Seventeen Years Ago Today

January 28, 1986 | Ronald Reagan

[Indy Pendance]

The Challenger Disaster

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Ronald Reagan -- Oval Office of the White House, January 28, 1986

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.' They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them...

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'

[Indy Pendance]

Here's my stab at it....

The shuttle program was becomming 'ho-hum'. By hyping it that civilians were to be on that launch, it created more interest in the program. Thus, creating an opportunity for more profit in the end. I believe the managers placed PR above safety.

[Electron Wizard]

The shuttle launch could not be delayed because NASA desired the public accolades that would result from being mentioned by President Reagan during that night's "State of the Union" address. All federal agencies such as NASA are constantly engaged in raising funds from Congress. Having Reagan speak during a nationally televised speach about the "Teacher in Space" orbiting the earth at that moment would provide wonderfull PR with the American public, making it easier for NASA to put the bite on lawmakers for more funding.

I believe that there are two parties to blame. NASA, who put terrible pressure on Morton Thiokol to approve the launch, and management at Morton Thiokol, who ultimately yielded to that pressure.

When Thiokol redesigned the SRB joints, they had to perform several test firings as part of the normal process of proving the design to the government. I was part of a group of technicians who were hired on to assemble and instrument the test motors. Thiokol built a new test bay with a movable stucture around it, that could be heated and cooled to the provide the temperature exremes at which to test the motors. It also had a stand with hydraulic actuators that would connect to the external attach rings of the motors. The actuators would yank back and forth in different directions during test firings to simulate forces that occur during launch.

Of course to save energy costs, they ran the heated tests during the summer, and the cooled tests during the winter. We would have to go outside during the summer to cool down, and during the winter to warm up.

[aruanan]

I was watching through 20X80 binoculars. I saw the big puff and thought "That's not right" and then saw the boosters do their intertwining trails and ran back in to the radio. The announcer said, "There appears to have been a major malfunction." Someone in the shop said, "I bet it was an O-ring." And, weirdly enough, it turned out to be true.

[alisasny]

Some would argue that the hype surrounding the "TEACHER" mission is also to blame. Frankly that whole plan was ill advised.

[Thorondir]

I remember some discussion about the EPA forcing NASA to remove the asbestos from those giant O-rings, so that sea turtles would not be at risk for cancer. I heard that one of those "new and improved" O-rings failed and blew the whole thing to hell. But I didn't follow the story after that.

[MatthewViti]

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~dhb3k/shuttle.html

[alisasny]

It briefly occured that shuttle launches had become so common as to be unnoticeable.

Until it was time for teacher in space. The hype allowed mistakes and poor decisions to be made including the original decision to allow a civilian in space prematurely.

[MatthewViti]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/510552.asp?cp1=1

[Alberta's Child]

So, you're saying that the Shuttle was destroyed because it had a diverse crew?

No, I'm saying that NASA's desire to have a "diverse" crew was symptomatic of a careless, slack approach to shuttle missions.

Check out this web page -- it will show you photos of all the shuttle crews. There was not nearly the same "diversity" on those crews for quite a while.

http://www.astronautix.com/flights/index.htm

[Alberta's Child]

I found some interesting photos -- they aren't exactly what I remember seeing in Time or U.S. News & World Report, but they are similar.

In this first photo, there is a small brownish-grey object, clearly-defined against the sky in the background, located below the triangle-shaped plume that is emanating from the solid rocket booster. It is just below the point where the fiery plume turns into grey-colored smoke. If you zoom into this part of the photo and enhance the resolution, it appears that this object has a nose of some sort that is pointed up and slightly to the right. The size of this object, in proportion to the size of the rocket booster, would appear to be consistent with the size of the Challenger's crew cabin. The position of the object is also consistent with where the crew cabin would be in relation to the main explosion after it had separated from the rest of the shuttle.

There is clearly a cylindrical-shaped object in this photo, directly underneath the two smaller plumes at the top. Based on what I've read about the disaster, this may be a large piece of wreckage that was later recovered from the ocean floor -- a section of the main body of the shuttle between the tail and the crew cabin.

This third photo contains two distinct objects. I cannot refine the resolution of this photo enough to distinguish what exactly the object is near the bottom right corner, but it is clearly something solid from the shuttle that was not engulfed in the main explosion. There is also a long, cylindrical object in the center of the photo (between the two closely-spaced contrails) that appears to be the main booster rocket.

[austinTparty]

Wow. So was I--I was an exchange student in Germany, and I was in bed listening to "Armed Forces Radio". My mother sent me the American newspapers from that day, since I had no access to any in my village. I remember feeling terribly alone that day, because none of my classmates really shared the tragedy that I felt as an American at the news...

[Gracey]

Thanks for this fine post and for sharing. I have the complete set of the "...Presidents Commission..........." I got it from NASA Headquarters. How did you find these chapters?

[Gracey]

Thanks for this fine post and for sharing. I have the complete set of the "...Presidents Commission..........." I got it from NASA Headquarters. How did you find these chapters?

[Indy Pendance]

"How did you find these chapters?"

Internet search, that's how I did the thread. Unless you're talking something else..... Due to an extreme personal situation, I will never forget this date. I thought it was appropriate to post this thread.

[Gracey]

WOW. You were working for Governor Clinton? What happened to you since then?

[Gracey]

Frankly that whole plan was ill advised.

IMO, you're right. It seemed management was more interested in pleasing Washington D.C. and THEIR "teacher in Space" endeavor.

[Gracey]

You surely did your homework.

Just went and checked my library. I have Volumes I thru V of the Presidents Commission on the Space Shuttle...." So what happened that day to you??

Here's what I wrote on another post a short time ago as to where I was....

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Working for NASA/Houston, sitting in the Space Shuttle Program Manager's conference room, with many Shuttle managers and employees, watching the worst occurence in NASA's history.

The room was silent without a pin drop, for about 10 minutes after the event. Many in the room knew the crew members as coworkers and close friends. I personally had dinner with one of the female astronauts, Judy Resnik, about a week earlier, and had been invited to the launch by the Hawaiian astronaut, Ellison Onizuka, but it was a busy time at work.

Sad, how very sad. We could not believe the decision to GO FOR LAUNCH, for it was a dreadfully cold freezing day.

[Taxman]

"The failure was due to a faulty design unacceptably sensitive to a number of factors. These factors were the effects of temperature, physical dimensions, the character of materials, the effects of reusability, processing, and the reaction of the joint to dynamic loading."

Pure, unadulterated bullshit!

The failure was due to stupidity.

I did some research after the Challenger blew up. As I recall, the NASA design specifications for the solid rocket boosters called for ambient launch temperature to be at or above 59 degrees F for 24 hours prior to launch!

Re-read paragraph 12 in the accident report summary re: o-ring leaks above in launches above 61 F and below 61 F. The engineers knew that there was a high probability that the solid rocket casings would leak if ambient air temperature was below 61 F at launch time. That is why the Martin Thikol engineers tried to stop the launch.

The vehicle was launched after sitting in sub freezing temperatures overnight -- there was ice on it!

The Martin Thiokol engineers recommended "No Go." Management overrode them under intense pressure from NASA because NASA needed a "showcase" launch to quiet a restive Congress.

This was a preventable accident! The person/persons who made the "Go' decision should have been brought up on charges of Murder, First Degree!

Pure D human error. Politics/showboating got in the way of sound judgement.

I was on I-5 in San Diego, taking my son on an errand. I pulled over to the side of the road to listen to the broadcast and grieve for the crew.

Later, I was asked if I would go up in the shuttle. My response was, "Sure! As long as the ambient temperature is above 59 F!"

[Chemist_Geek]

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew -
And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

[Chemist_Geek]

I remember the Challenger explosion quite clearly, at least partly because January 28 is my birthday.

Hey, happy birthday to us, anyway ;)

Thanks, and you too. I was in elementary school, but, I left early for a dentist appointment. Heard Christopher Glenn on CBS Radio narrate the launch...