Seventy-three seconds after takeoff, the shuttle exploded due to what would be determined as a faulty solid-rocket booster. McAuliffe was set to be the first teacher in space. McNair, an astronaut and physicist, was the second Black American to fly in space. We express our condolences to the people of the United States and to the families of those who were killed in the accident.
The disaster spawned an investigation into the cause of the explosion called the Rogers Commission Report. The fault in the booster engine was determined to have been caused by rubber O-rings meant to seal rocket boosters.
The O-rings were never tested to withstand extreme cold, as was encountered as the shuttle flew higher on the morning of the explosion. The space shuttle was engulfed in a cloud of fire just 73 seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of some 46, feet 14, meters.
It looked like an explosion, the media called it an explosion and even NASA officials mistakenly described it that way initially. But later investigation showed that in fact, there was no detonation or explosion in the way we commonly understand the concept. The fuel tank itself collapsed and tore apart, and the resulting flood of liquid oxygen and hydrogen created the huge fireball believed by many to be an explosion.
After the collapse of its fuel tank, the Challenger itself remained momentarily intact, and actually continued moving upwards. Without its fuel tank and boosters beneath it, however, powerful aerodynamic forces soon pulled the orbiter apart. The pieces—including the crew cabin—reached an altitude of some 65, feet before falling out of the sky into the Atlantic Ocean below. The five astronauts and two payload specialists that made up the STS L crew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in January of Crew members are left to right, front row astronauts Michael J.
Smith, Francis R. It was 35 years ago today Jan. The shockwaves through NASA and its aerospace and defense partners were immense, and it took more than two years to resume flights after an external investigation, redesigns and other measures. The accident also caused a few program cancellations, such as an astronaut jetpack that flew spacewalkers on satellite rescue missions and a plan to launch space shuttles from California in addition to Florida.
Infographic: The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: what happened? Discover the story of how and why NASA was created, its greatest triumphs, darkest days, and of the times it exceeded all possible hopes. A tale of adventure, heroism and resourcefulness, learn of the space agency's greatest achievements and how — over six decades — the organization has consistently and tirelessly devoted itself to its founding principle: that "activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humankind".
A lengthy investigation of the accident conducted by the independent Rogers Commission revealed a plethora of safety issues. Among the commission's findings were a flawed decision-making process for launch , and managers not fully appreciating the dangers of launching a space shuttle in cold weather. The ultimate technical cause was "destruction of the [solid rocket booster] seals that are intended to prevent hot gases from leaking through the joint, during the propellant burn of the rocket motor," the commission wrote.
Numerous design changes to the rocket boosters including a different joint design allowed the space shuttle to continue safely flying the solid rocket boosters following Challenger, recalled Charlie Precourt, a former NASA astronaut and veteran of four space shuttle missions who today is vice president of Northrop Grumman Propulsion Systems.
Precourt leads the team manufacturing the rocket boosters for NASA's forthcoming Space Launch System , or SLS megarocket, using a design derived from the space shuttle's boosters that has been rigorously tested and flown in the decades since Challenger, Precourt said in an exclusive statement to Space.
Following each launch and test, boosters were thoroughly inspected and joint performance verified," he said. Challenger's demise prompted many books, documentaries and discussions, including a Netflix docuseries.
Another fatal incident in , the Columbia disaster that killed seven astronauts, renewed calls for NASA to focus on safety. The shuttle, after another investigation and more redesigns, returned to flight and astronauts were able to finish constructing the International Space Station ISS.
But Columbia eventually spurred the end of the space shuttle program , which ran missions with 2 fatal flights over 30 years before retiring in Safety concerns do still occur during human missions, which demand a high degree of care because they are so technically complex and carry huge risks.
Conversations continue about safety to this day in all sectors of the space community. For example, NASA did a large shakeup in leadership in human exploration in , citing cost and schedule concerns with the Artemis moon program, which aims to put astronauts on the moon in — a timeline that some members of the space community found to be overly ambitious.
At the time, NASA repeatedly emphasized it was proceeding swiftly, but safely, in doing key tests to eventually bring astronauts to the moon. In the coming decade, it is anticipated that private companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will be among those carrying people into space on their own spacecraft, and facing their own questions about safety requirements for their astronauts largely space tourists or private individuals.
Historically, other professional space agencies besides NASA have had their own spaceflyer deaths or incidents. A fairly recent example, which turned out safely, was the two crewmembers American and Russian who experienced a abort aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Russia, working with NASA, swiftly addressed the cause and resumed launching within weeks. In a thus increasingly crowded field for human exploration, NASA still remembers the lessons from Challenger — a vital part of the "DNA" of the organization, as one senior agency official told Space.
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