Remember that tragic day well.
I was attending COMSEC school, NS Mayport, FL
Duh
As an 11th grader at the time, I attended a special dinner maybe a month before the flight with Christine (teacher) and several of the other astronauts for that trip. I was one of 3 who had won a special school contest to design the patch they wore for their shuttle trip. Of course, it was super exciting meeting them and of course we all were thrilled to watch the day it went up. Just sitting there watching as the shuttle blew up after having met her and the others in person...well no words.
Why is old news being rehashed here? When the event happened, we learned that the rubber rings failed because of the temperature, yet the PTB forced the Go Ahead with the launch in spite of extreme protests from the engineers. Very old news.
From wikipedia: “The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. The exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown; several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. The shuttle had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.”
Had there been a crew compartment parachute or drogue speed reduction chute to slow the speed, and they not hit the water at 200 mph— several crew would have possibly survived.
Thankfully Bill Nelson is NO LONGER Senator from FL. When he was a congressman, his actions during the disaster (and these actions are documented, btw) made certain the true story of the last seconds of our astronauts were not publicly released. The “known to have survived the explosion” comment in wikipedia is unsourced, but did leak out of NASA.
His actions, specifically involved garbage bags of recovered remains (including those still inside a space helmet, for Onizuka), delivering these to the Patrick AFB med section, and not the Brevard County Coroner’s office, which FL law requires— at the time of recovery.
Looking for the original Miami Herald article— which is quite damning on Nelson’s protection of his nest egg NASA and contractors—. There is this revealing summary from the WaPo in 1988:
Here is from 1988 follow up article and Congressional hearing on the matter:
A tragic day
I was working in Saudi then and remember American-educated Saudi Engineers hi-fiving each other with glee. Saudis are not our friends.
I remember it was a cool crisp sunny day and I had just returned from a farm call after delivering a calf. I hadn’t even turned on the radio. I returned to the clinic and my partner was returning from a farm call and had been listening to the radio and told me to hurry up and turn on the TV and we watched the aftermath. Another day etched within a memory.
Brings back sad memories of this Free republic thread.
[AP SCOOP] Space Shuttle Columbia Will Be Visible In San Francisco Area (6AM Pacific)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/833885/posts
My family members worked on the Space Shuttle in Downey, CA from its start. The Challenger crash was very discouraging. Engineers reverse engineer rockets hundreds of ways. The Challenger was pushed by workers doing double shifts and lacking sleep. The O rings were defective and pushed through. The engineers were completely discouraged. President Reagan gave an excellent speech. And those darn O ring manufacturers were taking the brunt. Everyone wants precision and exactitude.
I was pulling asst. CQ duty at my unit at Ft. Lewis. I was walking down the hall and heard a radio going with what sounded like a live report, and the words “Shuttle accident”. I turned around and went to the day room, and all the lieutenants were gathered around the TV, watching the report. When they replayed the launch and explosion, one of the LT’s looked at me and said I’d turned white as a sheet.
For a space fan like me, it was a BAD day....