View Full Version : Section of destroyed shuttle Challenger found on ocean floor
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/section-of-destroyed-shuttle-challenger-found-on-ocean-floor-1.6147656
CANAVERAL, FLA. - A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger has been found buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic, more than three decades after the tragedy that killed a schoolteacher and six others.
NASA's Kennedy Space Center announced the discovery Thursday.
"Upon first hearing about it, it brings you right back to 1986," said Michael Ciannilli, a NASA manager in charge of the remains of both lost shuttles, Challenger and Columbia.
In a NASA interview, he said it's one of the biggest pieces of Challenger ever found in the decades since the accident.
Divers for a TV documentary crew first spotted the piece in March while seeking wreckage of a World War II plane. NASA recently verified through video that the piece was part of the shuttle that broke apart shortly after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986. All seven on board were killed, including the first schoolteacher bound for space, Christa McAuliffe.
The remnant is more than 15 feet by 15 feet (4.5 metres by 4.5 metres); it's likely bigger because part of it is covered with sand. Because of the presence of square thermal tiles, it's believed to be from the shuttle's belly, officials said.
The fragment remains on the ocean floor just off the Florida coast near Cape Canaveral, as NASA determines the next step. It remains the property of the U.S. government.
Ciannilli said the families of all seven Challenger crew members have been notified.
A History Channel documentary detailing the discovery airs Nov. 22.
I remember watching the launch live on a TV in the library at school pretty sure I was in 7th grade.
I was in college, we were all watching it in the student union.
But this isn't like the Titanic where it's been a reasonable length of time. They should just leave it alone.
Sadly, the shuttle program epitomized the "American Mediocrity" culture. Leaking o-rings, tiles falling of the shit. I'm not making light of the two tragedies at all. It really angers me. I really think that "half ass" is an unfortunate problem with the American Approach to many designs/projects/challenges.
Isn’t our new rocket we can’t get launched due to leaks based on the shuttle booster?
Sadly, the shuttle program epitomized the "American Mediocrity" culture. Leaking o-rings, tiles falling of the shit. I'm not making light of the two tragedies at all. It really angers me. I really think that "half ass" is an unfortunate problem with the American Approach to many designs/projects/challenges.
100%. When I found out what it was, when I learned people had been warning about it and nothing was done...I was furious. Same exact feeling when I discovered the heat shield was as vulnerable as it was and again entirely preventable. This shit is dangerous enough without some jackass trying to save .65 cents on parts.
Sadly, the shuttle program epitomized the "American Mediocrity" culture. Leaking o-rings, tiles falling of the shit. I'm not making light of the two tragedies at all. It really angers me. I really think that "half ass" is an unfortunate problem with the American Approach to many designs/projects/challenges.
The Soviets, and many Astronauts, were confused why we scaped the Apollo system for the Shuttle. You could have placed any type of shuttle you wanted on top of an Apollo booster. And still could have used the much safer Apollo capsule for travel to new Skylabs.
The Soviets, and many Astronauts, were confused why we scaped the Apollo system for the Shuttle. You could have placed any type of shuttle you wanted on top of an Apollo booster. And still could have used the much safer Apollo capsule for travel to new Skylabs.
Marketing. It was presented as a more cost effective, reusable "space plane." It satisfied the 2001 "vision" most assumed we needed to be at by the 1980s.
The vulnerability of the space program has never ceased to amaze me, if not for a ink pen, the Apollo 11 lander might have been stranded on the moon.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/50-years-pen-saved-apollo-11/story?id=64228723
Averageman
11-12-22, 20:33
I live in Central Texas and I was in my driveway when I saw them burning in accross the sky.
I wasn't working because it was a Saturday, I believe they announced it on the News while I was driving my Kid to a game, or getting groceries.
The_War_Wagon
11-12-22, 20:52
I was in college, we were all watching it in the student union.
But this isn't like the Titanic where it's been a reasonable length of time. They should just leave it alone.
I was walking back from a class to my dorm room before lunch - I kept hearing snippets of conversations among people - "7 people on-board were killed" things like that, & I'm thinking a light plane crashed somewhere nearby. I get back & my room mate tells me the Shuttle blew up. TV is on ABC news, & there it is in endless replays.
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-12-22, 20:56
Experts. Science. Data.
The Holy Trifecta of how to really screw something up.
That’s not exactly right. Leave geeks alone and things tend to work out alright, it when you put ‘cheaper’ or ‘faster’ into the mix, along with other non-‘reality’ based expectations that you get really bad outcomes.
We were slow movers on a new chemical tech- and we found out that if you aren’t careful in production, you made ‘bad actors’. If you made it right, it wasn’t an issue. I said “too bad”, we are adding this extra step to make sure the monkeys in production can’t screw up this iron ball. Now they want to cut back or eliminate the step I made them put in. In the mean time, our version is the Ming-F’ing gangster of its product class- and that’s how we sell it. Never mind that in the 8 years since we launched it, they have refused to actually optimize and automate the extra step- so they complain about it.
I understand engineering at some level is about optimizing and simplifying things, but on the other side, it is amazing how if you develop something and give it innate great properties, you don’t have to screw with it later. Like a B52. I have a saw that my great-great-grandfather used. Eventually, we’ll figure out the true LCA of the Colosseum in Rome.
I live in Central Texas and I was in my driveway when I saw them burning in accross the sky.
I wasn't working because it was a Saturday, I believe they announced it on the News while I was driving my Kid to a game, or getting groceries.
Pretty sure you are thinking of Columbia, I saw it too. But I don't think Challenger got high enough to be seen from Texas. Also left more of a smoke trail, whereas Columbia was burning.
Marketing. It was presented as a more cost effective, reusable "space plane." It satisfied the 2001 "vision" most assumed we needed to be at by the 1980s.
The vulnerability of the space program has never ceased to amaze me, if not for a ink pen, the Apollo 11 lander might have been stranded on the moon.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/50-years-pen-saved-apollo-11/story?id=64228723
This and new palms needed greasing.
Sadly, the shuttle program epitomized the "American Mediocrity" culture. Leaking o-rings, tiles falling of the shit. I'm not making light of the two tragedies at all. It really angers me. I really think that "half ass" is an unfortunate problem with the American Approach to many designs/projects/challenges.
100%. When I found out what it was, when I learned people had been warning about it and nothing was done...I was furious. Same exact feeling when I discovered the heat shield was as vulnerable as it was and again entirely preventable. This shit is dangerous enough without some jackass trying to save .65 cents on parts.
That was part was the culture, normalization of deviance, and practical drift. https://risk-engineering.org/concept/Rasmussen-practical-drift
The whole of NASA leadership needed to be fired.
john armond
11-14-22, 10:49
Pretty sure you are thinking of Columbia, I saw it too. But I don't think Challenger got high enough to be seen from Texas. Also left more of a smoke trail, whereas Columbia was burning.
Challenger also wasn't on a weekend/Saturday. It was shown in classrooms all across the country.
The Soviets, and many Astronauts, were confused why we scaped the Apollo system for the Shuttle. You could have placed any type of shuttle you wanted on top of an Apollo booster. And still could have used the much safer Apollo capsule for travel to new Skylabs.
Could Apollo steal a Russian satellite and fly home with it?
ThirdWatcher
11-15-22, 10:24
I’m in the “leave it alone” crowd. I had training that day, had just arrived when a fellow Trooper gave me the sad news. I got drunk (at home) that night...
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