The Explosive Conclusions

           Out of the many shuttle launches and flights, there were only two times that a shuttle didn’t complete its mission. The space shuttle Challenger exploded a little over a minute after launch and orbiter Columbia exploded on the return flight. Both disasters were very tragic because all crew members on both flights were killed.

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle
Challenger exploded 73 seconds
after launch

            73 seconds after launch, Challenger exploded killing all seven astronauts on board, including a high school teacher who would be the first civilian in space. The Challenger’s cargo were two satellites and equipment that the crew would use to carry out experiments during the mission. The main cause of the explosion was a failure of the aft joint seal in the right SRB due to the cold weather. There was a gas leak in the right rocket motor that was initiated soon after ignition that eventually weakened and penetrated the external tank resulting in an explosion. The actual orbiter Challenger did not explode, in fact it disintegrated. The many structure failures caused the orbiter to break apart. The unusual thing is that, the crew cabin was torn lose from the rest of the shuttle and three minutes later it smashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven crew members.

The Left Bipod Foam Ramp that broke off
82 seconds after lift off and damaged
the shuttles left wing

            The space shuttle Columbia was the oldest shuttle in the fleet of four. It was the first shuttle to be launched into orbit in 1981. But in 2003, Columbia’s problems started right off the bat with the launch. The scary thing is that everybody in the command center knew that when the orbiter came back for landing, it was going to blow up, but they did not tell the crew because they wanted the crew to have a successful mission. On the orbiters return, about 7-8 minutes before complete failure, gauges on Columbia’s left wing, left landing gear brake system and tyre started to loose readings. At 7:59 am, temperature and pressure gauges went off the scale. At 8 am, NASA lost contact with Columbia as the orbiter was flying above central Texas. Investigators have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons for the Columbia disaster was that the tail fin broke apart. Investigators have also said that the reason for the break-up was that a piece of foam from the shuttles external tank, hit the orbiters left wing.

            Both disasters were very tragic, but NASA knew that the shuttle program should not be shut down because of these disasters. These disasters, in fact, helped improve the other space shuttles, so they wouldn’t be put through the same fate.