What Happened Here? The Space Shuttle Challenger: What Happened Here?, #1

By Nyck von Boosten

On January 28th, 1986, the world witnessed one of the most stunning tragedies in the history of space exploration. Worse yet, they witnessed it live on television, and many of those witnesses were children wanting to see a teacher go to space. The depth of the tragedy of the Shuttle Challenger seemed bottomless, even moreso when people learned the whole truth. That this tragedy could have been prevented. That mistakes made years before that frigid morning in Florida ended up being the catalyst for devastation. The question is, what happened?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nyck von Boosten
• Release date: Mar 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224217519

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Copyright © 2024 by Nyck von Boosten

All rights reserved.

This book was researched solely with publically available information and interpreted based on that information. The author has depicted incidents and conversations as accurately as possible using public information from individuals involved. Any claims made by individuals included or associated with this book are not reflective of the author's opinion.

Special thanks to Richard Cook for a brief interview regarding the subject.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Contents

Dedication

1.Eyewitness

2.The Right Stuff

3.Flying For Us All

4.Warning Signs

5.Schedule

6.A Terrible Tragedy

7.What Happened?

8.The Horrifying Truth

9.Lessons Learned?

10.Works Cited

In Memoriam

Francis Richard Dick Scobee

1939 – 1986

Michael John Smith

1945 – 1986

Ronald Erwin McNair

1950 – 1986

Ellison Shoji El Onizuka

1946 – 1986

Judith Arlene Resnik

1949 – 1986

Gregory Bruce Jarvis

1944 – 1986

Sharon Christa McAuliffe

1948 – 1986

And all those to have perished pursuing the final frontier

Chapter one

Eyewitness

At an elementary school in Los Angeles, anticipation was ever present. The Space Shuttle Challenger was three minutes away from launching in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and riding on her was someone all those watching could relate to: a teacher.

Christa McAuliffe strapped into her seat, her new friends sat around her, and millions around the world were waiting to see her become the first average civilian to take the ultimate journey. Soon, she would orbit the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and teach lessons to children about the beauty of space.

A few teachers of said children led them into the open-air colorless school library the third-grade students in Los Angeles, around 150 of them. Their teachers wheeled in a boxy light-gray CRT in front of them and tuned it to Channel 4.

Ok, third grade, your attention, please! One teacher began, hoping to shush the talkative bunch.

We’re here to see something very important. The Space Shuttle is about to launch, and onboard is Christa McAuliffe. Christa is a teacher from New Hampshire, and she’s going to be teaching some lessons from space on Friday. We will watch them along with every class in the country. This is a very exciting moment for your generation. Every single kid will be learning alongside you! And if Christa can go to space, there’s no reason you can’t either.

That these ordinary kids could one day become astronauts was enough to entice some of them to watch. Others still weren’t interested, taking the time away from class to talk with their friends. The teachers didn’t stop them for once. They figured they’d pay attention. No one could ignore the Challenger.

The same teacher chimed in once more from her seat beside the students.

Did you know that Ms. Ard applied for the Teacher in Space program and made it to the second round? And she met Christa McAuliffe, too, is that right?

Some students turned to the older, petite woman who was trying not to blush at the sudden attention.

She was wonderful, just wonderful, Ms. Ard recalled. Always smiling, always ready to learn. No one deserves this more than her. She’s a wonderful role-model for you all.

KNBC News broke in to cover the launch. The words Channel 4 News Special Report flashed on the screen and Kent Shocknet, the anchor, began talking. The school librarian turned the volume up.

"This is a special report from Channel 4 News.

Good morning, I’m Kent Shocknet, and the Space Shuttle Challenger is just a few seconds away from blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida; let’s take a look right now."

Hugh Harris, the NASA launch announcer, started the final countdown.

T-minus 15 seconds… The excitement built up. One teacher repeated what Harris said, wanting the students to see the pivotal moment.

T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, we have main engine start…

There was a yellow glow, followed by burning white cones appearing under the main engines. The Shuttle lifted.

4, 3, 2, 1…

The solid rocket boosters kicked in. Fire exploded out the nozzles, the connectors released, and Challenger floated upward.

And liftoff! Liftoff of the 25th Space Shuttle Mission and it has cleared the tower!

Cheers, applause, whistles, and hollers filled the air as Challenger lifted off and rolled over onto its back, delighting the children and teachers. With bulging eyes and bright smiles, the children watched the spectacle. Commander Dick Scobee and Flight Controller Richard Covey confirmed a successful launch, the roar of the engines nearly drowning them out.

Houston, Challenger, roll program!

Roger roll, Challenger!

Mission Control announcer Steve Nesbitt took over for Hugh Harris and began relaying the telemetry to the public.

Good roll program confirmed… Challenger now heading down range.

The camera followed Challenger as it continued ascending with a golden glow following. It leaned back further, the seven heroes aboard shaken and stirred from the millions of pounds of thrust. Kent Shocknet commented on the temperatures that morning, how icicles needed to be chiseled off the launch pad and the vehicle by the ground crews.

Engines beginning throttling down now… now at 94%. Normal throttle for most of the flight is 104%. We’ll throttle down to 65% shortly.

Challenger banked even more as it approached max-Q—the highest amount of aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle, which required it to throttle down like a race car braking for a tight corner.

Engines are at 65%. Three engines running normally… three good fuel cells… three good APUs.

Shocknet commented APUs stood for the auxiliary units on the Shuttle—he’d seen plenty of launches and knew more than most about how the Shuttle worked. He was as qualified as anyone in the nation to cover a launch.

The third graders and their teachers were silent, watching in amazement as a seeming masterpiece of American engineering did its job. They all wished, some more than others, that they were the ones onboard.

Velocity 2,257 feet per second, altitude 4.3 nautical miles, downrange distance 3 nautical miles… engines are throttling up. Three engines now at 104 percent.

Challenger had cleared max-Q. Now it was time to push the solid rocket motors to full power and smash through the atmosphere. The last stretch of the final frontier had begun, and CAPCOM’s Richard Covey marked it.

Challenger, go at throttle up!

Commander Dick Scobee responded.

Roger, go at throttle up!

Merely a second later, Challenger disappeared into a glowing contrail. It burst outward into a fireball, then a gray plume. The students roared, thinking this was a part of the show. The teachers thought so too, except for Ms. Ard. When people turned to her, her face had sunk. Kent Shocknet felt the same way.

My god… there’s been an explosion.

It didn’t take long for everyone to see it for themselves. The cheering faded into a tense silence. Everyone looked for the orbiter—it was gone. The solid rocket boosters were intact, but trailed off. Spindly, stringy contrails were falling from the plume and towards the ocean. Steve Nesbitt had the unfortunate task of explaining what was happening.

Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation… obviously a major malfunction.

We have no downlink.

All Kent Shocknet could do was say I hope they were able to survive.

Third grade was realizing what had happened. The word exploded circulated among the students. The teachers didn’t know what to do—do they take the students back to class? Do they reassure them, even if they know full well they’ve witnessed a tragedy? Do they distract the students until they know more?

Some children cried, and a few teased them for crying. Some said the Shuttle would just fly back around, land, and everything would be fine. The hopeful ones believed them. Many watched with blank looks on their faces, like most of the teachers did.

The teacher who spoke earlier was praying into her lap. Another had her hands on Ms. Ard’s shuddering shoulders. The poor woman looked like she was about to shatter like porcelain.

The camera focused on a small white clump streaking towards the ocean, the operator possibly thinking it was the orbiter. But it was much too small, it couldn’t have been more than a sliver of the wings. It was clear what had happened, but everyone needed to hear it to believe it. Steve Nesbitt took the microphone once more.

We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded. The flight director confirms that; we are looking at checking with the recovery forces to see what can be done at this point.

Kent Shocknet relayed this information, knowing there was no hope.

We must… assume… that the crew is not alive. This is unheralded in the history of the space program.

He could barely hold his composure as he reported the most shocking story of his career. But third grade wouldn’t see any more of it; the librarian turned the TV off right after confirmation of the explosion.