[zeebee]

Do you think the Challenger was blown up intentionally? If so, why?

To put a stop to our space program which indeed happened for quite a few years afterward.

If I recall correctly (and that's a big if), before the Challenger, spectators were allowed to get close to the launch. When the space program started up again, you had to be miles away.

A rifle shot could have caused the explosion and it would look like an O-ring failure.

</tinfoil hat>

[Big_Monkey]

"A rifle shot could have caused the explosion and it would look like an O-ring failure.

As someone pointed out in an earlier post, the o-ring failure was not a unique or new phenomenon to the Challenger. Not only was NASA aware of it, but they also recognized the potential for catastrophic failure because of it.

Additionally, a "rifle-shot" placed exactly at the o-ring seam would be THE rifle shot in the history of rifle shots. I don't know if you've ever been to the Kennedy Space Center, but the closest one can get is about a mile. I don't think Carlos Hathcock could make that shot.

[GovernmentShrinker]

A rifle shot could have caused the explosion and it would look like an O-ring failure.

I expect multiple people from Morton-Thiokol would have been very eager to point that out . . . if only there hadn't been incontrovertible evidence that the explosion was in fact caused by one of their faulty O-rings.

[messierhunter]

If I recall correctly (and that's a big if), before the Challenger, spectators were allowed to get close to the launch. When the space program started up again, you had to be miles away.

The closest anyone could get to a launch before challenger without a pass from their congressman was the NASA causeway. The closest anyone can get to a launch after challenger without a pass from their congressman is the NASA causeway. Since 9/11, on the other hand, it has become near impossible to get a pass to any place other than the causeway, which is now closely regulated itself. It's still possible to get close enough to get this view without any pass at all, however:



I almost got a pass to the press site (about 3 miles away) for one of the recent missions, but none of my friends who are KSC employees were available to escort me (can't get onto NASA property without a badge or an escort, even with a pass).