

[@typerightseesight]

they gave it away in the first minute of the video. lol

[@ad2164]

NASA ignoring warnings

[@LindaMerchant-bq2hp]

The thumbnail looked like the challenger got caught up in a atomic bomb

[@jasonrusso7]

31:40 Wow, just wow

[@twveach]

Worst thumbnail on the Internet

[@jackmorrison8269]

The STS was ungodly unsafe. Surprising they didnt all explode

[@DonQwantsyou]

bedtime for ronzo

[@kennethdonne]

Good morning to you from Kenneth D in Hamilton New Zealand 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@JinxMarie1985]

The O rings were FROZEN. THEY KNEW. THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER EVER BEEN IN THAT SHUTTLE THAT DAY. IT WAS A GREEDY STUPID HUMAN ERROR. THESE HEROES WERE MURD3R3D. That door that was faulty before liftoff should have been a sign right there. NO GO FOR LAUNCH. REST PEACEFULLY TO THE CREW.

[@Iron-Van]

Dudes got some serious British teeth going on

[@joshsteward7353]

Did not explode, broke apart, and yes they fell for 3 minutes to there last moment

[@robinm1729]

Parts of it sure as hell exploded when it broke up. Lots of volatile stuff in those orbiters, used to power the APUs, OMS and RCS thrusters.

[@stormsfromcalifornia4379]

managment shouldve listened to engieers

[@seanbaskett5506]

Interesting to know those O-rings were designed and manufactured by Hydra-Pak, a company owned by FLDS polygamists under Rulon and Warren Jeffs. Yeah. Next I'm gonna call Jim Jones and the Branch Davidians for help on the guidance system.

[@williamf7401]

Follow the money. I wonder if the airforce was realy aboard. If they used the shuttle would it cut there budget? I really don't know

[@geraldrodneyquintal1865]

They should've sent those bureaucratic maggots on the next shuttle flight, I'll bet they'd change their tune pretty fast. I assume, according to them, that people are expendable, as long as they can launch on time. What a f**ked up program, there's always gonna be risks but that was total bullshit, lot of people died because someone was worried about losing their job. 😢

[@stellarwind1946]

Were the astronauts aware that the Morton Thiokol designers refused to authorize the launch?

[@Allie8567]

NO

[@murrethmedia]

Challenger didn't explode, it broke up due to aerodynamic forces. Fix your title.

[@camerondelamotte159]

death star

[@ZacVaper]

The saliva noises his mouth makes is disgusting.

[@virgilhilts3924]

Well except for the fact that it didn't explode, stop repeating that nonsense

[@amochswohntet99]

A part of me suspects these failures are intentional, in what are psychopathic attempts to captivate people emotionally, to garner continued support for the programs. Entirely plausible, considering the very bad conditions for launching that day.

[@tylluantravels102]

It didnt explode. It was forced from the delicate slip stream and the Shuttle airframe disintegrated. There was no shockwave of an explosion. Read the book "Challenger".

[@robinm1729]

Don't be "that guy." The ET did in fact explode, and while the orbiter technically started to break apart due to aerodynamic stresses, parts of it did indeed explode; there's lots of nasty, volatile stuff in those orbiters, used to power the APUs, OMS and RCS thrusters.

[@ltrillium1000]

The Challenger NEVER exploded. Get you facts straight.

[@MrMisterock]

Good God that there was no people inside....

[@tusse67]

Jerk

[@OpenYourMind313]

Nobody was aboard. Never was, never will be. What a beautiful Psyop.

[@giminai8000]

There are also people who deny the things that happened even if it hits them in the face and it is even proven by hard facts ,evidence and data all you can do is ignore these people because they’re opinions will never change

[@sendintheclowns7305]

Take your meds.

[@OpenYourMind313]

@@giminai8000 - well said brother! The hard facts being they are still alive and well now living protected lives for participating in these types of CIA Psyop programs called FEMA crisis actors. The other commenter most likely believes that 911 was carried out by duder in a cave & the recent Hawaii fire was a powerline spark on a windy day.

[@marcusbardstown505]

Ok. I'll go with what some head up ass youtube comment guy says instead of piles of indisputable evidence and actual smart people called engineers. What a fucking moron.

[@erikdykeman547]

Please go troll somewhere else with that stupidity!

[@Makesensa1530]

Because the space you all speak of does not exist 🤦🏾‍♂️ 😆

[@teclabs57]

What are you talking about?

[@justinthomas7222]

​@@teclabs57oh, the usual conspiracy goodiness. Best to just ignore it.

[@Makesensa1530]

@@justinthomas7222 nice to know you don’t think 👍 lol

[@Makesensa1530]

@@teclabs57 you wanted to go to didn’t you? Lol fools

[@teclabs57]

@ajclark1530 no I'm staying on our lovely planet.

[@bikedawg]

Thank goodness for SpaceX. NASA sucked. Cost plus contracts suck.

[@mikedicenso2778]

NASA saved SpaceX from almost certain bankruptcy with the CRS-1 contract. Just ask Elon Musk.

[@murrethmedia]

Dumbest comment ever.