On January 28, 1986 should be a holiday. Millions of people worldwide still live on television the twenty-fifth launch of the space shuttle Challenger. It was a cold Tuesday of blue sky in Florida and in the grandstands at Cape Canaveral were the parents of teacher Christa McAuliffe, the first person who could travel into space without being an astronaut.
“We will all power, “the commander Dick Scobee from the Challenger, which began its tenth space mission.
A few seconds later, everything changed. In the place that still looked to Challenger big clouds of white smoke it was formed. “It seems as if some of the engines had blown apart by an explosion,” said CNN commentator Tom Mintier, visibly shocked
The spectators were immediately clear. None of the seven people they would board could survive the worst catastrophe ever recorded in American space history. It was the first time that American astronauts were killed on a mission. In the crash of Apollo, in 1967, they killed three astronauts, but it was a test launch on land.
So, in the place the commander Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, died pilot Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Judith Resnik, the payload specialist Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe teacher.
explanation
The NASA documented what happened to detail, 58.788 seconds after launch a tiny flame in one of the solid rocket propellant emerged. Just five seconds after the fire spread across the floor of the tank, and a hell of flames enveloped the spacecraft. At 74.587 seconds Challenger exploded into thousands of pieces to 16 kilometers high.
months it took to find the charred remains of the astronauts in the Atlantic.
They were soon clear the reasons of the accident: the low night temperatures were recorded before launch porous joints became one of the thrusters. During takeoff there was an escape of hot gases and the chain reaction was inevitable.
The NASA was aware for some time that there were problems with the joints and the consequences that could entail. However, he only acted upon after the tragedy. All shuttles were grounded for two and a half years and were reformed.
communication structures NASA also reorganized and plans to bring civilians into space were frozen until 2007. That year could jump to “Endeavour” teacher Barbara Morgan, who appeared as a substitute for Christa McAuliffe in the space program.
The shuttle program never failed to recover from this catastrophe. While it was revived 17 years after the Challenger accident occurred the tragedy of Columbia, which disintegrated with seven astronauts on board when it came into contact with the Earth’s atmosphere during the return trip.
The program I had to be suspended again for several years and was no longer possible to save him. In 2011 the “Atlantis” fulfilled the last shuttle mission
Today NASA uses companies like SpaceX for transport material to the International Space Station (ISS), while for manned missions depends on Russian ships, which wants to change soon.
Seven heroes died the day of the accident said the then US President, Ronald Reagan. He paid with his life the pioneering spirit of humanity, but successful space missions will continue, he added, “the future belongs to the brave.”
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