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October 4, 1957 The Space age began when the Soviet Union
successfully launched Sputnik 1 into space. the first artificial
satellite. the size of a basketball
Space disasters
October 24, 1960 126 Engineers and ground crew were killed in a rocket refueling/repair explosion in Tyuratam, USSR.
January 27, 1967 3 Apollo astronauts were killed in a fire. they
were unable to escape when the training Capsule caught fire do to a full oxygen
environment.
April 4, 1967 Soyuz 1 crashed after the parachute failed to
open after re-entry 1 cosmonaut was killed
June 7, 1971 Soyuz 11 depressurized during re-entry 3 cosmonauts
were killed
March 18, 1980 a Vostok rocket exploded on its launch pad while being refuled, killing 50+ at the Pletetsk Space Center, USSR.
January 28, 1986 7 astronauts were killed when The Challenger
exploded shortly after launch, and before reaching the atmosphere. It was
determined that faulty O-rings were to blame
February 22, 1990 - Western Europe's 36th Ariane rocket, carrying two Japanese satellites, explodes less than two minutes after lift-off from Kourou, French Guiana.
December 1, 1994 - Western Europe's 70th Ariane rocket crashes into the Atlantic with the $150 million PanAmsat-3 telecoms satellite after launch from Kourou, French Guiana.
No deaths occurred
January 26, 1995 - The Chinese-designed Long March 2E rocket carrying a telecommunications satellite explodes after blast-off from Xichang in southwest Sichuan province.
February 15, 1996 - A rocket carrying an Intelsat 708 communications satellite explodes soon after take-off from China's launch site in
Xichang. No deaths occurred
September 23, 1999 - NASA's $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft breaks up as it enters the Martian atmosphere due to confusion among its constructors between metric and old English measuring units.
No deaths occurred
December 3, 1999 NASA's Mars Polar lander loses contact with earth after reaching the Red Planet. The $165 million mission is a write-off.
No deaths occurred.
February 1, 2003
7astronauts where killed when the Space
Shuttle Columbia incinerated during re-entry. It was determined that
damaged tiles allowed over heating.
August 22, 2003 A new rocket exploded at Brazil's space centre
killing 21 ground workers and scientists. The 20-metre-high VLS-1 rocket was three days from its scheduled launch when it exploded on the launch pad. A fire caused by an unknown electrical discharge, began in the lower part of the rocket where the 4 solid-fuel boosters are located. Two small research
satellites were also destroyed. The fire was so intense that heat from the fire melted the steel structure , causing the entire launch pad to collapse.
September 14, 2003 Telstar fours' main control panel shorted which
caused a total failure of the space crafts electrical systems. Many
antennas had to be repointed on Earth due to the failure. The satellite
was a total loss. No deaths occurred.
December, 2003 Canada's first mission to another planet - a $5-million instrument package aboard Japan's ($115-million) probe Nozomi, missed Mars and is now lost in space. It joins the other 20+ probes to Mars that have been lost previously by the USA, the former USSR and Russia. Nozomi was lost in space. The probe was designed to study the atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars. No deaths occurred
December, 2003 No deaths occurred. Beagle 2 was a small British-built lander that was carried to Mars on European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter mission. The spacecraft was on a trajectory to land on Mars on December 25, 2003 but no signals from the lander were ever received by
ground based antennas or NASA or ESA. The project has now been declared a failure. Beagle 2 cost roughly 40 million British pounds ($57 to $65 million US).
February 23, 2004 A solid rocket motor caught fire at India's main space center
triggering an explosion that killed at six people and injured three. The mishap occurred when a testing motor was being filled with highly inflammable fuel at the Solid Propellant Space Booster Plant (SPROB) on the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at
Sriharikota.
September 08, 2004 The Genesis space capsule and its precious cargo - billions of particles from the sun - crashed into the Utah desert in a last-minute disaster of a near-flawless, three-year scientific odyssey. Because of what apparently was a parachute failure, the $260 million space probe didn't slow down as it entered Earth's atmosphere. Tumbling end over end, Genesis smashed into a desert bombing range at 193 mph at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. No
deaths occurred
Challenger Pre-Launch
press kit
January 28, 1986,11:38:00 a.m. EST. First Shuttle liftoff scheduled from Pad B. Launch set for 3:43 p.m. EST, Jan. 22, slipped to Jan. 23, then Jan. 24, due to delays in mission 61-C. Launch reset for Jan. 25 because of bad weather at transoceanic abort landing (TAL) site in Dakar, Senegal. To utilize Casablanca (not equipped for night landings) as alternate TAL site, T-zero moved to morning liftoff time. Launch postponed a day when launch processing unable to meet new morning liftoff time. Prediction of unacceptable weather at KSC led to launch rescheduled for 9:37 a.m. EST, Jan. 27. Launch delayed 24 hours again when ground servicing equipment hatch closing fixture could not be removed from orbiter hatch. Fixture sawed off and attaching bolt drilled out before closeout completed. During delay, cross winds exceeded return-to-launch-site limits at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. Launch Jan. 28 delayed two hours when hardware interface module in launch processing system, which monitors fire detection system, failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures.
Just after liftoff at .678 seconds into the flight, photographic data show a strong puff of gray smoke was spurting from the vicinity of the aft field joint on the right Solid Rocket Booster. Computer graphic analysis of film from pad cameras indicated the initial smoke came from the 270 to 310-degree sector of the circumference of the aft field joint of the right Solid Rocket Booster. This area of the solid booster faces the External Tank. The vaporized material streaming from the joint indicated there was not complete sealing action within the joint.
Eight more distinctive puffs of increasingly blacker smoke were recorded between .836 and 2.500 seconds. The smoke appeared to puff upwards from the joint. While each smoke puff was being left behind by the upward flight of the Shuttle, the next fresh puff could be seen near the level of the joint. The multiple smoke puffs in this sequence occurred at about four times per second, approximating the frequency of the structural load dynamics and resultant joint flexing. As the Shuttle increased its upward velocity, it flew past the emerging and expanding smoke puffs. The last smoke was seen above the field joint at 2.733 seconds.
The black color and dense composition of the smoke puffs suggest that the grease, joint insulation and rubber O-rings in the joint seal were being burned and eroded by the hot propellant gases.
At approximately 37 seconds, Challenger encountered the first of several high-altitude wind shear conditions, which lasted until about 64 seconds. The wind shear created forces on the vehicle with relatively large fluctuations. These were immediately sensed and countered by the guidance, navigation and control system. The steering system (thrust vector control) of the Solid Rocket Booster responded to all commands and wind shear effects. The wind shear caused the steering system to be more active than on any previous flight.
Both the Shuttle main engines and the solid rockets operated at reduced thrust approaching and passing through the area of maximum dynamic pressure of 720 pounds per square foot. Main engines had been throttled up to 104 percent thrust and the Solid Rocket Boosters were increasing their thrust when the first flickering flame appeared on the right Solid Rocket Booster in the area of the aft field joint. This first very small flame was detected on image enhanced film at 58.788 seconds into the flight. It appeared to originate at about 305 degrees around the booster circumference at or near the aft field joint.
One film frame later from the same camera, the flame was visible without image enhancement. It grew into a continuous, well-defined plume at 59.262 seconds. At about the same time (60 seconds), telemetry showed a pressure differential between the chamber pressures in the right and left boosters. The right booster chamber pressure was lower, confirming the growing leak in the area of the field joint.
As the flame plume increased in size, it was deflected rearward by the aerodynamic slipstream and circumferentially by the protruding structure of the upper ring attaching the booster to the External Tank. These deflections directed the flame plume onto the surface of the External Tank. This sequence of flame spreading is confirmed by analysis of the recovered wreckage. The growing flame also impinged on the strut attaching the Solid Rocket Booster to the External Tank.
The first visual indication that swirling flame from the right Solid Rocket Booster breached the External Tank was at 64.660 seconds when there was an abrupt change in the shape and color of the plume. This indicated that it was mixing with leaking hydrogen from the External Tank. Telemetered changes in the hydrogen tank pressurization confirmed the leak. Within 45 milliseconds of the breach of the External Tank, a bright sustained glow developed on the black-tiled underside of the Challenger between it and the External Tank.
Beginning at about 72 seconds, a series of events occurred extremely rapidly that terminated the flight. Telemetered data indicate a wide variety of flight system actions that support the visual evidence of the photos as the Shuttle struggled futilely against the forces that were destroying it.
At about 72.20 seconds the lower strut linking the Solid Rocket Booster and the External Tank was severed or pulled away from the weakened hydrogen tank permitting the right Solid Rocket Booster to rotate around the upper attachment strut. This rotation is indicated by divergent yaw and pitch rates between the left and right Solid Rocket Boosters.
At 73.124 seconds,. a circumferential white vapor pattern was observed blooming from the side of the External Tank bottom dome. This was the beginning of the structural failure of hydrogen tank that culminated in the entire aft dome dropping away. This released massive amounts of liquid hydrogen from the tank and created a sudden forward thrust of about 2.8 million pounds, pushing the hydrogen tank upward into the intertank structure. At about the same time, the rotating right Solid Rocket Booster impacted the intertank structure and the lower part of the liquid oxygen tank. These structures failed at 73.137 seconds as evidenced by the white vapors appearing in the intertank region.
Within milliseconds there was massive, almost explosive, burning of the hydrogen streaming from the failed tank bottom and liquid oxygen breach in the area of the intertank.
At this point in its trajectory, while traveling at a Mach number of 1.92 at an altitude of 46,000 feet, the Challenger was totally enveloped in the explosive burn. The Challenger's reaction control system ruptured and a hypergolic burn of its propellants occurred as it exited the oxygen-hydrogen flames. The reddish brown colors of the hypergolic fuel burn are visible on the edge of the main fireball. The Orbiter, under severe aerodynamic loads, broke into several large sections which emerged from the fireball. Separate sections that can be identified on film include the main engine/tail section with the engines still burning, one wing of the Orbiter, and the forward fuselage trailing a mass of umbilical lines pulled loose from the payload bay.
The Explosion 73 seconds after liftoff claimed crew and vehicle. Cause of explosion was determined to be an O-ring failure in right SRB. Cold weather was a contributing factor. Launch Weight: 268,829 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 150nm (planned)
Inclination: 28.5 degrees (planned)
Orbits: 0
Duration: 01 min 13 seconds
Distance: 18 miles
Hardware:
SRB: BI-026
SRM: L025(HPM)
ET : 26/LWT-19
MLP : 2
SSME-1: SN-2023
SSME-2: SN-2020
SSME-3: SN-2021
Landing:
None. KSC Landing planned after a 6 day, 34 minute mission.
Mission Highlights:
The planned orbital activities of the Challenger 51-L mission were as follows:
On Flight Day 1, after arriving into orbit, the crew was to have two periods of scheduled high activity. First they were to check the readiness of the TDRS-B satellite prior to planned deployment. After lunch they were to deploy the satellite and its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster and to perform a series of separation maneuvers. The first sleep period was scheduled to be eight hours long starting about 18 hours after crew wakeup the morning of launch.
On Flight Day 2, the Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP) experiment was scheduled to begin. Also scheduled were the initial "teacher in space" (TISP) video taping and a firing of the orbital maneuvering engines (OMS) to place Challenger at the 152-mile orbital altitude from which the Spartan would be deployed.
On Flight Day 3, the crew was to begin pre-deployment preparations on the Spartan and then the satellite was to be deployed using the remote manipulator system (RMS) robot arm. Then the flight crew was to slowly separate from Spartan by 90 miles.
On Flight Day 4, the Challenger was to begin closing on Spartan while Gregory B. Jarvis continued fluid dynamics experiments started on day two and day 3. Live telecasts were also planned to be conducted by Christa McAuliffe.
On Flight Day 5, the crew was to rendezvous with Spartan and use the robot arm to capture the satellite and re-stow it in the payload bay.
On Flight Day 6, re-entry preparations were scheduled. This included flight control checks, test firing of maneuvering jets needed for
re-entry, and cabin stowage. A crew news conferences was also scheduled following the lunch period.
On Flight Day 7, the day would have been spent preparing the Space Shuttle for
de-orbit and entry into the
atmosphere. The Challenger was scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center.144 hours and 34 minutes after launch.
SEQUENCE OF MAJOR EVENTS OF THE CHALLENGER ACCIDENT
Mission Time Elapsed
(GMT, in hr:min:sec) Event Time (secs.) Source
16:37:53.444 ME-3 Ignition Command -6.566 GPC
37:53.564 ME-2 Ignition Command -6.446 GPC
37:53.684 ME-1 Ignition Command -6.326 GPC
38:00.010 SRM Ignition Command (T=0) 0.000 GPC
38:00.018 Hold down Post 2 PIC firing 0.008 E8 Camera
38:00.260 First Continuous Vertical Motion 0.250 E9 Camera
38:00.688 Confirmed smoke above field joint
on RH SRM 0.678 E60 Camera
38:00.846 Eight puffs of smoke (from 0.836
thru 2.500 sec MET) 0.836 E63 Camera
38:02.743 Last positive evidence of smoke
above right aft SRB/ET attach ring 2.733 CZR-1 Camera
38:03.385 Last positive visual indication
of smoke 3.375 E60 Camera
38:04.349 SSME 104% Command 4.339 E41M2076D
38:05.684 RH SRM pressure 11.8 psi above
nominal 5.674 B47P2302C
38:07.734 Roll maneuver initiated 7.724 V90R5301C
38:19.869 SSME 94% Command 19.859 E41M2076D
38:21.134 Roll maneuver completed 21.124 VP0R5301C
38:35.389 SSME 65% Command 35.379 E41M2076D
38:37.000 Roll and Yaw Attitude Response to
Wind (36.990 to 62.990 sec) 36.990 V95H352nC
38:51.870 SSME 104% Command 51.860 E41M2076D
38:58.798 First evidence of flame on RH SRM 58.788 E207 Camera
38:59.010 Reconstructed Max Q (720 psf) 59.000 BET
38:59.272 Continuous well defined plume
on RH SRM 59.262 E207 Camera
38:59.763 Flame from RH SRM in +Z direction
(seen from south side of vehicle) 59.753 E204 Camera
39:00.014 SRM pressure divergence (RH vs. LH) 60.004 B47P2302
39:00.248 First evidence of plume deflection,
intermittent 60.238 E207 Camera
39:00.258 First evidence of SRB plume
attaching to ET ring frame 60.248 E203 Camera
39:00.998 First evidence of plume deflection,
continuous 60.988 E207 Camera
39:01.734 Peak roll rate response to wind 61.724 V90R5301C
39:02.094 Peak TVC response to wind 62.084 B58H1150C
39:02.414 Peak yaw response to wind 62.404 V90R5341C
39:02.494 RH outboard elevon actuator hinge
moment spike 62.484 V58P0966C
39:03.934 RH outboard elevon actuator delta
pressure change 63.924 V58P0966C
39:03.974 Start of planned pitch rate
maneuver 63.964 V90R5321C
39:04.670 Change in anomalous plume shape
(LH2 tank leak near 2058 ring
frame) 64.660 E204 Camera
39:04.715 Bright sustained glow on sides
of ET 64.705 E204 Camera
39:04.947 Start SSME gimbal angle large
pitch variations 64.937 V58H1100A
39:05.174 Beginning of transient motion due
to changes in aero forces due to
plume 65.164 V90R5321C
39:06.774 Start ET LH2 ullage pressure
deviations 66.764 T41P1700C
39:12.214 Start divergent yaw rates
(RH vs. LH SRB) 72.204 V90R2528C
39:12.294 Start divergent pitch rates
(RH vs. LH SRB) 72.284 V90R2525C
39:12.488 SRB major high-rate actuator
command 72.478 V79H2111A
39:12.507 SSME roll gimball rates 5 deg/sec 72.497 V58H1100A
39:12.535 Vehicle max +Y lateral
acceleration (+.227 g) 72.525 V98A1581C
39:12.574 SRB major high-rate actuator
motion 72.564 B58H1151C
39:12.574 Start of H2 tank pressure decrease
with 2 flow control valves open 72.564 T41P1700C
39:12.634 Last state vector downlinked 72.624 Data reduction
39:12.974 Start of sharp MPS LOX inlet
pressure drop 72.964 V41P1330C
39:13.020 Last full computer frame of TDRS
data 73.010 Data reduction
39:13.054 Start of sharp MPS LH2 inlet
pressure drop 73.044 V41P1100C
39:13.055 Vehicle max -Y lateral
accelerarion (-.254 g) 73.045 V98A1581C
39:13.134 Circumferential white pattern on
ET aft dome (LH2 tank failure) 73.124 E204 Camera
39:13.134 RH SRM pressure 19 psi lower
than LH SRM 73.124 B47P2302C
39:13.147 First hint of vapor at intertank E207 Camera
39:13.153 All engine systems start responding
to loss of fuel and LOX inlet
pressure 73.143 SSME team
39:13.172 Sudden cloud a long ET between
intertank and aft dome 73.162 E207 Camera
39:13.201 Flash between Orbiter & LH2 tank 73.191 E204 Camera
39:13.221 SSME telemetry data interference
from 73.211 to 73.303 73.211
39:13.223 Flash near SRB fwd attach and
brightening of flash between
Orbiter and ET 73.213 E204 Camera
39:13.292 First indication intense white
flash at SRB fwd attach point 73.282 E204 Camera
39:13.337 Greatly increased intensity of
white flash 73.327 E204 Camera
39:13.387 Start RCS jet chamber pressure
fluctuations 73.377 V42P1552A
39:13.393 All engines approaching HPFT
discharge temp redline limits 73.383 E41Tn010D
39:13.492 ME-2 HPFT disch. temp Chan. A vote
for shutdown; 2 strikes on Chan. B 73.482 MEC data
39:13.492 ME-2 controller last time word
update 73.482 MEC data
39:13.513 ME-3 in shutdown due to HPFT discharge
temperature redline exceedance 73.503 MEC data
39:13.513 ME-3 controller last time word
update 73.503 MEC data
39:13.533 ME-1 in shutdown due to HPFT discharge
temperature redline exceedance 73.523 Calculation
39:13.553 ME-1 last telemetered data point 73.543 Calculation
39:13.628 Last validated Orbiter telemetry
measurement 73.618 V46P0120A
39:13.641 End of last reconstructured data
frame with valid synchronization
and frame count 73.631 Data reduction
39:14.140 Last radio frequency signal from
Orbiter 74.130 Data reduction
39:14.597 Bright flash in vicinity of Orbiter
nose 74.587 E204 Camera
39:16.447 RH SRB nose cap sep/chute
deployment 76.437 E207 Camera
39:50.260 RH SRB RSS destruct 110.250 E202 Camera
39:50.262 LH SRB RSS destruct 110.252 E230 Camera
ACT POS -- Actuator Position
APU -- Auxilixary Power Unit
BET -- Best Estimated Trajectory
CH -- Channel
DISC -- Discharge
ET -- External Tank
GG -- Gas Generator
GPC -- General Purpose Computer
GMT -- Greenwich Mean Time
HPFT -- High Pressure Fuel Turbopump
LH -- Lefthand
LH2 -- Liquid Hydrogen
LO2 -- Liquid Oxygen (same as LOX)
MAX Q -- Maximum Dynamic Pressure
ME -- Main Engine (same as SSME)
MEC -- Main Engine Controller
MET -- Mission Elapsed Time
MPS -- Main Propulsion System
PC -- Chamber Pressure
PIC -- Pyrotechnics Initiator Controller
psf -- Pounds per square foot
RCS -- Reaction Control System
RGA -- Rate Gyro Assembly
RH -- Righthand
RSS -- Range Safety System
SRM -- Solid Rocket Motor
SSME -- Space Shuttle Main Engine
TEMP -- Temperature
TVC -- Thrust Vector Control
NOTE: The Shuttle coordinate system used is relative to the Orbiter,
as follows:
+X direction = forward (tail to nose)
-X direction = rearward (nose to tail)
+Y direction = right (toward the right wing tip)
-Y direction = left (toward the left wing tip)
+Z direction = down
-Z direction = up
Data was compiled from NASA KSA , and The Kings Canadian info
collection
Memorial photo from AP taken by
Craig Bailey, AP |
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