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New Amateur Super 8 Film of Challenger Explosion just surfaced. Sat 26 years in a box. Listen to the women in the background after the explosion. They had absolutely no clue the damn thing exploded saying "OHhhhh...It's Beauti-fulllll!!!" Some people need a good smack.

http://main.aol.com/2012/03/09/challenger-video-film-space-shuttle-explosion_n_1335064.html?test=latestnews?test=latestnews

WD-40 wrote:Some people need a good smack.

I'll never understand why people say stuff like this. Obviously they didn't know, why should they be smacked? They didn't do anything wrong. I don't even hear the "oh beautiful" when after it exploded, but only way before. I heard some yelling, but nothing more. Not that it ers either way.

But that excitement turned to shock and sadness just 73 seconds after launch, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all seven astronauts on board and putting shuttle missions on hold for nearly three years.

Uh... no. They didn't (all) die in the "explosion"*. It is known several survived the "explosion" at least. The rest died when the crew compartment hit the water. If some sort of emergency escape system had been in place, perhaps some of them would have lived. I'm not a rocket scientist, I don't know if they couldn't fit one in thanks to weight restrictions, engineering restrictions, or they just didn't think they'd ever need one.

*Oh, and it didn't actually "explode" which is a word everyone throws around. Not in the conventional sense of the word. There was no detonation, no shockwave, no bang. Just a fireball of liquid hydrogen and oxygen as the fuel tank tore apart. As you can clearly see in that video, the two rocket boosters climbing away unharmed by a supposed "explosion".

Challenger broke apart as it turned broadside in a mach 2 airstream, it did not explode. Which is how the crew survived. Most people think the flight ended 73 seconds after takeoff, it didn't. The crew compartment and the rest of the shuttle pieces continued upward from their own momentum, before hitting the water at a force of 200G's, destroying everything inside. It is not known if the crew was conscious (when the shuttle tore apart, the crew cabin most likely depressurized, there is very little air at that altitude) when they hit the ground. It is known some of the emergency air supply canisters were activated, designed for leaving a smoking crash on the ground.



Also, does anyone want to explain to me why in the article they claimed this footage was closer than ever seen before? I've seen plenty closer, and higher quality footage.

She does say something about beautiful around 1:38

WD-40 wrote: Some people need a good smack.

Yea.

THEWULFMAN wrote:

WD-40 wrote:Some people need a good smack.

I'll never understand why people say stuff like this. Obviously they didn't know, why should they be smacked? They didn't do anything wrong.

Sorry Wulf…I'm sure I meant to say: "Wulfman needs a good smack"


...And I didn't mean she needed a 'beating'...just a small thump on the top of her head (26 years ago with a rubber mallet) that's all.

Wulfman, that shuttle did have a emergency escape system and it was speculated that it either malfunctioned or the crew was not aware of what was happening to activate it until it was too late. It's also speculaton that there were crew members who where still alive until the cab splashed into the water. I remember that day and the weeks to follow. My dad was there on the roof of the Ford Building watching it as it happened. It was very sobering and what I can't understand listening to the voices of the people on that film is why they couldn't figure out so quickly that something went terribly wrong.

I suppose Wulfman needs to watch the History Channel more. It has been 'proven' that the O-rings in the boosters shrunk during the very cold temperatures prior to launch. During the launch, super-heated gases/flames escaped from the O-ring on one of the boosters. The 'flame' was clearly seen on NASA launch video as coming out of the booster, and hitting the side of the large brown Nitrogen/oxygen fuel tank. By the time they said "Go for throttle-up", it super-heated the chemical mixture of the fuel tank to a point that it...wait for it Wulf...'exploded', thereby ripping the solid rocket boosters from there mountings (hence the 2 separate vapor trails), and of course tearing the shuttle apart.

Now, whether they were alive still at water impact is anybody's guess as no audio of screams from the shuttle where released to the public. Regarding 'safeguards', the only one I was aware of, was the ability of the shuttle to separate from the fuel tank during the middle of the launch phase and pitch over for intercepting some glide path to a long runway in the Florida area. Obviously, they didn't 'know' they were about to 'explode' (you did see all the little streaming pieces in the video I presume...look for the big poofy cloud-like white explosive cloud burst, followed by little super-heated vapor trails of shuttle pieces for a clue). Had they 'known' what was to befall them, I'm sure they would have separated the shuttle and taken their chances gliding back to Earth in one piece.

Sorry, should have addressed this earlier. Only partially read Wulf's [m'kay] response.

I somehow convinced my mother to let me stay home from school that day. I called to my mother who was in the other room and told her the space shuttle exploded and she wouldn't believe me. She got a phone call from a neighbor friend and confiscated the tv. She was in shock and later her and my dad talked to me about a time when they were young and they watched a tragic failed launch.

This'll be interesting.