The shuttle was 15 km (48,000 ft) above the earth when it was torn apart. The chemicals inside mixed together, ignited, and burst into a massive fireball that enveloped the entire shuttle. At the same time, the right rocket booster, which had started rotating, hit the structure that connected the two tanks together.īoth tanks ruptured. Outside of the crew cabin, the shuttle’s hydrogen tank had rammed into its liquid oxygen tank. Getty Images Christa Mcauliffe showing of a t-shirt of her home state, New Hampshire, which she distributed to her crew mates.

To NASA, the idea of pushing back the launch was ridiculous. “When do you want me to launch – next April?” It wasn’t a sincere question. “My God,” NASA’s Lawrence Mulloy replied. If they tried to launch in the winter, Boisjoly told them, it would end in “a catastrophe of the highest order.” Meanwhile, Roger Boisjoly, an engineer at Morton-Thiokol, called a meeting with NASA officials where he warned them of the same thing. If they launched in January, Ebeling warned, the crew wouldn’t make it far off the launchpad. In the freezing cold, however, they’d be too stiff to make a seal in time. In the past, NASA had survived its game of Russian Roulette because the melting O-rings had made a seal that stopped the gases from spilling out. Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Getty Images The remains of the crew were transferred to a C-141 transport plane at the NASA KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, headed for their memorial service. “Obviously,” a man says, “a major malfunction.” The Challenger Crew Assembles And the only hint of what it might be comes from the baffled, shaky voice of ground control slipping into the broadcast: The shuttle erupts in a ball of flame and smoke.Īs millions watch, the few pieces left of the shuttle that was supposed to carry the first teacher and her six crewmates into space tumble toward the Atlantic Ocean, leaving nothing but streaks of white smoke in their wake. This morning, it looked as though they were not going to be able to get off-”īut then he stops.

Over CNN’s broadcast, the anchor gleefully announces: “The 25th space shuttle mission is now on the way after more delays that NASA cares to count. Across America, teachers have rolled televisions into their classrooms so they can watch this historic moment unfold live.Īn estimated 17 percent of Americans, or more than 40 million people, are watching and waiting – every one of them unaware that they are about to witness one of the greatest disasters in space history. Onboard the shuttle is Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher chosen to become the first teacher in space. Millions of Americans are glued to their television screen, watching the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. January 28, 1986, at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time. How lies and gross negligence contributed to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, one of the worst disasters in NASA's history.

Nasa space shuttle challenger disaster