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Disaster Transbian episode 111
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00:00Good morning everyone. There appears to have been a very serious accident involving the space shuttle Challenger.
00:10The launch took place just a few minutes ago, a few moments ago from Cape Canaveral.
00:15It had been delayed four times. It appeared to be a good launch at the point of departure from the pad at Cape Canaveral.
00:23There had been, as we said, previous delays of four different attempts.
00:27This was the fourth one. It had been delayed a couple of hours by ice, by a faulty gauge.
00:33Then it appeared everything was good for a launch. But shortly after the launch, there was an explosion.
00:39They have assured us that all rescue procedures have been put into effect.
00:45But line of sight, it certainly appears to be a most serious accident, unlike anything else in the shuttle program.
00:54John Quiñones at Cape Canaveral.
00:56Flight Colors here looking very carefully at the situation.
00:58John, what do we know?
01:00Well, Steve, no one is saying anything here other than there has been an explosion.
01:06Contingency procedures are underway. Recovery forces have been sent out into the field.
01:12Preliminary word is that the remains of the vehicle have landed somewhere in the ocean.
01:20I don't know how far, but there's been no explanation as to what happened about 90 seconds after liftoff.
01:26And it was a picture.
01:28Well, that's trouble of some kind, George.
01:30That's trouble of some kind.
01:32Sure didn't look right.
01:34The what?
01:36It exploded.
01:40Oh, boy, I know it didn't look right.
01:43I think we're seeing two now as to what exactly those parachutes are carrying.
01:49There you see now one of the parachutes coming down.
01:53That is the first hopeful sign of any kind that we have seen since the explosion that took place after the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger this morning.
02:04Recapping the crew members, Commander Dick Scobie, Pilot Mike Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Krista McAuliffe, the teacher from New Hampshire.
02:22That could be the escape capsule.
02:25That is certainly what one would hope, that there has been a successful escape of the crew.
02:31But you saw the magnitude of the explosion that did take place shortly after the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
02:39There's something falling there.
02:40Well, yeah, but it is.
02:41Don't they say they've been flying the way out?
02:42I can't remember.
02:44I can't remember.
03:02they watch they sound there for the longest time you can tell it you can
03:28tell
03:43or there's been some double R actually no doubt about that it didn't look right to begin with
03:47that's sort of a historical moment we got here on tape I guess
03:52at least we hope we got it on tape
03:58this is official control user we have no additional work at this time
04:22Mark can you hear me?
04:40no
04:42no
04:43no
04:46no
04:48no
04:49no
04:50no
04:51no
04:53We are awaiting verification as to the location of the recovery forces in the field to see what may be possible at this point.
05:07Cecil Huston, the manager of the K.C. Office of the Marshall Space Flight Center, set up a conference call on the evening of January 27th to discuss the safety of the launch.
05:23Morton Theocol engineers expressed concerns about the effect of low temperatures on the resilience of the rubber O-rings as the colder temperatures lowered the elasticity of the rubber O-rings.
05:37The engineers feared that the O-rings would not be extruded to form a seal at the time of launch.
05:44The engineers argued that they did not have enough data to determine whether the O-rings would seal at temperatures colder than 53 degrees Fahrenheit, 12 degrees Celsius, the coldest launch of the space shuttle to date.
05:58Morton Theocol employees Robert Lund, the vice president of engineering, and Joe Kilminster, the vice president of the space booster programs, recommended against launching until the temperature was above 53 degrees Fahrenheit.
06:14Morton The teleconference held a recess to allow for private discussion amongst Morton Vehicle management.
06:21Morton Vehicle leadership had changed their opinion and stated that the evidence presented on the failure of the O-rings was inconclusive and that there was a substantial margin in the event of a failure or erosion.
06:36They stated that their decision was to proceed with the launch.
06:41Morton Vehicle leadership submitted a recommendation for launch and the teleconference ended.
06:45At 2 plus 0, Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B LC-39B at 1138 AM beginning at T plus 0.678 until T plus 3.375 seconds.
06:529 puffs of dark gray smoke were recorded escaping from the right-hand SRV near the aft strut that attached the booster to the ET.
07:01It was later determined that these smoke puffs were caused from the right-hand SRV near the aft strut that attached the booster to the ET.
07:17It was later determined that these smoke puffs were caused by joint rotation in the aft field joint of the right-hand SRV at ignition.
07:28The cold temperature in the joint had prevented the O-rings from creating a seal.
07:34Rainfall from the preceding time on the launch pad had likely accumulated within the field joint, further compromising the sealing capability of the O-rings.
07:45As a result, hot gas was able to travel past the O-rings and erode them.
07:52Molten aluminum oxides from the burned propellant resealed the joint and created a temporary barrier against further hot gas and flame escaping through the field joint.
08:03But looking at the tape, it does appear that it occurred at a time when Dick Scobie, the commander, pushed to maximum thrust.
08:10There was a physical event going on at that moment.
08:13And to recap something that I said earlier, several hours earlier, we've been talking for a long time, and I think it's especially poignant right now,
08:20that Commander Scobie did tell me several times, as a matter of fact, because this was something that we talked about, that someday a shuttle was going to blow up.
08:28He said he had been a test pilot, he had been a Vietnam veteran, much decorated for combat missions in Southeast Asia,
08:34and he said that there was no question in his mind that someday a space shuttle would explode.
08:39He said it was a complex piece of machinery, a lot of explosives.
08:42You have to remember that you have to have enough rocket thrust to get 17,000 miles an hour to go into orbit.
08:47Hundreds of thousands of pounds of explosive fuel, and someday this complex piece of machinery was going to fail,
08:53just like inevitably, if you have enough airplane flights, one of those airplanes is going to crash.
08:57We plug continuing live coverage, the national news conference at 3.30 live,
09:02then get me into, there's been reaction from across the country, briefly, some thoughts from people in New York,
09:09and you hit two sound bites, and come out of the sound bites and get me into this.
09:13Hey listen, I got a major problem.
09:16Whoever cut that tape with the reaction took all the guts out of it.
09:20Is there any decision yet on money laundering?
09:27At T plus 58.788, a tracking film camera captured the beginnings of a plume near the aft attached strut of the Wright SRB,
09:37right before the vehicle passed through Max Q at T plus 59.
09:43The high aerodynamic forces and wind shear likely broke the aluminum oxide seal
09:49that had replaced eroded O-rings, allowing the flame to burn through the joint.
09:55Within one second from when it was first recorded, the plume became well defined,
10:00and the enlarging hole caused a drop in internal pressure in the Wright SRB.
10:06A leak had begun in the liquid hydrogen tank of the ET at T plus 64.660,
10:13as indicated by the changing shape of the plume.
10:17The SSMEs pivoted to compensate for the booster burn through,
10:22which was creating an unexpected thrust on the vehicle.
10:26The pressure in the external LH2 tank began to drop at T plus 66.764,
10:35indicating that the flame had burned from the SRB into the tank.
10:40At T plus 72.284, the Wright SRB pulled away from the aft strut that attached it to the ET,
10:50causing lateral acceleration that was felt by the crew.
10:55At the same time, pressure in the LH2 tank began dropping.
11:00Pilot Mike Smith said, uh-oh, which was the last crew comment recorded.
11:06At T plus 73.124, white vapor was seen flowing away from the ET,
11:12after which the aft dome of the LH2 tank fell off.
11:17The resulting release and ignition of all liquid hydrogen in the tank pushed the LH2 tank forward into the liquid oxygen tank,
11:26with a force equating to roughly 3 million pounds force, 13 mega newtons,
11:32while the Wright SRB collided with the inner tank structure.
11:36These events resulted in an abrupt change to the shuttle's stack's attitude and direction,
11:42which was shrouded from view by the vaporized content of the now-destroyed ET.
11:49As it traveled at Mach 1.92, Challenger took aerodynamic forces.
11:55It was not designed to withstand and broke into several large pieces.
11:59A wing, the still-firing main engines, the crew cabin, and hypergolic fuel leaking from the ruptured reaction control system,
12:08were among the parts identified, exiting the vapor cloud.
12:12Both SRBs survived the breakup of the shuttle stack and continued flying,
12:18now unguided by the attitude and trajectory control of their mothership,
12:22until their flight termination systems were activated at T plus 110.
12:29In mission control, Flight Director Jay Green ordered that contingency procedures be put into effect,
12:38which included locking the doors, shutting down telephone communications,
12:43and freezing computer terminals to collect data from them.
12:48President Ronald Reagan had been scheduled to give the 1986 State of the Union address on January 28, 1986,
13:01the evening of the Challenger disaster.
13:04After a discussion with his aides, Reagan postponed the State of the Union,
13:10and instead addressed the nation about the disaster from the Oval Office.
13:16Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the State of the Union.
13:21But the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.
13:25Today is a day for mourning and remembering.
13:29Nancy and I are pain to the core by the tragedy of the Shuttle Challenger.
13:34We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country.
13:38This is truly a national loss.
13:41Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground.
13:48But we've never lost an astronaut in flight.
13:51We've never had a tragedy like this.
13:53And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the Shuttle.
13:58But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers,
14:02and overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly.
14:05We mourn seven heroes.
14:07Michael Smith, Dick Scobie, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa Michele.
14:18We mourn their loss as a nation together.
14:21The families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy.
14:28But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much.
14:33Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace,
14:38that special spirit that says, give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy.
14:42They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths.
14:46They wished to serve, and they did.
14:49They served all of us.
14:51We've grown used to wonders in this century.
14:54It's hard to dazzle us.
14:56But for 25 years, the United States Space Program has been doing just that.
15:00We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun.
15:06We're still pioneers.
15:08They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
15:13And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff.
15:19I know it's hard to understand, but painful things like this happen.
15:24It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery.
15:28It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons.
15:33The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted.
15:36It belongs to the brave.
15:38The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow.
15:45I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program.
15:49And what happened today does nothing to diminish it.
15:52We don't hide our space program.
15:54We don't keep secrets and cover things up.
15:56We do it all up front and in public.
15:59That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.
16:03We'll continue our quest in space.
16:06There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews.
16:09And yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space.
16:14Nothing ends here.
16:16Our hopes and our journeys continue.
16:18The crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger honored us for the manner in which they lived their lives.
16:23We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning,
16:28as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye,
16:32and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.
16:50I've got to tell you that we knew the risks,
16:53because a lot of people will say, you know,
16:55oh, the teachers didn't know, and don't believe it.
16:58You know, we knew the risks.
16:59It was part of the training, and once you make the decision,
17:02you go on and you don't dwell on it.
17:04And that's exactly how astronauts make their decisions to fly.
17:08That's exactly what teachers do in their classroom.
17:10And for anybody who doubts that, look at all of my colleagues
17:14who are working in schools where you have to have metal detectors.
17:19You don't have to have a metal detector to get on the shuttle.
17:22That November night, looking up into the sky.
17:29You said, hey, I wish there was nothing.
17:34It's the biggest rocket I could find.
17:38And it's holding the night in my silence.
17:42If only for a moment, I can't see the look in its eyes.
17:49But I'm sure it must be nothing.
17:54But it seemed to me, the sad would say that everything.
18:00And I thought you were crazy.
18:05Wishing such a thing, I saw only a stick on fire.
18:11Alone on its journey, home to the quick and the ground.
18:18With no one there to catch it.
18:22I put on my holding hand in my broken suicide.
18:29I check my gunpowder packet.
18:33Strap the stick on my back.
18:36And dressed as a rocket on an eternal bridge.
18:40My body seems to see me.
18:43Then with the fuse in my hand.
18:46And now, you turn into the night.
18:51On board Challenger.
18:53NASA is going ahead with its Citizen in Space program.
18:56And it has named a teacher to make the next flight.
18:59Here's ABC's venture.
19:01Barbara Morgan will be the first private citizen to fly in space.
19:04And she has accepted.
19:06The 34-year-old elementary school teacher from McCall, Idaho,
19:09trained at Krista McCulloch's side last year.
19:12And she'll go on NASA's payroll until August
19:14to keep the Teacher in Space program alive.
19:17The 39-year-old elementary school teacher from the Dalai
19:21Great-set for the
19:33Korean-แลse transplant.
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