Katastrofa Challengera (STS-51-L)

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'Go At Throttle Up': Remembering Challenger's Final Flight, OTD in 1986

By Ben Evans, on January 28th, 2021

https://www.americaspace.com/2021/01/28/go-at-throttle-up-remembering-challengers-final-flight-otd-in-1986/


A shattered remnant of the lost shuttle, bearing part of Challenger’s name. Photo Credit: NASA

[Orionid]

For a NASA engineer, writing about Challenger tragedy was tough
RACHAEL JOY   | Florida Today

When engineer Roland Norris set out to write down the stories of his career spanning 40 years at NASA, he had one regret.

“I wish I’d kept a journal or made notes.  Instead I wrote it all from memory,” Norris told FLORIDA TODAY.

He discovered quickly that he needed a quiet place to roam the corners of his mind and he found it in the cabin of his sailboat Captiva.

“I wrote almost all of it right there,” he said pointing to a cozy spot surrounded by his collection of videos about the various space programs.

It took him seven years to finish his nearly 200 page memoir “My Path to a Career in Aerospace and an Out of This World Job with NASA.”

But it was more than the lack of notes the made for slow progress. One chapter, in particular, was tough for Norris to write.

The chapter about the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded shortly after liftoff Jan. 28, 1986.

All seven astronauts on board were killed.

“It was the hardest chapter to write," Norris said.

After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and serving in the Air Force, Norris arrived at NASA just as the Gemini program was beginning in 1963. He worked on the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

Like so many of his peers, he was a witness to history.

“I, like most of us working at the Cape, just did not realize what a unique opportunity it was to have been part of it as things went along. We worked with world famous astronauts on a daily basis during the day, then socialized with them in the evening. It was just part of the job."

There’s the time he found himself in a launch simulation with Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. When Norris arrived at work for the second shift the test was only half done. 

“I sat down and began conducting the rest of the test for the Apollo 11 command service module interfacing with the crew over headset.”

Around midnight the whole team convened in a conference room and Norris lead the meeting to review all the data while sitting across from the astronauts.

“Definitely one of the highlights of my career.”

Knowing the astronauts as friends and co-workers rather than just national icons, is one of the things that made the Challenger disaster so painful for NASA employees like Norris.

He knew remembering the details of the Challenger tragedy would be difficult so he put off writing about it until the end.

"I will never forget the trauma everyone experienced as we watched the horrific scene develop," Norris wrote.


At the time Norris was the chief engineer for shuttle contamination control and played no direct role in the Challenger launch but he observed it as a NASA insider.

Like many people who witnessed the launch of Challenger he remembers how cold it was that day.  It was a bitter 36 degrees Fahrenheit, 15 degrees lower than the previous-coldest launch day.

At that time Norris’ office was in the Launch Control Center just a few feet from the away from the launch team. He and his colleagues often watched launches on the roof and that day was no different. 

He was surrounded by NASA VIPs and close family members of the crew who had chosen to view the launch from there instead of the designated family viewing site at the Saturn V Center on the Banana River.

“What we saw from there was a beautiful launch on a very cold morning for 73 seconds and then things started happening.”

A minute and 13 seconds after launch, the Challenger spacecraft exploded and broke apart as millions across the country watched in person and on TV.

As Norris watched the horrifying event unfold, his mind raced to make sense of it.

“At first I thought, my gosh we’re actually going to have our first 'Return to Launch Site Abort.' This was a method to recover the shuttle from a failed launch by landing back on the main shuttle landing runway. But this could only happen after both solid rocket boosters had completed their burn and separated. I was just in a state of shock.”

Norris thought of his friend Commander Dick Scobee onboard the spacecraft. They had worked together during the days of Shuttle’s approach-and-landing tests that took place at Edwards Air Force base in California. In fact, Norris and his wife had recently run into Scobee with his wife at the Black Tulip restaurant in Cocoa just a couple weeks before.

After a lengthy investigation it was determined that an O-ring seal in the joint of the right solid rocket booster failed resulting in the catastrophic destruction of the spacecraft.

Norris said as the struts supporting the solid rocket boosters deteriorated, the boosters would have begun to move back and forth in a rolling manner. Because the tops of the boosters extend well above the crew module on both sides of the windows Norris is haunted by the idea that the crew actually saw the vehicle breaking apart.

“The pilot and the commander could have seen that if it actually did happen.” After a long pause Norris continued, “It’s all just too much to contemplate really.”

The last memory Norris has of that day is seeing NASA Public affairs officer Manny Virata gathering the family members of the crew. 

“Watching Manny lead the family off that roof in that solemn atmosphere of what we had just seen. That’ll never leave my mind…very sad.”

Norris plans to pay his respects at an upcoming NASA event marking the 35th anniversary of the Challenger incident.  In partnership with the Astronaut Memorial Foundation, the Day of Remembrance ceremony honors astronauts who have sacrificed their lives while furthering the cause of space exploration.

All Challenger crew members including Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael Smith and Christa McAuliffe who would have been the first teacher in space, are commemorated in the Forever Remembered exhibit at the NASA visitor complex.

For his part, Norris went on to be actively involved in the space shuttle's return to flight and retired in 2003. His final accomplishment was finishing his memoir at age 83.

"To write on stuff like this you really have to totally immerse yourself in the time and the periods of things were happening. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience."

Norris' advice for the young engineers at NASA, SpaceX and elsewhere working on the next generation of rockets that will send humans back to the moon and Mars is to keep a diary of their experiences.

"The reason is you can never tell by the work you're doing today what the significance may be of it in the future."

https://eu.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2021/01/25/nasa-engineer-remembers-challenger-tragedy-35-years-later/6620609002/

30TH ANNIVERSARY: Five years ago, readers remembered the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
https://eu.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-county/2016/01/25/30th-anniversary-readers-remember-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster-digital-extras/89245226/

[mss]

Challenger's Final Voyage: A Mission That Never Was

By Ben Evans, on January 29th, 2021


STS-51L crew members, pictured during a classroom session in the Shuttle Mockup and Integration Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, in December 1985. From left to right are Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik, Christa McAuliffe (sitting on table) and backup teacher Barbara Morgan at far right. Photo Credit: NASA

https://www.americaspace.com/2021/01/29/challengers-final-voyage-a-mission-that-never-was/

[Orionid]

35 Years Ago: Remembering Challenger and Her Crew
Jan 28, 2021


The Teacher in Space winners meet the STS-51L crew – Ellison S. Onizuka, Barbara R. Morgan, Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, S. Christa McAuliffe, Judith A. Resnik, Michael J. Smith, and Ronald E. McNair.


McAuliffe, left, Jarvis, Resnik, Smith, McNair, Onizuka, and Scobee during a preflight press conference on Dec. 13, 1985

1) The 10 Teacher in Space finalists pose in front of NASA’s KC-135 zero-gravity aircraft at Ellington Field in Houston in July 1985

2) STS-51L crew members Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, left, and Smith during a meeting in their office

3) S. Christa McAuliffe, left, and Barbara R. Morgan, right, get their first taste of space food with Charles T. Bourland, head of the food lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston

4) At the conclusion of the TCDT, Jarvis, left, Onizuka, McNair, Resnik, McAuliffe, Smith, and Scobee answer reporters’ questions in front of the Astrovan at Launch Pad 39B
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/35-years-ago-remembering-challenger-and-her-crew

[Orionid]

Bill Nelson speaks on House Floor the day of the Challenger Disaster, and on the 30th anniversary from the Senate floor.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInwsEeDj2Y" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInwsEeDj2Y</a>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInwsEeDj2Y

[Orionid]

Congress stunned by Challenger disaster
BySTEVE GERSTEL UPI ARCHIVES JANUARY 28, 1986

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 1986 (UPI) -- The loss of the shuttle Challenger staggered members of Congress Tuesday and brought almost immediate adjournments of Senate and House sessions. The seven who perished were lauded as pioneers who carried America's ''hopes and dreams'' into space.

Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah and Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who went into space on previous shuttle missions, said they would fly again and Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, the first American to orbit earth, lamented, ''I guess I always knew there would be a day like this.''

There were demands for investigations, a call for a review of the policy that permits civilians in space and criticism of NASA's tight schedule.

But there was general agreement that the accident would not stop the space program nor, in Nelson's words, ''would the seven crew members who perished today ever have wanted that to be contemplated.''

President Reagan, postponing his State of the Union address Tuesday night, said there would be no greater honor to the Challenger crew than to continue space exploration.

The Senate and House recessed as a ''mark of respect'' for the seven fallen astronauts. Prayers were given by chaplains on both sides of Capitol Hill.

Nelson, D-Fla., who flew this month on the last space shuttle mission, gave a speech on the House floor, his voice straining, and quoted Helen Keller's writing.

'''Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,''' he said. ''As long as man has the thirst for knowledge we will continue to press outward. And in the process there is risk. That risk is taken by each one of us every day and that risk is understood by all the members of a crew who climb into a loaded spaceship.''

''Pioneers have had tragedy before and tragedy will occur again,'' Nelson said. ''This is part of venturing into the unknown.''

Garn, wearing his astronaut pin, near tears and his voice trembling, said, ''I don't know any time that I have been so shocked or so moved since my first wife was killed in a car accident.''

But Garn said, ''I would go again tomorrow.''

Glenn said, ''I guess I always knew there would be a day like this ... We all hoped it could be pushed back forever ... I feel a tremendous personal loss. They were carrying our hopes and dreams.''

Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., called for suspension of the shuttle flights pending completion of investigations by Congress and NASA, saying that the ''safety of our crews'' is a critical component of the space program.

Rep. Harold Volkmer, D-Mo., said he had no doubt the space program would continue, though he predicted Congress will review the decisions to allow civilians aboard the shuttles.

Rep. Mervin Dymally, D-Calif., head of the congressional science and technology caucus, said, ''Inevitably this tragedy today will set the program back'' because NASA will have to find close to $2 billion to replace the craft.

He added that NASA seems to be ''too rigid with their schedule. I think they put themselves under too much pressure.''

House Speaker Thomas O'Neill said of the crew members, ''They served our hopes for scientific exploration and human progress. They also served our dreams because they lived at the frontier of what mankind can achieve together.

''Our shock turns to sadness. We salute those who gave their lives to our country at the last great frontier,'' O'Neill said.

Senate Republican leader Robert Dole of Kansas said NASA's ''superb track record has made these launches almost routine, but we are now reminded that the road to the heavens is a dangerous one.''

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., recalled the words of his late brother, President John Kennedy, on America's first manned space flight: '''It will not be one man going to the moon -- it will be an entire nation.'''

''Seven brave astronauts pursuing that dream were apparently killed today -- and our entire nation has been wounded,'' Kennedy said.

Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., said, ''It makes you realize how small a part of the total universe man is, how man's capacity is limited.''

Rep. Denny Smith, R-Ore., said, ''We often think we are in charge, but the good Lord calls the shots.''

''Death occurs every day of the week,'' said Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, ''but when it occurs before your eyes, it is so much more difficult to accept.''

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/01/28/Congress-stunned-by-Challenger-disaster/4190281878412/

[Orionid]

US Sen. Bill Nelson Recalls Challenger Disaster 30 Years On
WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7 | By Roberto Roldan Published January 28, 2016 at 9:38 AM EST


U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, became the first congressman in space when he served as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Columbia STS-61-C mission on January 12, 1986.

Many Americans watched in shock as the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated over the Florida sky 30 years ago.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-FL, was one of the viewers who had tuned in to the national broadcast. Then a U.S. representative, Nelson arrived back to earth only 10 days earlier after a six-day mission in space.

It would be the final successful mission to space before the Challenger disaster.

Nelson told WUSF that as it became abundantly clear something was going wrong with the Challenger launch, he dropped to his knees in his congressional office and wondered “Why was I spared?”

The Challenger explosion forever changed the way Americans viewed space travel, Nelson said. Because the disaster was replayed over and over again, he said many Americans stopped viewing space travel as something routine or mundane.

“It was like getting in your car and going for a Sunday drive,” Nelson said. “They suddenly were shocked into the reality when they could see it… the symbol of our technological prowess back in 1986 explode and disintegrate.”

Seven astronauts lost their lives in the explosion, including Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.

Nelson said he had originally been penciled in for the Challenger mission, but was later placed on the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-61-C mission. The Columbia shuttle would also explode during mission 17 years later, in 2003.

Because his mission in January of 1986 had been scrubbed four times due to unfavorable weather conditions, Nelson said he shared crew quarters with the Challenger crew.

Astronauts under quarantine after a mission and astronauts at the launch pad for practice countdowns both live in the crew quarters at Cape Canaveral.

“Therefore, these were all personal friends,” Nelson said.

The shuttle program went on a 32-month hiatus following the Challenger disaster. The disintegration about a minute into launch was later believed to have resulted from cold temperatures at the launch site, according to an investigation by federal authorities.

Because of his close connection to the Challenger disaster, Nelson said he now has a deep commitment to the future success of NASA missions and space exploration.
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/science/2016-01-28/us-sen-bill-nelson-recalls-challenger-disaster-30-years-on