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Space Shuttle Challenger

 

As the flame grew, it pushed against this strut with an intense heat of approximately 5,600 degrees Fahrenheit, making it hot and weak. The first sighting of the flame hitting the external tank was at 64.7 seconds, when the color of the flame changed. The color change indicated that the fire was being produced through mixing with another substance. This other substance was liquid hydrogen, which is stored in the bottom external tank. Pressure changes from the hydrogen tank confirmed that there was a leak. .
             At 72 seconds, there was a sudden chain of events that destroyed Challenger and the seven crew members on board. By now, the lower strut connecting the right SRB to the external tank was extremely hot and very weak. With the amount of force given by the SRB, the lower strut broke away from both the right SRB and the external tank, allowing the right SRB to rotate freely around the top struts. The bottom of the SRB swung around hitting, denting, and burning Challenger's wing. There was an extreme force that shot the hydrogen tank forward into the oxygen tank causing them to burst. At 73.12 seconds into flight, a white vapor was seen from the bottom corner of the right SRB. The white vapor was the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. Only milliseconds after the white vapor was seen, at 73.14 seconds, the glow turned into a fireball in a huge explosion. The main explosion was the hydrogen and oxygen that came from the external tank. Challenger was traveling at a speed of mach 1.92 at a height of 46,000 feet when it blew up. The last recorded transmission from Challenger was at 73.62 seconds after launch. Michael Smith was recorded as saying, "Uhh oh"! .
             Six days later, President Reagan, who was moved and troubled by the horrible accident of mission 51-L, appointed an independent commission made up of persons not connected with the mission to investigate it. The purpose of the commission was to: "1) Review the circumstances surrounding the accident to establish the probable cause or causes of the accident; and 2) Develop recommendations for corrective or other action based upon the commission's findings and determinations.


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