Challenger Shuttle Disaster.

:lol::lol::lol: Thank God, I was finished drinking my 2nd cup of English Breakfast Tea, or it would have been all over my keyboard.

 

Saw a documentary on the possible series of events that lead to the disaster. Due to the cold the O rings in the extra rockets could not seal in time, and there was no barrier to the gases. However the aluminum oxides from the burned solid propellant sealed the damaged joint. So actually the rocket might have exploded at the start phase but seemed like being saved from disaster.

Beginning at about T+37, the shuttle experienced a series of wind shear events over the next 27 seconds that were the strongest recorded to date in the shuttle program. At T+58.788, a tracking film camera captured the beginnings of a plume near the aft attach strut on the right SRB.The force of the wind shear shattered the temporary oxide seal that had taken the place of the damaged O-rings, removing the last barrier to flame rushing through the joint. Had it not been for the wind shear, the fortuitous oxide seal might have held through booster burnout.

At T+64.660, the plume suddenly changed shape, indicating that a leak had begun in the liquid hydrogen tank, located in the aft portion of the external tank.

At least some of the astronauts were likely alive and briefly conscious after the breakup, as three of the four Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) on the flight deck were found to have been activated. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply roughly consistent with the expected consumption during the 2 minute 45 second post-breakup trajectory.

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Don't know if anybody else picked up on this, but I saw it yesterday but when I went to find it again I forgot where it was. Anyhoooooo.

Goto:

New Challenger Video: Super 8 Film Of Space Shuttle Disaster Uncovered (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

 

I was in the 6th grade at the time, and remember being rather excited to get out of math class as they trooped us all down to the library to watch the school's TV. After about the third repetition of no-news and talking-heads, we kids sorta tuned it out and enjoyed the freedom from fractions.

For the Columbia, I was already out of the Navy, sharing a small apartment with a guy from church down in Round Rock Tx. Got up early that Saturday morning for some reason (Navy-induced insomnia still hit me on occasion back then). I was playing a computer game (probably Diablo), and remember hearing this loud boom and some rumbling. Walked outside, and could see what looked like a couple of contrails in the sky. Walked back inside, and it was all over the morning news. After the initial reports, I turned off the TV (still hate all the non-news-talking-head-toilet-bowl after-action spin) and called my girlfriend, who lived outside of Dallas to make sure she was okay (talking heads were anxiously discussing the dangers of falling debris in the north-Texas area).

On 9-11, I was driving in to work, and had turned off my radio for some peace and quiet that morning. I worked in retail at the time, for possibly one of the worst bosses I've ever had. Walked into the break room to get ready for the day, and it was on TV. I stopped and just stood, watching, as the first tower burned. At that point, it was still just a tragic airplane accident. Then a camera captured the second tower. Even I knew that "coincidence" didn't stretch that far. My first thought was a very un-Christian-like "nuke the basturds." (that still hasn't changed much) I turned around to punch in, and when I turned back, the Pentagon was burning, and they were showing images of wreckage in a field. I unplugged the TV and carried it up to the customer service desk. Manager didn't even say a word. We all grabbed chairs from the office furniture display and wheeled them up to the front (a fine tradition established during an evening of massive thunderstorms and tornadoes that spring). We had one customer in the store that entire day...he worked at a teen clothing store a few shops down, and was thirsty, so he came over and bought a Pepsi from us, since everything else had closed. The store lost quite a bit of money that day on payroll and utilities, but the Army/Navy/Marine recruiting station elsewhere in the shopping center had a rather long line the next Monday when I came in.