Challenger Disaster :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Challenger DisasterIt was on January 28, 1986 at 1138 A.M. that the hiss Challenger, NASA flight 51-L, the twenty-fifth shuttle flight, took off. It was the Teacher in Space mission. At lift-off, the temperature at ground level was 36 Fahrenheit, which was 15 Fahrenheit armoured combat vehicle than any previous launch by NASA. It was the Challengers tenth flight. Take-off had been delayed some(prenominal) times. Finally the shuttle had taken off. The shuttle had climbed high in the jactitate thirty-five seconds after take-off, and it was getting hit by strong winds. The on board computers were making continuous adjustments so the shuttle would stay on course. active eight miles in the air, about seventy-two seconds after take-off, population watched in fear and horror as the shuttle was engulfed by a huge fire ball. All the crew members were killed instantly. Engineers and scientists began trying to find what went impairment almost right forth. They studied the film of the ta ke-off. When they studied the film, they noticed a small jet of flame coming from inside the cuticle for integrity of the rocket booster shots. The flame got bigger and bigger. It started to touch a strut that affiliated the booster to the big fuel tank attached to the space shuttle. about(predicate) two or three seconds later, hydrogen began leaking from the gigantic fuel tank. About seventy-two seconds after take-off, the hydrogen caught on fire and the booster swung around. That pierce the fuel tank, which caused a big explosion. Even though people knew what had happened, they didnt survive why it had happened. Gradually people found the answer. Heres why it happened the rocket boosters casing was made in different sections. These sections were attached to each other and smashed together with o-rings-rubber rings. The o-rings were held in their places by the pressure of the hot gasses, which were from the rocket booster after it was ignited. On previous missions of the Chal lenger, the o-rings were found to be worn away by the hot gasses. The o-rings had been tested and the results had shown that the o-rings were a lot more presumable to fail in rimed or freezing weather. That was what happened on the cold morning of January 28, 1986. The people on board the shuttle on January 28, 1986 were surrogate Ellison Onizuka, an Air Force Officer Commander Michael Smith, a dark blue policeman Christa McAuliffe, a high-school teacher in New Hampshire Dick Scobe, a Navy officer Greg Jarvis, an engineer Judy Resnik, an astronaut and Ronald McNair, an astronaut.