Posted on 01/28/2016 9:25:23 AM PST by patriotgal1787
I was working with NASA as a public information officer attached to the press site at Kennedy Space Center. My job that morning was to deliver pre-launch commentary at the communication console inside the Launch Control Center at the Cape.
I began my shift at the microphone at about 3am, about the time the tanking operations got underway when millions of pounds of pressurized hypergolic fuels were being pumped into the behemoth at Launch Pad 39-B as the seven astronauts breakfasted before suiting up for the big event.
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IIRC, it was an “o” ring.
My dad worked for Morton Thiokol at the time.
An o-ring that was not suited for the cold weather that day, and the engineers new it.
NASA made big budgetary promises they could not keep, ignored the whistleblower, and killed 7 people.
That is the official story. However, on the morning of the launch there was a crack in the support structure connecting the shuttle to the fuel tank. Vibration during flight broke the structure and punctured the fuel tank under the rear of the shuttle. There is evidence for this in Challenger videos. Just before the explosion there is fire just under the rear of the shuttle next to the fuel tank. Secondly watch the video of the boosters after the explosion. Both are flying in an identical fashion with exhaust coming from the rear nozzle indicating the solid fuel is still burning. There is no indication of a burn through to damage the fuel tank on either booster which would still have been spewing smoke from the O-ring burn through.
The video of Ronald Reagans speech is clear on these issues. A contractor took the hit and NASA was protected.
bfl
At the time, I was the Plans and Operations Officer for the 8th Infantry Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. I was called from my office by my guys in the Emergency Action Center. They had Armed Forces Network on the TV and they were getting the CNN feed. They were looping the explosion every few seconds. After a quick look, I walked down the hall to the Division Chief of Staff and told him what had happened and walked him back to the Emergency Action Center.
We had a contingency plan for any emergency related to the Space Shuttle, primarily for security in case the shuttle was forced to land in Spain or North Africa. The Chief of Staff was a bit of a nervous nelly in times like this so he ordered me to start alert for our contingency and to get the division in gear. I pointed out that I did not believe that any of the pieces would make it to Spain or Africa, but he was not having any of it. So the orders went out and I called the Corps and USAREUR EACs and told them they we were alerting and would be ready if needed. One of the comments was that this was serious and they didn’t need any joking around. We got a stand down message promptly.
I believe the "official" story.
A flash but no smoke from the burning propellant. Not possible.
And the really sad thing is the whole Space Shuttle program was a major waste of resources. We could of built something like 50 more Saturn V rockets and sent a lot more astronauts and payloads into orbit—for the billions we spent on the boondoggle of the Shuttle.
The re-usable aspect of the Shuttle was supposed to make it more economical....and it fit in well with the Boomer preoccupation with recycling, but that was all bunk. Used up a lot more money/time/resources, and in this case, lives....than if we’d relied on the tried and true rocket technology developed in Apollo.
The Russians are still using the same kinds of booster rockets they developed in the ‘60s...with rock solid reliability (and no ceasing of sending people up....).
My memory of the event is sort of macabre - there was at about the same time as the launch was scheduled also to be a major prize fight - I don’t remember between whom - but as I walked into the house at noon right after the disaster, my wife announced to me that “the Challenger blew up” and it took me a minute to grasp that she was talking about the space flight and not one of the fighters in the upcoming ring battle - just to add a little more bizarreness to the picture....
Actually there is video of it. There was a o ring failure period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXiQGs1QaIs
I also recall that the Rodgers Commission found pieces of the External Fuel Tank that showed evidence of being burned through, almost like a plasma torch had been taken to them. That matches up with the official inquiry.
Imagine knowing and you did nothing about it
Understatement of the century?
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