Challenger crew likely SURVIVED first seconds after explosion before capsule crashed into ocean
Challenger space shuttle crew likely SURVIVED first seconds after explosion before their capsule crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, book claims
- Crew members were likely conscious in the aftermath of the 1986 explosion
- Their capsule was ejected intact into the fireball just 73 seconds after the launch
- Kevin Cook’s new book looks at the life of teacher Christ McAuliffe, 37
- The social studies teacher won a NASA contest to earn a seat on the mission
The brave crew on board the Challenger space shuttle likely survived the first few seconds after its devastating explosion, a new book has claimed.
The capsule carrying crew members Michael Smith, Francis (Dick) Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe was ejected intact into the fireball, according to author Kevin Cook.
His new book ‘The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA’s Challenger’ claims that the crew ‘were conscious, at least at first, and fully aware that something was wrong’ in the immediate moments after the explosion over the Atlantic Ocean in Florida in 1986.
It is believed that the crew on board the shuttle were conscious when the explosion happened
(L-R front row) Astronauts Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair and (L-R, rear row) Ellison Onizuka, school teacher Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judith Resnik
As it later came to light, the cold weather had stiffened the rubber O-rings holding the booster sections together, which contained the explosive fuel.
What happened on board the Challenger Space Flight?
The shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Kennedy Space Flight Centre in Florida
There had been concerns on the morning that the Challenger Shuttle was due to fly in January 1986 because of cold temperatures and concerns around some of the equipment.
It was known that the O-rings, which hold the booster sections containing rocket fuel together, sometimes failed to fully expand in cold weather. This meant that a gap would be left between the booster sections, allowing the superheated fuel to burn through.
Video footage captured of the liftoff show smoke escaping from the booster sections, resulting in a small flame which grew and caused the explosion.
It is believed the crew on board survived the initial explosion, but that the terminal velocity of the fall of the shuttle back into the ocean at more than 200 miles per hour was fatal.
The cold meant that the rings failed to fully expand, leaving a gap of less than a millimetre between booster sections, allowing a few grams of superheated fuel to burn through.
Engineers tried to warn NASA against carrying out the launch due to the cold weather after an overnight frost, but they were overruled.
Just 73 seconds after liftoff, the small flame grew, rupturing the tank and igniting the hydrogen fuel, causing the explosion.
But, the interior of the crew cabin, which was protected by heat-resistant silicon tiles made to withstand re-entry, was not burned up.
Instead, it was sent blasting into the sky, subjecting the passengers to 20 G’s of force, which was far more than the three G’s their training had accustomed them to.
An investigation later found the jump in G-force had been survivable and the probability of injury was ‘low’.
The investigation also showed no sign of sudden depressurisation which would have knocked the passengers unconscious. Further examination of the wreckage also found that three of the astronauts’ emergency air supplies had been switched on, indicating that some of the crew had survived the initial explosion.
It is also believed that Mr Smith tried to restore power to their shuttle, as switches on his control panel had been moved.
The object dropped back down to earth some 12 miles above the Atlantic Ocean, reaching a terminal velocity of more than 200 miles per hour.
The final descent took more than two minutes.
Mr Cook’s book focuses in on Christa McAuliffe, 37, a social studies teacher who had won NASA’s Teacher in Space contest and earned herself a spot on the mission on January 28 as a payload specialist.
As the would be first civilian in space, there was huge media attention on the flight, with Mrs McAuliffe hoping to prove that ‘teachers have the right stuff too’, after she beat 11,000 candidates to be on the mission.
In August 1984, after marrying her former high school boyfriend Steve McAuliffe, having two children and landing her dream job teaching social studies at Concord High School, she spotted a headline reading ‘Reagan wants teacher in space.’
Mr Cook writes: ‘With the election three months away,’ the author writes, ‘the president and his advisors saw a chance to promote the space program and win teachers’ votes in one stroke.’
Christa McAuliffe (right, sat with her backup crew member Barbara Morgan) was a social studies teacher who had won NASA’s Teacher in Space contest and earned herself a spot on the mission
She applied along with some 11,000 other teachers and was ultimately selected to board the flight.
In the months before the flight, Mrs McAuliffe went through rigorous training, but the flight was hit with several delays, including an attempt on January 26 1986 which was scrapped due to rain.
Another attempt the following day was scrapped after NASA techs struggled to fix a hatch malfunction.
The fatal flight flew the following day, despite concerns over the cold weather.
Mrs McAuliffe was buried in Concord in an unmarked grave as her husband feared that tourists would come to the site.
Just 73 seconds after liftoff, a small flame grew, rupturing the tank and igniting the hydrogen fuel, causing the explosion
In the months before the flight, Mrs McAuliffe went through rigorous training, but the flight was hit with several delays
Then-president Ronald Regan ordered a probe into the Challenger catastrophe, where it was found that poor management and a disregard of safety advice were said to have played a role in the accident.
It’s believed that there were several pressures that may have pushed the agency to go through with the launch when it would have been better to wait.
The first was that NASA was scheduling several launches that year and may have wanted to show that they could meet their deadlines.
The other factor was that Reagan was scheduled to give his State of the Union speech that night, and wanted to brag about the launch in his address.
The failure resulted in a nearly three-year lapse in NASA’s shuttle program, with the next shuttle, Discovery, taking off on September 29, 1988.
NASA ended the shuttle program for good in 2011, retiring the remaining vessels and instead opting for multimillion-dollar rides on Russian Soyuz capsules to get U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.
WHEN DID NASA LAST LAUNCH CREWED MISSIONS FROM THE US?
Shuttle Columbia is shown during lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in 2003
NASA launched its first space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1), from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981.
In the three decades that followed, the space agency deployed a total of 135 missions from US soil.
Columbia was only the beginning; following in its footsteps, NASA launched Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor to carry people to orbit.
These launches also allowed for the construction of the International Space Station – the largest structure in space, that’s now home to a revolving crew of astronauts from all around the world, conducting important experiments that continue to advance our knowledge of the cosmos.
The shuttle missions came to an end with the Atlantis shuttle on July 21, 2011 after STS-135.
In the years since, NASA has had to rely on Russian modules to send astronauts to the ISS, all of which launch from foreign soil.
Now, the space agency is stepping up efforts to bring crewed launches back home.
On August 3, 2018, NASA revealed the nine astronauts that will soon take to space aboard the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, to pioneer a ‘new era in American spaceflight.’
The crew flight tests will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in 2019.
The shuttle missions came to an end with the Atlantis shuttle on July 21, 2011 after STS-135. Above, Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fl, marking the official end of the 30-year program
