Challenger Disaster Details That Will Chill You To The Bone

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger took to the skies for a brief 73 seconds before a fiery demise. Here's what happened, minute by minute.

#Challenger #Crew #Shuttle

Impending disaster | 0:00
The countdown | 1:07
An aborted launch | 2:07
An appeal to scrub the mission | 2:59
Morton Thiokol backs down | 4:03
Debate continues | 4:54
Business as usual | 5:45
Seventy-three seconds | 6:41
Mission Control in denial | 7:44
Why it happened | 8:26‌

Voiceover by: Tim Bensch

[mikemurray]

I am a 75 year old retired structural engineer. I was attached to an Lockheed engineering team in 1986 assigned to the 51 – L Challenger at Kennedy Space Center. On Jan. 28 our launch time that morning was 0915 but Houston scrubbed that liftoff waiting for warmer temperatures for ignition. At 1100 launch was approved and ignition liftoff at 1138. I remember walking around Hanger Y debating with my colleagues tat the weather still freezing and the launch should be scrubbed, Houston thought otherwise. To scrub a launch and have to down load all that liquid and solid propellant cost millions and NASA was running a tight budget. At 1138 we had ignition and launch with icicles hanging off the booster stabilizers. I felt in my gut this was a mistake.

[dbcvisuals]

I lived just a mile from the McAuliffe family and had Christa as a teacher for Study Hall and other classes at Concord High School, NH. One of the most heart-wrenching moments of my life was riding my bike past their house that following June, seeing Steve mowing the lawn, and watching their two young children playing in the yard.

[tomnekuda]

As a science teacher, I had applied to NASA to ride the didn't make the cut. I watched, with my students, as this happened. It still makes me sick that someone played fast and loose with the crew's lives.

[Jeff-bzjp]

Thiokol engineer Allan McDonald was my neighbor in Ogden, Utah. I knew him well. He advised against the launch, still felt the grief well into the years of his retirement. He was a good dude, he passed away in March 2021 at 83, I think. RIP Allan.

Edit. Allan lived to be 83.

[jaguar]

Watched it live, will never forget it or the crew. The silence just after the explosion and my wife saying "There gone, may the lord have mercy on them" still fills me with sadness. RIP to the crew.

[martahernandez]

My Father an Aerospace Engineer worked on this Challenger. He was Senior Designer for hydraulics.
Joe Hernandez died from cancer three months later after the launch.
Miss you Dad, thanks for your countless hours of service, dedication to NASA, and for being a pioneer since Apollo 1

[DougTait-ftfd]

As a retired 25 year military pilot and then 15 year engineering test pilot, manned space program is the only US aviation operation I know of where the Pilot in Command has no input as to whether a flight is safe to fly. Chuck Yeager called it “Spam in a can”, meaning the pilot(s) are only along for the ride are not a part of the go, no-go decision process. When bureaucrats are allowed to override engineers, the closer to disaster you are going to get. The decision to go was a moral failure as well as an inexcusable call by NASA.

[on]

Retired licensed engineer. Struggled with bean counting managers for much of 40+ years.

[boboharperoldbobostillhere]

I've experienced this more than once in my career as an engineer. Worked for a company that had a major contract deliverable to one of our biggest customers. I sat in a meeting with my boss, VP of Engineering, the CTO, CEO and head sales guy. My boss was under pressure to ship the product and was asked if it was ready to go-live. He said yes, he thought it would be OK. I called BS and threw him under the bus saying it didn't work acceptably, not even close. In its present form it was a piece of junk.

Less than a week later, my boss popped his head in my office and told me my "position had been eliminated". After I moved on, I heard from others that they shipped anyway and of course the product fell flat on its face with the customer. But my boss and the execs found a way to blame the engineers for the failure and skated by.

[Mrminor]

Remember vividly watching launch at home. My children were young. It was horrific. My father worked on big guns for the navy. He said straight up, " The O rings malfunctioned." He nailed it.

[sammyseguin]

Ironic how the white collar people who will never be in harms way, get to veto the advice and recommendations of the blue collar people who actually designed and built the project.

[alicelindsley]

Yes, please remember ALL who died in the would think by all the articles that the teacher was the only one who died. Would be nice if the other names were mentioned as much!

[pooryorick]

I remember watching this live. It was two days after the Superbowl. I had the flu so I didn't go to work. But I was up early watching from the couch. When it happened I jumped up and started yelling that it blew up. That brought my parents and brother up the stairs where we all stared at the TV for an hour or so. I'll never forget that. RIP to the crew. 🙏☮️🇺🇸

[leesashriber]

I was a senior in highschool and we watched it in AP English. A gasp from everyone and then complete silence thru the classes and hallways. God bless them all. 🕊️🙏❤️

[StLProgressive]

I was a freshman in high school, watching this in my social studies class. I’ll never forget it. Such a horrible disaster. It was a Catholic school, so we had a prayer assembly later that afternoon. Everyone was still in shock, but it helped to talk about it, to feel like we were honoring them and their families. 😓🙏🏻

[booboolips]

I was working at a convenience store near the launch and remember listening to this on the radio and going outside and seeing the aftermath in the sky.

[russellh]

I trust engineers more than I trust managers in every aspect of life.

[nrlmmsr]

We cannot stop launch because "We have a schedule to keep" shameful.

[absinthemindedJ]

I was 5, and I remember it vividly. My friend's mom started crying, and we prayed.

[stanleysarjali]

When a teacher makes a mistakes, they wipe the blackbkard clean. When a manager makes a mistake, he resigns and moves on. When an engineer doesnt make a mistake...and people dont listen...people die. NASA was more concerned about their public image and the many delays, now this is a stain on the Shuttle legacy. God speed to the crew of the Challenger and Columbia