The_Inquisitor
Member
Oh fuck. Yeah I bet they were all still alive. Damn fucking shame there was no way to deploy the landing parachute, though I am unsure whether it would have made much of a difference.
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First amateur video of Challenger shuttle explosion revealed
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Oh fuck. Yeah I bet they were all still alive. Damn fucking shame there was no way to deploy the landing parachute, though I am unsure whether it would have made much of a difference.
Coincidentally I remember reading a few weeks ago in my english class about an engineer who urged to not launch the challenger due to some design flaw who was completely ignored. Can't remember his name but he sent out a memo about it.
Several electrical switches on the right hand pilot panel were moved from their launch positions. Tests showed those switches could not have been turned on from either the blast or the crash, so they were turned on by someone on-board. But we can't say that Mike Smith did it.
The_Inquisitor
Member
Were any of these related to landing sequence switches? Is it possible that one of the astronauts was trying to activate the chute?
Unless you're less than nine years old, I think you mean Challenger.
Nope.
Challenger: Not alive
Columbia: Alive, but no solid memories of the event, probably eaten by 9/11
Ah, got confused by that post.
Anyone else think of that chapter in Packing for Mars?
The one about:
Astronauts are the bravest people IMO.
The one about:
The guy who was in charge or investigating the body parts from the Challenger explosion, who happened to be the husband of crew member. Non-fiction... fucking saaaaad.
Astronauts are the bravest people IMO.
There is no "landing chute" on the shuttle. There's a drag chute that help it slow down on landing but 1- It wouldn't work as a proper parachute (you would need something much bigger than that) and 2-It's near the engines all the way to the back of the shuttle. Wouldn't do much if the shuttle is split in a thousand different pieces!
If I remember correclty, I'm not even sure that the astronauts even had personal parachutes at the time. I think they added the parachutes and the escape rail thingy to evacuate the shuttle in respsonse to the Chalenger accident. But even with that, considering the shock of the explosion and the fact that the crew compartment was tumbling down (I doubt it would fall straight) it would be almost impossible to pop the hatch and jump out. I remember hearing in a documentary one time somebody from NASA saying that the whole escape system was added more as a psychological factor for the press and the general population because nobody at NASA really exepected it to work properly (or I should say to manage to get the perfect conditions allowing an evacuations during an emergency).
Forsete
Gold Member
Himynameischris
Member
I saw a video analyzing the break up of the craft and the cabin being flung from the explosion, now reading that they could have actually been alive during that time is really sad to hear. Space travel is and will continue to be extremely dangerous considering the amount of power needed to just to leave the planet but it shouldn't deter us from trying to get humans into space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Boisjoly
He recently passed away. He did all he could to stop the flight but his managers and NASA wouldn't listen.
Himynameischris
Member
That's very sad to read
Very sad.
Always amazed me that the orbiter itself didn't explode, it was dislodged from the external tank and the aerodynamic forces tore it apart. Makes you realize the kind of speeds you're dealing with.
He has a positive leagacy though. The Challenger incident and his handling of it are drilled into your head as an engineer both in college engineering ethics courses and professional development classes.
Shin Johnpv
Member
I think I was 7/8 and in grade school. They made a HUGE deal about us watching the launch of it live. They moved all of us into the cafeteria and had a huge tv set up for us to watch it. Everyone just watched in awe as it took off, and then there was confusion, and then just quiet shock. School was cancelled for the rest of the day, they called our parents and had us picked up.
One of those childhood events that never leaves you.
One of those childhood events that never leaves you.
The switches were for backup power.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
On the first few shuttle missions, they had ejection seats repurposed from the SR-71.
They were removed when NASA stopped considering the shuttle experimental.
I remember being home sick from school and watching that live, horrible tragedy
Yeah but at some point (I think it's after Challenger) they added some kind of pipe rail that you can extend out of the hatch to guide you out of the shuttle if you want to jump and evacuate... Unless that was the plan they proposed but never actually applied it? I'm not sure anymore... Time to check Wikipedia I guess! lol
Edit: Found it
I was nearly seven years old at the time and we were watching this in school (I think). I really remember it because one of my teachers was apparently in the running for the "school teacher astronaut" on that mission (no idea how close she actually came to being selected).
Professionally, though, I was actually working at NASA when Columbia happened, so that really hit home hard to me.
Professionally, though, I was actually working at NASA when Columbia happened, so that really hit home hard to me.
GoldenEye 007
Member
That was always there. But it really only applies to a launchpad fire situation. Outside of that, you're screwed if the shuttle launched. You'd have to wait long enough to jettison the SRBs then turn around and attempt an emergency landing.
Russians always did it right. Stayed with a reliable and safer launch vehicle. Or at least one with a solid escape plan.
Here is a video of a manned Soyuz mission that was aborted. The crew had to initiate the crew escape system when a launchpad fire engulfed the rocket.
Edit: Oh, I guess NASA modified the crew escape system even in flight. I thought the only option was always to jettison the SRBs then attempt a landing assuming the vehicle was high enough to attempt the maneuver.
Oh man that music is creepy hahaha. But yeah, I edited my previous message with the quote from Wikipedia talking about the onboard bailout system they added after Challenger.
I don't know which is worse, the Challenger explosion or the Colombia disaster that occurred upon re-entry.
I was watching the news as a 13 year old, and it was jarring to hear the reporter talk about how body parts of the crew were falling all over the country. I remember hearing about a man who found a torso of one of the crew members in his yard.
I was watching the news as a 13 year old, and it was jarring to hear the reporter talk about how body parts of the crew were falling all over the country. I remember hearing about a man who found a torso of one of the crew members in his yard.
Henchmen21
Banned
I was only five when it happened so I don't have any memories of it.
Everyone keeps mentioning about being in class when it happened and It just occurred to me how messed up it must have been for the students of the teacher killed in it.
Everyone keeps mentioning about being in class when it happened and It just occurred to me how messed up it must have been for the students of the teacher killed in it.
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