Remembering Challenger

[SteveCS]

Just a pause for thought for those caught between project milestones and engineering rigour that today is the 40th anniversary of the loss of Challenger, STS-51L and her crew: Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Christa McAuliffe and Greg Jarvis. Stick to your guns, folks!!

 

[hrodbert696]

1985-86 was my one year (sophomore) at Concord High School, where McAuliffe was a teacher. Moved up from Rundlett Jr. High (where the freshman class was at the time) and the next year left for boarding school. So I never had her as a teacher, but my sister and some friends had. She was much admired, a very positive and supportive instructor. I was in the cafeteria when the shuttle exploded; they had rolled TVs in, we watched the launch, and then I turned away to eat (I forget if it was actual lunch time or a snack). When I turned back there were those crazy twisting trails on the screen from where the booster rockets had flown off in different directions and I cracked a joke that it looked like they were letting Christa steer the thing. Then we realized what we were looking at and everything went silent. RIP.

That was the same year the cops killed a kid who brought a shotgun into school. It's been a controversy ever since whether it was about to be the first Columbine a few years before Columbine happened, or if it was a tragic mistake where his intention was misunderstood.

 

[SteveCS]

1985-86 was my one year (sophomore) at Concord High School, where McAuliffe was a teacher. Moved up from Rundlett Jr. High (where the freshman class was at the time) and the next year left for boarding school. So I never had her as a teacher, but my sister and some friends had. She was much admired, a very positive and supportive instructor. I was in the cafeteria when the shuttle exploded; they had rolled TVs in, we watched the launch, and then I turned away to eat (I forget if it was actual lunch time or a snack). When I turned back there were those crazy twisting trails on the screen from where the booster rockets had flown off in different directions and I cracked a joke that it looked like they were letting Christa steer the thing. Then we realized what we were looking at and everything went silent. RIP.

That was the same year the cops killed a kid who brought a shotgun into school. It's been a controversy ever since whether it was about to be the first Columbine a few years before Columbine happened, or if it was a tragic mistake where his intention was misunderstood.

Sorry for hitting so close to home - I guess with the size and scope of the TB demographic it was inevitable.

 

[sleddogn]

I skipped a geometry test at school that day to watch the launch, was in 10th grade. Def one of those moments you remember strong...

 

[gln1955]

I was in my office and someone said something about the shuttle blowing up. There was no internet, of course, so hunderds of people went over to the student union and huddled around the TV's there. It was heartbreaking to later know that some people thought they knew more than the engineers that built the thing.

 

[SoonerBill]

I was an electrician at the time. I was sitting in the van eating lunch when the news broke.

 

[atquinn]

We watched the launch live in my 5th grade science class. Crazy.

 

[J Wilson]

It's one thing to use military members for the shuttle flights, but I think it was a bad decision on NASA's part to include civilians in an inherently dangerous launch to orbit process. God Rest their Souls.

 

[JazznFunk]

I was.... 5 years old. I do remember it though. For better or worse, I have a memory like a steel trap going back that far. We were all watching it on the floor of our classroom and when it disintegrated, the TV was turned off very quickly. I don't remember much discussion after that.

 

[JazznFunk]

It's one thing to use military members for the shuttle flights, but I think it was a bad decision on NASA's part to include civilians in an inherently dangerous launch to orbit process. God Rest their Souls.

It was inherently bad to ignore the many warnings about the O-rings, etc that put everyone in danger. Same with Columbia's heat shield tiles. Same thing with the upcoming Artemis/Orion mission and the many warning bells that are being sounded about its heat shield design/construction. It has the potential to be another Columbia situation, but NASA seems intent on moving forward.

 

[wboyd68]

That was my senior year at my southern New Hampshire high school.

 

[Element Zero]

I watched it live on tv in Kindergarten.

 

[BassByBaldSteve]

I'd scammed the day off from school with a phony fever (sorry, Ferris; it always worked in my house) and watched from home alone while my folks were at work. Unforgettable tragedy.

 

[SteveCS]

heat shield design/construction

At least the heat shield is protected during launch. Colombia was doomed from 82s in. But again, multiple opportunities to change the outcome were missed, not least the option for visual inspection in orbit.

 

[gln1955]

It's one thing to use military members for the shuttle flights, but I think it was a bad decision on NASA's part to include civilians in an inherently dangerous launch to orbit process. God Rest their Souls.

Have to disagree here. There have been well over 100 civilian NASA astronauts. It's a good idea to not have our space program be military only and have a diverse contingent of scientists and engineers involved. Everyone who has gone up with NASA programs has been very well trained and aware of the risks.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Just a pause for thought for those caught between project milestones and engineering rigour that today is the 40th anniversary of the loss of Challenger, STS-51L and her crew: Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Christa McAuliffe and Greg Jarvis. Stick to your guns, folks!!
View attachment 7419949

I watched it live in my student room. I was studying physics. Everyone was watching it, pretty much. It's what you did back then. There was no streaming later so it was a shared experience with just about everyone I knew at university. The next day was pretty subdued, and this was the UK but a shared loss as it was cutting edge science and engineering and we all felt we were part of it somehow.

 

[BassBrass]

It was heartbreaking to later know that some people thought they knew more than the engineers that built the thing.

No one had died from That particular thing Yet, same with the heat shield damage. That's the nature of management. The oxygen mixture was changed after the Mercury fire killed 3.
This morning I heard on npr that report came out about the ascending helicopter vs descending plane crash (I believe in Washington) that we know here because a bunch of local ice-skaters were killed, and it turns out that the flaw in the approaches was known about and reported for Years but ignored. The two flightpaths were 50 yards away from each other and all it took was a series of unfortunate circumstances, and it was going to happen.

I remember where I was when I heard (on my walkman radio) at work, but I was also watching when Richard Fineman tried dunking some o-ring material into the ice water on his table and noticed that it became brittle.

 

[hrodbert696]

Sorry for hitting so close to home - I guess with the size and scope of the TB demographic it was inevitable.

No need to be sorry. This is kind of a shared bonding thing on all the CHS alumni's social media every year. It wasn't a personal loss for me, she went into the program the summer before I moved up to the high school. But it's a vivid memory.

 

[bucephylus]

RIP

A bit of misinformation in this thread.

The engineering specifications for the O-Rings were clear. Flight hold decision was over-ridden, due to external-to-NASA pressure to put “teacher in space.” That’s what happened; but please no further discussion in that respect. Just reading from the historical record.

BTW, Feynman later rather theatrically demonstrated the O-Ring issue for all to see.

The three tragic deaths earlier in the Apollo program occurred on the Apollo I launch pad, during the plugs out test; involving the fuel-heat-oxygen triangle.

 

[5StringBlues]

I've not seen the video of this in over 35 years.



Don't need to, the vision is burned in my brain.