Posted on 01/27/2006 9:29:40 AM PST by John W
HOUSTON - Twenty years ago, millions of television viewers were horrified to witness the live broadcast of the space shuttle Challenger exploding 73 seconds into flight, ending the lives of the seven astronauts on board. And they were equally horrified to learn in the aftermath of the disaster that the faulty design had been chosen by NASA to satisfy powerful politicians who had demanded the mission be launched, even under unsafe conditions. Meanwhile, a major factor in the disaster was that NASA had been ordered to use a weaker sealant for environmental reasons. Finally, NASA consoled itself and the nation with the realization that all frontiers are dangerous and to a certain extent, such a disaster should be accepted as inevitable.
At least, that seems to be how many people remember it, in whole or in part. That’s how the story of the Challenger is often retold, in oral tradition and broadcast news, in public speeches and in private conversations and all around the Internet. But spaceflight historians believe that each element of the opening paragraph is factually untrue or at best extremely dubious. They are myths, undeserving of popular belief and unworthy of being repeated at every anniversary of the disaster.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Ditto. I was in 3rd grade when it happened. Sister Mary Kate herded all of us kids into the 5th & 6th grade classroom to watch the shuttle taking off, and it was a VERY big deal because at the time the media coverage surrounding Christa McAuliffe was insane.
Immediately after that, all us kids got herded down to the cafeteria for a very early lunch, then we all went to the chapel for a special mass that afternoon. I'll never forget it, it was my "Where were you when it happened moment", much like 9/11.
What you say is true. But there's a theory propounded by Dr. Morris Massey. He's some kind of psychologist I think. Dr. Morris Massey explains three self-programming periods we go through in developing our value systems: imprinting, modeling and socialization. Deep-seated values are "programmed" in at an early age and remain with us at a subconscious level , guiding our adult behavior and determining our world view. His theory is that in order to related to different generations you have to understand that what one is is based on where they were when they were 10.
After that a person pretty much is who they are and only a significant emotional event (that usually occurs in the twenties) will drastically alter that. If someobody hasn't had such a significant emotional event by their mid-thirties, no event no matter how serious will change their outlook.
Single events however at age 10 would not really have a significant impact on somebody, unless the repercussions to the events are long lasting. So you can tell which orfice these people are talking out of if their breath smells like farts.
Thanks, That was a really weird day.
I was stunned when I was told that the shuttle exploded. I was incredulous. I couldn't believe it. I was told they said it was pretty high up when it blew. I was stunned that they launched. We just had a major snow storm come through a day or two before here in Detroit, and it got major cold afterwards. It was sub freezing in Florida the night before. Before I knew anything more, I stated that I was putting my money somewhere between 40 to 60 thousand feet. "Dude they almost made it into orbit when it blew." I said, no way, I can't believe they launched it.
He came back a little bit later and told me with a certain amazement at my precience that it blew at 43000'. I had to explain to him that the greatest hydrodynamic stresses would be as it punched through the tropopause right as its going hypersonic. I told him I was an ex-weather specialist in the Air Force so I knew something about those things. You read accounts of astronauts and there's significant buffeting between 40 to 60k and after that the ride goes smooth as silk (like riding an elevator).
I was absolutely floored that they launched that morning.
The piece that broke off used the original freon formula.
10-4!
I have seen several stories that said there was a change.
This is the first that I have seen that it was the original.
I'm missing something here. I keep reading posts relating to "foam fallin off.." I thought that was the cause of the Columbia disaster. What does this talk of foam have to do with Challenger?
Not being a wise guy...just confused.
This same thing happens to pilots who fly in marginal weather. They rationalize that if they got away with it this time, they are OK and it is alright to go through worse weather next time.
Eventually they go to far and they have given away all their margins of safety. They then crash and the crash is blamed on a small plane being caught by bad weather. The implication being that small planes are dangerous.
It doesn't matter what you are doing, if you give away your safety margins, you are asking for trouble.
I would bet that they didn't advise the pilot that they were giving away his safety margins, but it is OK because we gave some away before.
Ah, my bad. I meant Columbia, sorry.
No problem, now I have to say "sorry" to Dan(9698) for my lack of reading comprehension.
The first was because the Director launched it when it was too cold. It was not caused by insulation, an O ring blew out because it was stiff from the cold.
The second was because the formulation was changed for the foam insulation on the external fuel tank.
Both were departures from the original design.
The first from the arrogance of the Doctor of Education who had authority to make a decision he was not competent to make, and the second because the environmentalists who forced a change in the formulation by getting Freon banned.
Normally an aircraft is only permitted to fly if it compiles with its airworthiness certificate. That means that it must be used as it was approved.
Any unauthorized deviations from the original design is forbidden. You can see why.
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