Space shuttle Challenger remembered 38 years after tragedy
Space Shuttle Challenger: The STS-51L mission clears the tower at Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 28, 1986. (NASA/NASA)
By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Sunday marks 38 years since the space shuttle Challenger lifted off on a chilly Florida morning and passed into history when the ship carrying seven astronauts -- one the first “civilian” in space, teacher Christa McAuliffe -- broke apart some 73 seconds into its flight.
“I couldn’t breathe,” Linda Preston, who represented Utah in the teacher competition, told a reporter in 2016 about her reaction that day.
“We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers,” President Ronald Reagan said later that day in an address to the nation. “The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted. It belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”
NASA also observes a day of remembrance every Jan. 28 for the three Apollo 1 astronauts who died in a fire on Jan. 27, 1967, and the crew of the Columbia space shuttle, which exploded and killed seven astronauts on Feb. 1, 2003.
Here is a look back at the Challenger disaster:
What happened that day
The Challenger, officially STS-51L, was readied for launch on the morning of Jan. 28, 1986. The launch had been delayed several times, and NASA officials were anxious to get Challenger into space to meet a schedule of 16 planned missions for 1986.
With all systems registering “go,” the countdown began and the shuttle blasted off at 11:38 a.m.
The shuttle cleared the launch pad and headed into a brilliant blue Florida sky, performing perfectly, or so everyone thought.
Seventy-three seconds into the flight, witnesses began to see a flame move up the side of the external fuel tank, then what looked like an explosion as the tank collapsed and its contents -- the fuel propellants -- mixed and ignited.
The tank was ripped away from the body of the shuttle and it spun wildly out of the sky.
At first, Johnson Space Center officials in Houston were not aware of what happened and continued the routine of relaying trajectory and speed information.
Seconds later it was clear what everyone had seen was not what was supposed to happen, and NASA commentator Steve Nesbitt alerted those listening to the tragedy when he said, “Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction.”
The fall back to Earth
The shuttle was 46,000 feet in the air when the accident happened, traveling at twice the speed of sound.
The craft continued its upward trajectory, reaching 65,000 feet about 25 seconds later.
The shuttle, having lost the other two fuel tanks, was at the mercy of physics and was quickly torn apart by aerodynamic forces.
Challenger, now in pieces, began its fall back to Earth, hitting the Atlantic Ocean at 207 mph some 2 minutes, 45 seconds after the breakup.
The shuttle pieces struck the ocean surface at 200 times the force gravity, ‘’far in excess of the structural limits of the crew compartment or crew survivability levels,’’ a NASA report later read.
Many blamed the cold weather in Florida that day for the problem, saying the rings that helped seal the tank joints were not made to be used in weather so cold.
The official report of the accident lists weather only as a contributing factor.
The rings – called O-rings – meant to seal the segments of the booster, had failed to do their job in the right-side solid rocket booster. That is where the superheated gas leaked through and burned the side of the rocket, starting the chain reaction that would bring the shuttle down.
Why didn’t they know about it
Engineers at the company that made the O-rings, Morton Thiokol, said they tried to warn their bosses the night before the launch that the seals could be brittle because of the cold and needed to be replaced.
They would later testify that they were overruled and told the launch would go on as scheduled.
Who we lost
The team on Challenger was different than any that had come before.
She, Hughes Aircraft Co. satellite engineer Gregory Jarvis and physicist Ronald McNair were on the lower deck of the crew cabin at liftoff.
On the upper deck were engineers Judith Resnik and Ellison Onizuka, the shuttle’s pilot Michael Smith and the ship’s commander, Dick Scobee.
It was the first flight for Jarvis and Smith. The rest of the crew, except for McAuliffe, had all flown on shuttle missions before.
Three facts and a cruel hoax
As with any tragedy, the facts sometimes become blurred with the reality of the moment. Then, some seek to capitalize on such events.
Here are a few facts and a cruel hoax that came from the Challenger disaster.
1. Few people actually saw the launch on live TV
While several national networks had reported from the Kennedy Space Center that morning, only CNN was carrying the launch live to a nationally televised audience.
Some network affiliates also carried the launch live to local markets, but not many. The largest audience to watch the disaster that day was likely one made up of students. NASA had arranged a satellite broadcast of the full mission to be available to schools so students could watch the first teacher in space, McAuliffe.
While CNN had the event live, NBC was the first to break into regularly scheduled programming with the news at 11:42 a.m. ABC was on a minute later at 11:43, followed by CBS at 11:45.
Those propellants mixing together created the fireball seen in videos of the disaster.
The shuttle itself -- the craft minus the fuel tanks -- remained intact and continued to climb.
Eventually, aerodynamic forces were too much for the shuttle to handle without the aid of the external tanks which had broken off the ship.
The tail section, the wings and the main engine section broke apart and began to fall to Earth. It was followed by the remaining pieces of the shuttle, including the crew cabin.
3. The crew died when the ship broke apart
The crew likely survived the accident and even the shuttle being torn into pieces.
The question remains, however, were the astronauts conscious as the crew compartment fell from the sky and slammed into the ocean at 207 mph?
There was evidence that emergency oxygen tanks were manually activated, suggesting the crew tried to do something to save themselves.
A report presented in July 1986 said there was no way to tell exactly how or when the astronauts died. The report was presented by Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin, director of life sciences at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and a former astronaut.
‘’The cause of death of the Challenger astronauts cannot be positively determined; the forces to which the crew were exposed during orbiter breakup were probably not sufficient to cause death or injury; and the crew possibly, but not certainly, lost consciousness in the seconds following orbiter breakup due to in-flight loss of crew module pressure.’’
It was noted that the impact of the crew cabin with the surface of the Atlantic Ocean was so violent that it would have been nearly impossible to know the exact condition of astronauts after the craft broke apart.
Kerwin’s report also noted the shuttle’s seats “were in place and occupied at water impact with all harnesses locked.
This would likely be the case had rapid loss of consciousness occurred, but it does not constitute proof.”
4. The hoax of the crew’s “final words”
Through the years, many have expressed their views that the crew was alive and taking action following the accident.
They point to what they have said was NASA’s reluctance to release the transcript of the audio recordings between the crew and the Johnson Space Center as proof that the agency was hiding the panic that Challenger’s astronauts were in as they hurtled toward the ocean.
An alleged transcript of the crew’s final moments has made the rounds on the Internet for the past 20 years, supposedly leaked to a tabloid called the Weekly World News.
While NASA’s official transcript stops when pilot Michael Smith says, “Uh-oh” at 73 seconds into the flight. The tabloid’s transcript reports the alleged ongoing conversation as the crew cabin falls to earth at 207 mph.
NASA has debunked this “transcript.”
The official transcript from Challenger’s final moments
(NASA: SSME thrust level at 100% for all 3 engines.)
T+7...............Dick Scobee.............Houston, Challenger roll program.
(NASA: Initiation of vehicle roll program.)
T+11..............Smith..... Go you Mother.
T+14.............. Ellison Onizuka..... LVLH.
(NASA: Reminder for cockpit switch configuration change. Local vertical/local horizontal).
T+15.............. Resnik ..... (Expletive) hot.
T+16..............Scobee..... Ooohh-kaaay.
T+19..............Smith..... Looks like we’ve got a lotta wind here today.
T+20..............Scobee..... Yeah.
T+22..............Scobee..... It’s a little hard to see out my window here.
T+28..............Smith..... There’s ten thousand feet and Mach point five.
(NASA: Altitude and velocity report.)
T+30............ Garble.
T+35.............. Scobee..... Point nine.
(NASA: Velocity report, 0.9 Mach).
T+40.............. Smith..... There’s Mach one.
(NASA: Velocity report, 1.0 Mach).
T+41.............. Scobee..... Going through nineteen thousand.
(NASA: Altitude report, 19,000 ft.)
T+43.............. Scobee..... OK we’re throttling down.
(NASA: Normal SSME thrust reduction during maximum dynamic pressure region.)
T+57.............. Scobee..... Throttling up.
(NASA: Throttle up to 104 percent after maximum dynamic pressure.)
T+58.............. Smith..... Throttle up.
T+59.............. Scobee..... Roger.
T+60.............. Smith..... Feel that mother go.
T+60............ Woooohoooo.
T+1:02............ Smith..... Thirty-five thousand going through one point five
(NASA: Altitude and velocity report, 35,000 ft., 1.5 Mach).
T+1:05............ Scobee..... Reading four eighty six on mine.
(NASA: Routine airspeed indicator check.)
T+1:07............ Smith..... Yep, that’s what I’ve got, too.
T+1:10............ Scobee..... Roger, go at throttle up.
(NASA: SSME at 104 percent.)
T+1:13............Smith..... Uh-oh.
T+1:13.......................LOSS OF ALL DATA.
President Ronald Reagan’s response
President Ronald Reagan, who was supposed to give the State of the Union Address that night, spoke to a stunned country about Challenger instead.
Quoting from the poem “High Flight” by John Magee. Reagan said, “We shall never forget them nor the last time we saw them, as they prepared for their mission and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.”
Aftermath for the space shuttle program
After months of investigation, the joints in the booster fuel segment were redesigned and an O-ring added.
The shuttle program was put on hold after the accident and wasn’t resumed until 1988 after the upgrades were completed and tested. The shuttle program ended in 2011.
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - This photo provided by NASA shows the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger mission 51L. All seven members of the crew were killed when the shuttle exploded during launch on Jan. 28, 1986. Front row from left are Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, and Ronald E. McNair. Front row from left are Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger NASA lost seven of its own on the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, when a booster engine failed, causing the Shuttle Challenger to break apart just 73 seconds after launch. In this photo from Jan. 9, 1986, the Challenger crew takes a break during countdown training at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. (NASA/NASA)
Space Shuttle Challenger Right: Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, McAuliffe, Ronald E. McNair, and Michael J. Smith in the payload bay of the full
fuselage space shuttle trainer at JSC. (NASA/NASA)
Space Shuttle Challenger This Sept. 26, 1985 photo made available by NASA shows astronaut Sharon Christa McAuliffe. The high school teacher from Concord, N.H., never got to teach from space. She perished during the 1986 launch of shuttle Challenger, along with her six crewmates. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Sept. 13, 1985 file photo, Christa McAuliffe tries out the commander's seat on the flight deck of a shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Thirty-two years after the Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes. (AP Photo) (RC/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 27, 1986 file picture, the crew members of space shuttle Challenger flight 51-L, leave their quarters for the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. From foreground are commander Francis Scobee, Mission Spl. Judith Resnik, Mission Spl. Ronald McNair, Payload Spl. Gregory Jarvis, Mission Spl. Ellison Onizuka, teacher Christa McAuliffe and pilot Michael Smith. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (Steve Helber/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, four crew members of the space shuttle Challenger walk from their quarters at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, en route to the launch pad. From foreground are pilot Mike Smith, school teacher Christa McAuliffe, mission specialist Ellison Onizuka and payload specialist Gregory Jarvis. Thirty-two years after the Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (STEVE HELBER/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The Space Shuttle Challenger hatch that was causing a delay in the launch of the "Teacher in Space" flight is pictured on Jan. 27, 1986. First there was a latching and sealing problem, and then the white room crew could not remove the handle, right center on hatch. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky) (Ed Kolenovsky/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger A technician uses a drill as he tries to remove a screw holding the handle to the Space Shuttle Challenger hatch, Jan. 27, 1986. The handle problem was causing a delay in launching the "Teacher in Space" flight. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky) (Ed Kolenovsky/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger Teacher Christa McAuliffe smiles after she was suited up for her space flight at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Jan. 27, 1986. At rear is the hatch McAuliffe entered the space shuttle Challenger which is scheduled for launch. (AP Photo) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 picture, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. shortly before it exploded with a crew of seven aboard. (AP Photo/Thom Baur) (Thom Baur/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, the Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, in Fla. All seven crew members died in the explosion, which was blamed on faulty o-rings in the shuttle's booster rockets. Bob Ebeling had spent three decades filled with guilt over not stopping the explosion of Challenger, but found relief in the weeks before his death Monday, March 21, 2016, at age 89. NPR reports Ebeling had been a booster rocket engineer at a NASA contractor during the launch. He tried to convince them to postpone it, saying the cold temperatures could cause the shuttle to explode. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver, File) (Bruce Weaver/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo the space shuttle Challenger is destroyed by an explosion shortly after it lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the accident which killed all seven crew members. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) (Steve Helber/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file picture, spectators at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. react after they witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. (AP Photo/File) (PS/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 1, 1986 file photo, customer David Kimball of Manchester, N.H. reacts as store employees Lynne Beck of Salisbury, N.H. and Lisa Olson, far right, of Manchester, N.H., embrace each other as they watch the Houston memorial service for the astronauts who died in the space shuttle Challenger explosion on a television in a store in Concord, N.H. Pictured on the television screen are family members of one of the astronauts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) (Charles Krupa/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The remains of one of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger are carried past an honor guard on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware on Tuesday, April 29, 1986. The remains of the seven astronauts killed in the January Shuttle explosion were brought to the base to be prepared for burial. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta) (Amy Sancetta/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger The remains of one crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Challenger are carried to a hearse on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware on Tuesday, April 30, 1986. The remains of all seven astronauts killed in the Shuttle explosion on January 28, were taken to Dover AFB for burial preparation. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta) (Amy Sancetta/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger A delegation from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 10131, Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying seven wreaths, ride a boat into the Atlantic ocean, Monday, Feb. 3, 1986 to drop the wreaths in honor of the seven crew members killed in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) (Terry Renna/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger Richard Greene adjusts a letter as he sets up a billboard outside a Concord, New Hampshire motel on Thursday, Jan. 30, 1986. Teacher Christa McAuliffe, who taught at Concord High School, was a crewmember aboard the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger. (AP Photo/Peter Southwick) (Peter Southwick/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger The giant salvage ship, the Stener Workhorse comes to port as storm clouds darken overhead and waves crash against the jetties at Port Canaveral, Florida on Friday, March 14, 1986. The Stener Workhorse was one of the largest ships being used for salvage work in an area where Space Shuttle Challenger crashed into the sea following the explosion that ripped it apart on January 28th. (AP Photo/Thom Baur) (Thom Baur/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this 1986 file photo, workers transport debris from the space shuttle Challenger, recovered after the Jan. 28, 1986 explosion, to a storage site on the Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/James Neihouse) (James Neihouse/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger This is a view of the nose section of the Space Shuttle Challenger as seen by reporters and photographers at the Kennedy Space Center, April 9, 1986, Fla. Reports are that the nose of the craft including the crew compartment hit the Atlantic Ocean after the January 28th shuttle explosion. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver) (Bruce Weaver/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger Workmen at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, continue the process of storing the debris recovered from the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, Jan. 20, 1987, Cape Canaveral, Fla .The section being lowered into the unused Minuteman missile silo is part of the left side of the orbiter. The first anniversary of the accident will be on Wednesday of next week. (AP Photo/James Neihouse) (James Neihouse/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger ADVANCE FOR USE TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011 AND THEREAFTER - FILE - In this April 9, 1986 file picture, National Transportation Safety Board investigator John White kneels in front of the nose cone of the Challenger's right solid rocket booster at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Pool) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The vertical stabilizer or tail section of the Space Shuttle Challenger is seen on its side in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building, Wednesday, April 9, 1986, Kennedy Space Center. The Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff on January 28th killing seven astronauts on board. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver) (Bruce Weaver/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Jan. 31, 1986 file photo, Coast Guardsmen prepare to hoist the fulcrum of one of the space shuttle Challenger's solid rocket boosters onto the deck of U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas during salvage operations off the Florida coast. The Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff on Jan. 28. (AP Photo/File) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The front landing gear of the Space Shuttle Challenger as well as other structural components can be seen in this photograph taken in the storage area of the Kennedy Space Centers logistics building on June 12, 1986. NASA has recovered 35 percent of the shuttle, 50 percent of the solid rocket boosters and 15 percent of the external fuel tank. A NASA poster of the Shuttle is visible in the background of this photo. (AP Photo/James Neihouse) (James Neihouse/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger This is the portion of the right hand solid rocket booster at Kennedy Space Center, Florida on June 12, 1986, which is being blamed for the explosion on January 28, which destroyed the Space Shuttle Challenger and killed the 7 crew members. Visible in the lower left is the section which burned through and allowed hot gases to escape and burn into the External Fuel Tank. (AP Photo/James Neihouse) (James Neihouse/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The right wing of the space shuttle Challenger as it lies in a warehouse on the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, April 9, 1986. Shown in the background are representatives of the media who were allowed to view the wreckage for the first time. (AP Photo/Burce Weaver) (Burce Weaver/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - This Jan. 28, 1986 photo provided by NASA shows icicles on hand rails of the space shuttle Challenger's service structure on the morning of its final launch from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The cold weather affected O-ring seals on a solid rocket booster, causing the explosion during launch. (AP Photo/NASA) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger A Morton Thiokol worker washes a tarp covering a portion of a solid rocket booster that was retrieved from the floor of the Atlantic by the salvage ship, the Stena Workhorse, Wednesday, March 20, 1986, Port Canaveral, Fla. The segment might provide clues to NASA scientists as to the cause of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger if the segment proves to be right hand booster. (AP Photo/Thom Baur) (Thom Baur/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger John White, National Transportation Safety Board inspector, stands near the left side of the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Challenger, Wednesday, April 10, 1986, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The press was allowed to view the Challenger wreckage for the first time. (AP Photo) (AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger FILE - In this Feb. 11, 1986 file photo, former astronaut Neil Armstrong, a member of the presidential panel investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, listens to testimony before the commission in Washington, as David Acheson, a commission member, listens in the background. When Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, he captured the attention and admiration of millions of people around the world. Now fans of Armstrong and of space exploration have a chance to own artifacts and mementos that belonged to the modest man who became a global hero. The personal collection of Armstrong, who died in 2012, will be offered for sale in a series of auctions handled by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart, File) (Scott Stewart/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger Richard Feynman, a Nobel physicist and a member of the presidential commission investigating the Space Shuttle accident, shows reporters a demonstration he tried putting a piece of the shuttle "O-ring" in a cup of ice water for a few seconds, causing as he said "No resilience in this particular material" when the temperature reached 32 degrees, Feb. 11, 1986. Feynman raised the possibility that cold, pre-launch weather might have figured in the failures in the seal. Feynman talked to reporters at a lunch break of the commission meeting in Washington. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart) (Scott Stewart/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger In this Tuesday, July 21, 2015 photo, visitors look over display cases at the "Forever Remembered" exhibit and memorial for the astronauts that perished on the Columbia and Challenger space shuttles, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger This Tuesday, July 21, 2015 photo shows a side body panel of space shuttle Challenger, left, and the cockpit windows of Columbia, right, displayed at the Forever Remembered exhibit and memorial for the astronauts that perished on the two shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger In this Tuesday, July 21, 2015, photo, the left side body panel of space shuttle Challenger is displayed in a glass case at the "Forever Remembered" exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Challenger's wreckage _ all 118 tons of it, salvaged from the Atlantic _ was buried in a pair of former missile silos, 90 feet deep. The chamber containing this particular fuselage section had never been opened _ until the exhibit began to take shape. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux/AP)
Space Shuttle Challenger The names of the seven astronauts lost in the Challenger accident, engraved on the Space Mirror Memorial at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (NASA/NASA)