History+Detectivedb

** OVERVIEW  ** ** “Today is a day for mourning and remembering, Nancy and I are pained to the core over this tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss. Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost astronauts in flight. We’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps, we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But the Challenger Seven were aware of the dangers and overcame them and did their job brilliantly. We mourn seven heros.” That was said by President Ronald Reagan, when space shuttle Challenger blasted off from Cape Canaveral January 28, 1986. Challenger was the 10th launch and the 25th space shuttle mission. Many people wonder what the reason was that the Challenger would explode. There are three main reasons. 1) The failure of the “O” ring seal. 2) Enviornmental Effects. And 3) Human Factors. **
 * CHALLENGER **** DISASTER **

** THE FAILURE OF THE “O” RING  ** ** The “O” ring is the solid-fuel rocket on the space shuttles right side. The seal broke when unusually cold weather let hot gasses leak through. Flames, then went through the seal, which enlarged the hole. The flames burned through the fuel tank and through one support that attached the booster to the side of the tank. That caused the booster to brake through and collide with the tank, that broke the tanks side. Then the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the tank and the booster mixed together and ignited. Causing the shuttle to tear apart. **

** ENVIORNMENTAL EFFECTS  ** ** The alluring and enigmatic shuttle was developed as a utility and did not have a firm application. The engineering and management deisions only met needs of organizational, political, and economic factors. But did not meet the needs to the entity mission profile that has specific goals. The shuttle was made with short cuts, instead of taking its time. There was pressure from the politics to make a reliable and reusable shuttle. It did not have any complete Management Support Systems (MSS) that considered all the factors with the shuttle. Another effect was the Reagan Administration wanted to shuttle to be declared “operational” before the “developmental” stage had been completed. **

** “For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. You’re loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, ‘Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with a smile.’ They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve and they did. They served all of us.” –President Ronald Reagan. ** **  HUMAN EFFECTS  ** ** Even though very main cause of the disaster was the “O” ring, the people were at fault as well. They decided to launch the challenger, even though there was a faulty group decision. And support information. That aggravated mismanagement of the information. The engineers and NASA managers also decided to launch on an unusually coldday. Most likely if it had been warmer, with less high altitude winds, they might have had a better chance of a successful launch. **

** CONCLUSIONS  ** ** There have been many conclusions made about the space shuttle Challenger. But those all depend on opinions of the people. I believe that mostly the engineers, NASA managers, and the Reagan Administration are at fault. Because the engineers made the faulty “O” ring, the NASA managers put too much pressure on the engineers, and the Reagan Administration put too much pressure on the NASA managers. But the “O” ring’s faulty design and the failure of Management Support System are just as much at fault. ** **  “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journy and waved goodby, and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of god.’” ** ** -President Ronald Reagan  **