Challenger Disaster :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Challenger DisasterIt was on January 28, 1986 at 1138 A.M. that the shuttle Challenger, NASA fledge 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 cooler than any introductory launch by NASA. It was the Challengers tenth flight. Take-off had been delayed several times. Finally the shuttle had taken off. The shuttle had climbed high in the sky thirty-five seconds after take-off, and it was acquire hit by strong winds. The on board computers were making continuous adjustments so the shuttle would stay on course. nigh eight miles in the air, round seventy-two seconds after take-off, people 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 onerous to find what went wrong almost right away. They studied the film of the take-off. When they studied the film, th ey noticed a small jet of flame coming from inside the showcase for one of the rocket boosters. The flame got bigger and bigger. It started to touch a strut that connected the booster to the big elicit tank attached to the space shuttle. About 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 punctured the fuel tank, which caused a big explosion. Even though people knew what had happened, they didnt know 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 sealed 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 preliminary missions of the Challenger, the o-rings were found to be worn away by the hot g asses. The o-rings had been tested and the results had shown that the o-rings were a lot more likely to fail in cold 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 Lieutenant Ellison Onizuka, an Air Force Officer Commander Michael Smith, a Navy officer 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.