Little-Acorn
Well-Known Member
26 years ago today, on Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off the pad for its journey into space.
73 seconds later, it exploded, and was lost with all hands.
It was eventually determined that an O-ring sealing one of the solid rocket boosters failed, after exposure to low temperatures outside its design specification. Warnings from engineers were disregarded, and the failure of the O-ring sent a jet of flame into an external fuel tank and some of the mounting hardware for the rocket booster.
73 seconds later, it exploded, and was lost with all hands.
It was eventually determined that an O-ring sealing one of the solid rocket boosters failed, after exposure to low temperatures outside its design specification. Warnings from engineers were disregarded, and the failure of the O-ring sent a jet of flame into an external fuel tank and some of the mounting hardware for the rocket booster.
