The Space Shuttle Challenger was a commonly used shuttle in the early 1980s, completing important tasks such as the first spacewalk and hosting the first female and African American in space. It disintegrated upon launch due to a leak in the solid rocket booster caused by a hardened O-ring and strong wind gusts, killing all astronauts on board.
Of all the space shuttles in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) fleet of shuttles that began service in the early 1980s, the space shuttle Challenger is perhaps the most infamous because it disintegrated upon launch, killing all astronauts on board. Prior to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, however, the space shuttle made several space journeys to perform several important tasks for NASA, including a mission that completed the shuttle’s first spacewalk and a mission that hosted the first female in space, as well as another that hosted the first African American in space.
The Space Shuttle Challenger was the most commonly used shuttle in the early years of the shuttle program. Because of the changes made to the shuttle after its initial test phase, it was able to carry more weight than the space shuttle Columbia, which brought versatility to many of the space missions. The Space Shuttle Challenger was used on the vast majority of missions in the early 1980s and would have continued to be heavily used had it not been destroyed.
On Jan. 28, 28, the Space Shuttle Challenger was ready for launch into orbit after days of delays due to bad weather and other technical delays. When the shuttle was ready to launch, the outside temperature that day was unusually cold and ice had formed on the launch pad. Despite engineers’ concerns, Space Shuttle Challenger was cleared for launch. As the shuttle began to lift off, gas began to leak from one of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters (SRBs), but the leak was sealed by an O-ring designed to seal such leaks. Due to the cold, however, the o-ring had hardened and was slow to do its job.
As the Space Shuttle Challenger climbed higher, it was hit by a series of wind gusts – or different wind speeds and directions – that were extremely strong. Engineers and disaster analysts believe these gusts of wind broke the o-ring seal yet again because the o-ring was not as effective as it initially should have been due to the cold weather. The SRB began to detach from the shuttle, causing a sudden acceleration and destabilization. The forces caused by this and subsequent events caused the shuttle to break apart in mid-air.
The crew compartment detached from the rest of the disintegrating shuttle and plunged into the ocean. It was impossible to determine exactly how the astronauts on board died, as evidence indicated that at least some of the crew survived the shuttle’s initial disintegration. The impact of the cabin plunging into the ocean, however, made survival impossible.
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