Exception: The NASA Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

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Recommended: The history of the challenger space shuttle disaster

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger (OV- 099) (mission STS-51-L) broke apart in its flight in a time which was 73 seconds, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 Eastern Time .The problem in the vehicle began after an O- ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at functioning the way it should be. The O-ring was not designed to fly under unusually cold weather as in this launch (the reason of the disaster). Its failure caused a leak in the SRB joint , allowing pressurized burning gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside …show more content…

January 28 predicted an unusually cold morning, with temperatures close to −1 °C. The Shuttle was never certified to operate in temperatures that is low ( According to some engineers ). The O-rings, as well as many other components, had no test data to support any expectation of a successful launch in such conditions.The decision to launch the Challenger was made without thinking of the consequences. Those people who made that decision were unaware and careless of the recent history of problems concerning the O-rings and the joint. NASA claimed that it did not know of Thiokol's (contractor responsible for the construction and maintenance of the shuttle's SRBs) earlier concerns about the effects of the cold weather on the O-rings, and did not understand that Rockwell International ( the shuttle's prime contractor ) viewed the large amount of ice present on the pad as a constraint to launch. For reasons that are unclear, Thiokol management reversed itself , and recommended that the launch proceed as scheduled NASA ( did not ask why) . Ebeling ( An Engineer who warned of shuttle disaster ) told his wife that night that Challenger would blow

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