January 28th 1986 - Page 2

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - January 28th 1986 (Page 2 of 2)

Posted: 1/28/2006 6:36:34 PM EDT

[#1]

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

Posted: 1/28/2006 6:49:17 PM EDT

[#2]

I was in my 9th grade science class when they announced it over the loud speaker. We all went to the library and watched the news of the event in there.

Posted: 1/28/2006 6:54:03 PM EDT

[#3]

I was a senior in HS sitting in the cafeteria when I heard some girls talking about it.

The black astronaut, McNair, was the uncle of a NAPS classmate of mine.

RIP, brave souls.

Posted: 1/28/2006 7:08:43 PM EDT

[#4]

7th grade gym class - sat us down and told us the Shuttle had exploded during liftoff

Posted: 1/28/2006 7:34:01 PM EDT

[#5]

I was off duty watching it live on CNN. A few days later, I went down to Patrick Airforce base near Cocoa Beach with a group of Marine reservists for their AT. Ships and aircraft of all kinds were down there helping with the recovery/search. They tasked our 53's for some of the missions.

Posted: 1/28/2006 7:59:06 PM EDT

[#6]

I was in Kindergarten. I remember when Dad told me about it. He was so upset. When I grew up a bit I understood why.
I have a much better recollection of Columbia

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:03:43 PM EDT

[#7]

I was over at my neighbors house. ( had the day off from school for some reason)
His dad called from work and told us to turn on the t.v., and we were glued to it all afternoon.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:04:00 PM EDT

[#8]

I was working at Hughes and Ron McNair was a Hughes employee and we were all interested in the flight. The shock was continuing for the duration of the memorials, the investigation, the findings. I knew some of the Space Group mission commanders and the Space Program wasn't just a job for them and us. That it came down to a stupid quality issue was depressing, we always went out of our way to surpass quality, and these people died because "good enough" wasn't.

See a lot of youngsters around on this thread, the Shuttle Missions are normal SOP for them, so I guess it was different kind of shock for them. Some of us old fuds grew up with Sputnik, the Mercury missions and so on. So we've seen tragedies, but this was the first ntime "normal" people were going.

I think more people cried during Reagan's speech then when it happened.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:13:20 PM EDT

[#9]

Has NASA sent any teachers into space since then?

Teachers tend to be the lowest scoring/rating workers out there so I wouldn't sign 'em up for the space program.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:18:14 PM EDT

[#10]

Was picking my Mom up at Marshall Space Flight Center and watched it from HOSC (Huntsville Operations Support Center).

Was a really sad experience, watching those folks realize what had happened.

SG

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:20:53 PM EDT

[#11]

I think we were out of school that day because of snow. Or my memories of that time period have congealed into one huge amalgam.

Either way, I remember watching it live on TV at home. I remembered the date for years, but was surprised this morning when I heard a blurb about it on the radio.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:22:21 PM EDT

[#12]

I was in my 2nd year of Junior College. Class was canceled due to extreme cold that morning and I was watching on CNN......"Obviously a major malfunction..." I can hear it as clear in my mind today as that morning. I remember everythign that day. It snowed that evening and I watched some episode of the A-Team that night (It was a tuesday) where they had a gunfight on a golf course!

Funny how you remember the small details on a day like that and 9/11.

Anyway, required reading time:

Seven Myths about the Challenger Shuttle Disaster by Jim Oberg

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:27:01 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
About a year later I was talking to a casual friend who was a NASA enginneer and he said "You'll never see the audio tapes/black box released from Challenger because some of those people survived the intial explosion".

.

I did not know that.

Now I want to see & hear the tapes.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:27:02 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
I was walking in to eat somewhere in Cocoa,FL and looked up and saw it.You instantly knew this was a major fu**up.It was like when you saw 9-11,it was surreal-like "This can't be happening".About a year later I was talking to a casual friend who was a NASA enginneer and he said "You'll never see the audio tapes/black box released from Challenger because some of those people survived the intial explosion".

After that it was just a long ride down to the Ocean.

RIP Challenger crew.

Chances are all of them did...the explosion wasn't what destoyed the Orbiter, it was the incredible aerodynamic forces as the vehicle began to depart from controlled flight...it simply did basically what columbia did...broke apart under tremoendous pressures.

The fireball was the ignition of the Hydrogen and Oxygen as the intertank structure failed and the External Tank, which is the backbone of the system, failed.

The Crew Cabin was intact, until it hit the ocean two minutes after the break up. At least three or four supplemental Oxygen bottles on the flight deck had been manually activated. The impact is what killed them.

Since the cabin was unpressurized, and the suits they wore were not either, most likely they were conscious only for a few seconds, and were thankfully oblivious to the fall back to Earth.

SG

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:31:42 PM EDT

[#15]

the explosion wasn't what destoyed the Orbiter, itwas the incredible aerodynamic forces as the vehicle began to depart from controlled flight.

Turned sideways and ripped apart in the MAch 2 slipstream.

Ejection seats, hell mabey just parachutes and some at least would have survived.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:34:02 PM EDT

[#16]

I was in 6th grade when it happened. Since the teacher (Christa McAuliffe) was from NH, the majority of NH students were sitting in front televisions watching the take-off and subsequent explosion.

Sad, sad day.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:34:48 PM EDT

[#17]

I was working in a distribution center for a department store...we pulled a TV out of returns to watch the launch. When it blew up, we ran outside and saw the cloud---Lakeland is close enough to see the rocket trail. The split forks of exhaust hung there like a tombstone in the sky...I remember thinking how eerie it was when I went to get lunch that it was still up there.
Sad day.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:35:59 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Has NASA sent any teachers into space since then? Teachers tend to be the lowest scoring/rating workers out there so I wouldn't sign 'em up for the space program.

It was just a matter of time before a teacher/public-school hater showed up in this thread. Way to go.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:39:49 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted: It was just a matter of time before a teacher/public-school hater showed up in this thread. Way to go.

Face up to the truth buddy.

Teachers in general and public school teachers in particular are bottom scrapers. Why do you think that people say, "If you can't get another job just become a teacher".

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:42:31 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Quoted:
About a year later I was talking to a casual friend who was a NASA enginneer and he said "You'll never see the audio tapes/black box released from Challenger because some of those people survived the intial explosion".

.

I did not know that.

Now I want to see & hear the tapes.

It's actually plausible that the crew was not conscious upon impact with the ocean.

The explosion happened at 47,000 feet, and they actually continued upwards to 65,000 before gravity brought them back down. At that altitude and no supplemental oxygen, you'll probably have about 3 seconds time of useful consciousness, then probably another 2 or 3 seconds before passing out from hypoxia. They never would've regained consciousness during the free fall.

Sad day though.

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:46:48 PM EDT

[#21]

I was 5 or 6 and I was watching it on TV at some kind of fair. My Dad was standing next to me and I said, "it looks like there's something wrong with the engines." I then walked away before it blew up. Later, my dad told me that it had exploded and that is why one should not say things like that. For the next two weeks, I was devestated thinking it was MY fault that those people died.
Matt

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:46:57 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Ejection seats, hell mabey just parachutes and some at least would have survived.

Ejection seats would have been useless for those on the Middeck, as they were totally surrounded, and would have been questionable for those on the flight deck, given the nature of Shuttle fight and the incredible speeds and altitudes involved.

Ditto for parachutes.

Also, the crew was hopefully unconscious within a few seconds due to the rapid depressurization of the crew compartment during the break up.

It was definitley the impact that killed them, NOT the breakup.

SG

Posted: 1/28/2006 8:57:39 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Ejection seats, hell mabey just parachutes and some at least would have survived.

Ejection seats would have been useless for those on the Middeck, as they were totally surrounded, and would have been questionable for those on the flight deck, given the nature of Shuttle fight and the incredible speeds and altitudes involved.

They could have ejected and survived at Mach 2 and 45,000 feet. It would have been a bitch but the SR-71 system could do it. There were some conceptual designs that allowed ejection seats on the mid-deck that popped the top after the flight deck crew ejected. Still the ejection Pod system proposed for the Eurpoean Hermes was better because such a system would have permitted even ejecting during reentry.

Ditto for parachutes.

Also, the crew was hopefully unconscious within a few seconds due to the rapid depressurization of the crew compartment during the break up.

It was definitley the impact that killed them, NOT the breakup.

SG

Pressure suits and parachutes. They could have stayed conscious and bailed when the Crew Compartement slowed down if it was aerodynamically stable enough not to pin them.

Posted: 1/28/2006 9:06:55 PM EDT

[#24]

I remember it all too well.

I was home from high school (snow day) and we were watching the launch on TV. We tried to watch every launch we could. My dad worked at NASA-Langley, and through high school I was in a few NASA programs.

Posted: 1/28/2006 9:07:57 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Ejection seats, hell mabey just parachutes and some at least would have survived.

Ejection seats would have been useless for those on the Middeck, as they were totally surrounded, and would have been questionable for those on the flight deck, given the nature of Shuttle fight and the incredible speeds and altitudes involved.

They could have ejected and survived at Mach 2 and 45,000 feet. It would have been a bitch but the SR-71 system could do it.

I don't remember anyone actually DOING that out of an SR-71... There was an F-14 crew that ejected at Mach 1.3 and survived, but only because the breakup of the aircraft allowed the nose section to block the wind-blast.

Had they ejected with the ejection systems of the time, they would have died.

There were some conceptual designs that allowed ejection seats on the mid-deck that popped the top after the flight deck crew ejected. Still the ejection Pod system proposed for the Eurpoean Hermes was better because such a system would have permitted even ejecting during reentry.

You ever done the math to get something into space? ever milligram is important. Ejection systems - especially the ones you're talking about - would have added a significant amount of weight to the shuttle. That costs money. Hate to say it, but that's life.

Ditto for parachutes.

Also, the crew was hopefully unconscious within a few seconds due to the rapid depressurization of the crew compartment during the break up.

It was definitley the impact that killed them, NOT the breakup.

SG

Pressure suits and parachutes. They could have stayed conscious and bailed when the Crew Compartement slowed down if it was aerodynamically stable enough not to pin them.

Flying to space is inherently dangerous. Ejections systems - even fighter ejection systems - do not work in all flight envelopes. You are wanting to eject seven people into an airstream going upwards of 1400knots... Designing such a system so that they would survive and then not hit each other would be cost-prohibitive back in the Space Shuttle design days. You're also assuming that such an ejection system (which would be a hell of a lot more than just seven fancy seats) would not have been damaged with the SRB exploded right next to it.

The Shuttle designers and maintainers (management) made a lot of mistakes. Not putting in ejection systems is not one of those mistakes.

They were seven brave people that died doing something that, I guarantee, they loved. I would not mourn them that death. We should all be so lucky.
Matt

Posted: 1/28/2006 9:09:20 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
damn you guys are making me feel old. i was a year out of high school and on duty at the fire department watching it live. the whole station just sat their with their jaws on the floor.

+1

I was 19 going on 20 and watching the launch in the 33rd Company Wardroom at the Naval Academy with some of my company mates. We just sat there looking at the TV in disbelief.

But life went on. All of us knew that most of us were headed to occupations in the fleet or the FMF that could very well get us killed.....

Posted: 1/28/2006 9:23:38 PM EDT

[#27]

would not have been damaged with the SRB exploded right next to it.

The Shuttle designers and maintainers (management) made a lot of mistakes. Not putting in ejection systems is not one of those mistakes.

The SRB never exploded untill range safety detonated it.

Not designing an escape system, not necessairly ejection seats but a pod system, is the biggest mistake.

The only US manned Spacecraft to never have one.

You ever done the math to get something into space? ever milligram is important. Ejection systems - especially the ones you're talking about - would have added a significant amount of weight to the shuttle. That costs money. Hate to say it, but that's life.

If escape system weight is an issue, seperate crew and cargo on seperate flights or man up and build a bigger vehicle.

That is why you design it into the system from the begining, fuel is the cheapest part of the launch, a little bit bigger rocket and a little more fuel won't break the program. Killing enough Astronauts will as it has basically ended the Shuttle program. That is why you launch your heavy cargo seperate. Cargo does not need an escape system, people do.

The Shuttle was a mistake, a misdirection and a half measure. Mike Griffin know this and has said as much. The Shuttle is not reusable, it is refurbishable. It is not a true spaceplane, it is a hybrid and an amalgam of the worst features of both rocket and plane. The Orbiter is a nightmare to service as it it not designed with easy access to its internal components and it is fragile and easy to damage as Columbia showed us, not forgiving.

I look forward to the day industry takes the lessons of shuttle and builds a viable spaceplane but the Shuttle was best looked at as a 1st generation vehicle, as ill-suited to routine safe spacefilght as the Spirit of St. Louis was to trans-atlantic passenger flight.

Posted: 1/29/2006 4:37:44 AM EDT

[#28]

Let's quit arguing about the particulars of the space shuttle and remember the brave men and women who volunteered to go, knowing there were no ejection seats, and I'm sure fully aware of more 'faults' we don't know about, because they believed it furthered mankinds knowledge.

Posted: 1/29/2006 4:55:29 AM EDT

[#29]

I was in basic training and was sitting in a classroom learning to disassemble/reassemble my beloved M16.

The Drill Sargents came in with a cassette recorder and played a tape saying that the shuttle had blown up and that it was hit by a missile. They then said we were going to war. After we found out the truth I didn't think it was a damn bit funny.

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

Posted: 1/29/2006 5:16:13 AM EDT

[#30]

I was sitting in yesteryears, a bar in the USVI watching it on the tube. mmk

Posted: 1/29/2006 5:28:37 AM EDT

[#31]

I was in Navy Primary flight training at Whiting Field near Pensacola Fla. I Just got back from a flight and my instructor and I were walking in from the flight line and another pilot was walking out and he told us, "the shuttle just blew up". I guess we understood what he said but we were still in disbelief. I can't believe it's been 20 years.

Bags

Posted: 1/29/2006 11:33:30 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I was walking in to eat somewhere in Cocoa,FL and looked up and saw it.You instantly knew this was a major fu**up.It was like when you saw 9-11,it was surreal-like "This can't be happening".About a year later I was talking to a casual friend who was a NASA enginneer and he said "You'll never see the audio tapes/black box released from Challenger because some of those people survived the intial explosion".

After that it was just a long ride down to the Ocean.

RIP Challenger crew.

Chances are all of them did...the explosion wasn't what destoyed the Orbiter, it was the incredible aerodynamic forces as the vehicle began to depart from controlled flight...it simply did basically what columbia did...broke apart under tremoendous pressures.

The fireball was the ignition of the Hydrogen and Oxygen as the intertank structure failed and the External Tank, which is the backbone of the system, failed.

The Crew Cabin was intact, until it hit the ocean two minutes after the break up. At least three or four supplemental Oxygen bottles on the flight deck had been manually activated. The impact is what killed them.

Since the cabin was unpressurized, and the suits they wore were not either, most likely they were conscious only for a few seconds, and were thankfully oblivious to the fall back to Earth.

SG

I really wish I did not read any of that.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - January 28th 1986 (Page 2 of 2)

General » General Discussion

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us