'A Major Malfunction ...' The Story Behind the 1986 NASA Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (1994)

Description to be updated

[Pymmeh]

What a great documentary and a total contrast to today's docutainment industry. No 5 minute program destroying introduction, no relentless repetition because the audience can't be trusted to remember anything after an ad break. Oh yeah and it's two and a half hours long, why? Because it needs to be to do the material justice.

[BBT]

Roger Boisjoly & Allan McDonald are the real MVPs in this WHOLE situation. Speaking up and OUT.

RIP McDonald & Boisjoly. Lawrence Mulloy also passed, 2014.

[mdaddy]

Documentaries were really done differently in the 1990s, less reliant on flashy effects and more focused on the essentials. Great stuff

[TheRetroShed]

An engineer is not a salesperson. They are rarely management material. They don’t have an agenda other than to see something they have created perform it’s job. If an engineer ever tells you something is dangerous - you’d better damn believe them and take action. Because they are just being totally honest. This wasn’t an accident. It was arrogance. Those poor souls need not have died.

[ianbell]

This is an outstanding documentary on the loss of Challenger. Probably the best I have ever seen. I’ve participated in hundreds of flight readiness reviews in my FTE career and never have I encountered such a upside down logic…”prove that it is not safe” rather than “prove that it is safe” to fly. Roger Boisjoly stands out as a man of incredible integrity and courage. I also never realized that there may have been undue pressure from the Whitehouse to fly because of the State of the Union address the evening of the launch. Such a sad event on a human level and also from an organizational standpoint. Thank you for posting.

[bandingo]

I appreciate the in depth of this documentary. Actually I love it. Seeing the management squirm under being questioned by a panel of folks wondering what happened.
Also the mentioning of prior launches with o-rings. The thing I love most about this is there's no ad interruptions so it's perfect to fall asleep to or it's perfect for background noise without the worry of advertisements.

[cloud]

I was 5 when this happened. My mother was one of the finalists from my state and 'almost' won the seat for the teachers slot. she was a few steps removed from being on that shuttle. I cannot fathom growing up without her and seeing these interviews. I'll keep those thoughts to myself. What a pointless tragedy. so absolutely heartbreaking.

[invernessity]

This is by far the most comprehensive documentary on the Challenger disaster. The interviews included are very informative. Thank you very much for posting this!

[brianmcginley]

A tragic and unnecessary loss of 7 men and women, all due to Morton Thiokol *and* NASA management failing to listen to the engineers who knew it was a massive risk and high chance of Loss of Mission.
Excellent documentary and I commend the producers.

[SumTingWong]

The first time I saw a grown-up cry was when I was sitting in class as a sixth grader and my teacher started to cry when the principal announced the explosion over the intercom. That was 35 years ago and I can still remember her face like it was yesterday.

[craigmahon]

I have read and viewed just about everything about this avoidable disaster. I hadn’t realized the degree NASA tried to cover their tracks and deflect blame until now.

[JS-kdjf]

I agree with the majority of comments, , , this is by far the best documentary of the challenger disaster that I've ever seen!! Very informative and interesting, , , rest in peace the crew of challenger!!!! Amen

[armandorjusino]

Thank you very much for all the effort you put into this. It is clear that they made a terrible mistake but what really makes it worse it was tha cover up and and the repercussions on the whistle blowers. A sad regrettable moment in the space program, paid with human lives, that we will never forget.

[pedrobarahona]

For some strange reason I’ve been always touched deeply by this tragedy. I was 13 at the moment and being from Chile I could feel it as a “foreign accident”, but I felt it and still feel it like a “familiar tragedy”. First time I see this documentary. I’ve seen them all (or that’s what I thought) and it’s fantastic. Doesn’t go to the emotional side of the story, talking about crew’s families, but explain many of the dark sides of the (not) accident. Great!

[DJ-jnon]

I still remember watching it live and being completely shocked when it blew up. Shame on those that ignored the engineers advice which cost those astronauts lives.

[jasonrfoss]

Funny that Allan McDonald was not interviewed for this program. He was one of the more outspoken critics of the launch decision and has never been shy about appearing in documentary programs regarding the disaster and even wrote a book about it. My guess is that because he was still employed by Morton Thiokol in 1992 that he was gagged and barred from participating.

[Cursedleftfoot]

Thank you for uploading this, its very educational in many areas. Its the best doco ive seen on this!

[SilverWalker]

Anytime a president appointments a special commission to investigate an event you can just about guarantee it's to cover something up.

[rokvam]

Simply fantastic! This is how you tell a story!

[MeMeVoyageOf]

One of the best documentaries ever!! This should have been shown to high school and college students back in the day. So many people who remember this tragedy don't know the real truth behind it all. How sad.