Space Shuttle
Challenger
Matt Tanaka
Bryent Kaneshiro
What is the space shuttle
challenger???
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This was NASA’s second space shuttle orbiter
to be put into service.
The shuttle was built in Rockwell’s
International Space Transportation Systems
Division in Downey, California.
It was named after the Apollo 17 lunar model,
named Challenger, which landed on the moon
in 1972
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Challenger was one of
the most successful
space shuttles because
it flew on 85% of all
space shuttle missions.
It featured many
spaceflight
accomplishments such
as having the first
American woman, first
african american, and
canadian in space.
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
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On January 28, 1986,
the space shuttle
Challenger broke apart
73 seconds after take
off, leading to the
deaths of seven crew
members.
The spacecraft
exploded over the
Atlantic Ocean, off the
coast of central Florida.
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Disintegration of the spacecraft began after an
o-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster failed
at liftoff.
The o-ring failure caused a breach in the solid
rocker booster joint it sealed, allowing
pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket
motor to reach the outside and affect upon the
adjacent solid rocket booster attachment
hardware and external fuel tanks.
This led to the separation to the right solid
rocket booster attachment and structural failure
of external tank.
Aerodynamic forces quickly broke up
Challenger.
7 Astronauts
1. The spacecraft commander was Francis R. Scobee
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He was born on May 19, 1939, in Cle Elum, Washington, and
graduated from the public high school in Auburn, Washington, in
1957. In 1965 completed a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering
from the University of Arizona.
2. The pilot was Michael J. Smith
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born on April 30, 1945 in Beaufort, North Carolina. Smith had been
educated at the U.S. Naval Academy and received an M.S. in
Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in
1968.
3. Judith A. Resnik was one of three mission specialists on Challenger.
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Born on April 5, 1949 at Akron, Ohio, a respected Akron
optometrist. Attending Carnegie-Mellon University, where she
received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1970, and the
University of Maryland, where she received Ph.D in 1977.
4. Ronald E. McNair was the second of three mission specialists
aboard Challenger.
Born on October 21, 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina. He
achieved early success in the segregated public schools he attended
as both a student and an athlete. Attended North Carolina A&T State
University where in 1971 he received a B.S. degree in physics where
he specialized in quantum electronics and laser technology,
completing his Ph.D. In 1977.
5. Ellison S. Onizuka, was the last of the three mission specialists.
He had been born in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii, on June 24,
1946, of Japanese-American parents. He attended the University of
Colorado, receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering in June and
December 1969, respectivelyHe also participated in the Air Force
R.O.T.C. program, leading to a commission in January 1970. Onizuka
served on active duty with the Air Force until January 1978 when he
was selected as a NASA astronaut.
6. Gregory B. Jarvis, a payload specialist
Worked for the Hughes Aircraft Corp.'s Space and
Communications Group in Los Angeles, California, and had been
made available for the Challenger flight by his company.Jarvis had
been born on August 24, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan.
7. The last member of the crew was Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first
teacher to fly in space.
Selected from among more than 11,000 applicants from the education
profession for entrance into the astronaut ranks, McAuliffe had been born on
September 2, 1948. McAuliffe attended Framingham State College in her
hometown, graduating in 1970. She took a job teaching in the secondary
schools, specializing in American history and social studies.
Before The Takeoff
Liftoff was initally scheduled from at 3:43 p.m. EST on January 22, 1986. then Jan.
24, due to delays in mission 61-C and finally reset for Jan. 25 because of bad
weather at transoceanic abort landing (TAL) site in Dakar, Senegal. The launch was
again postponed for one day when launch processing was unable to meet new
morning liftoff time. Predicted bad weather at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) caused
the launch to be rescheduled for 9:37 a.m. EST, Jan. 27, but it was delayed another
24 hours when ground servicing equipment hatch closing fixture could not be
removed from orbiter hatch.
The fixture was sawed off and an attaching bolt drilled out before closeout
completed. During this delay, the cross winds exceeded limits at KSC's Shuttle
Landing Facility. There as a final delay of two hours when a hardware interface
module in the launch processing system, which monitors fire detection system, failed
during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures. The Challenger finally lifted off at
11:38:00 a.m. EST.
The Explosion
When the spaceship blew up, there was no shock wave, no detonation, no
"bang" — viewers on the ground just heard the roar of the engines stop as
the shuttle’s fuel tank tore apart, spilling liquid oxygen and hydrogen which
formed a huge fireball at an altitude of 46,000 ft. But both solid-fuel strap-on
boosters climbed up out of the cloud, still firing and unharmed by any
explosion. Challenger itself was torn apart as it was flung free of the other
rocket components and turned broadside into the Mach 2 airstream.
Individual propellant tanks were seen exploding — but by then, the
spacecraft was already in pieces.
The flight, and the astronauts’ lives, did not end at that point, 73 seconds
after launch. After Challenger was torn apart, the pieces continued upward
from their own momentum, reaching a peak altitude of 65,000 feet before
arching back down into the water. The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45
seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive
until then. But once the cabin hit the water greater than 200mph everything
inside would be crushed and killing the astronauts.
The Aftermath
The reaction was immediate, from the crowds of family and friends gathered to
watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, to the millions tuned in worldwide,
most people were stunned. In a speech later that day, President Ronald Reagan
expressed the feelings of many who were grieving. All shuttle missions were halted
while a special commission appointed by President Reagan determined the cause of
the accident and what could be done to prevent such disasters from happening
again.
Works Cited
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11031097/ns/technology_and_sciencespace/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
http://history.nasa.gov/Biographies/challenger.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger
http://space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger_2.htm
http://www.aerospaceguide.net/spaceshuttle/challenger_disaster.html