Morbid Fact Du Jour For January 28, 2011
The Beginning Of The End
It was 25 years ago today that the space shuttle Challenger exploded exactly 73 seconds after launch. Where were you when you heard about it? I was in a college algebra class. (Yes, the Comtesse is a product of the Catatonian higher education system.) I remember arriving back at The Castle DeSpair to watch the footage and finding the tragedy both fascinating and appalling to witness. Specifically, it was the footage of Christa McAuliffe’s mother watching the launch that disturbed me. The abrupt change in her face from joy to despair as the realization of what just happened sank in – it still causes pain to my withered black heart to think of it now.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s revisit a favorite object of morbid fascination for…
Today’s Explosive Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
The flight of the space shuttle Challenger, and the astronauts’ lives, did not end at the point of exposion, 73 seconds after launch. After Challenger was torn apart, the pieces continued upward from their own momentum, reaching a peak altitude of 65,000 feet before arching back down into the water. The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive until then. What’s less clear is whether they were conscious. If the cabin depressurized (as seems likely), the crew would have had difficulty breathing. In the words of the final report by fellow astronauts, the crew “possibly but not certainly lost consciousness,” even though a few of the emergency air bottles (designed for escape from a smoking vehicle on the ground) had been activated. The cabin hit the water at a speed greater than 200 mph, resulting in a force of about 200 G’s — crushing the structure and destroying everything inside. If the crew did lose consciousness (and the cabin may have been sufficiently intact to hold enough air long enough to prevent this), it’s unknown if they would have regained it as the air thickened during the last seconds of the fall. Official NASA commemorations of “Challenger’s 73-second flight” subtly deflect attention from what was happened in the almost three minutes of flight (and life) remaining AFTER the breakup.
Culled from: MSNBC.Com
Can you imagine if they were conscious all the way down? What would they have been thinking and saying? Can you imagine knowing that you’re going to die soon and not being able to do anything about it? Yes, thoughts like this keep me up at night…
I was nine when this happened. We had off from school that day because of a snowstorm the day before, but that day itself was very sunny but also very cold.
I don’t really remember as much about it as I maybe should. I know we’d talked about it a lot at school because of Ms. McCauliffe being a teacher, but I can’t remember if we were planning to watch the launch there or not.
I just remember our friend Cindy, a high school girl, coming over to visit and mentioning that she had heard that the shuttle had had some kind of accident, and that she would turn on TV as soon as she got home. And my parents turned ours on and that’s when we knew. I was too young to really appreciate it all then, so I can’t remember feeling any particular emotions about it beyond a distant kind of sorrow and a little bit of fascination.
When I got older and would see footage of the explosion on TV, I was struck by how sad it was now to listen to the commentary when they counted down and talked about the progress of the launch. They were so happy and excited, and so was everybody watching at the time. But when you watch it years later, you already know how it was going to turn out, and that knowledge as compared to nobody at the time having any clue what was going to happen, well, that is what breaks my heart.
I was at work in a factory. The strangest place I’ve maybe worked. I remember going home that day & watching the footage & thinking “but where are the parachutes?”. It still bothers me today like other stuff thhat has happened since. I was 22 at the time.
Thanks for the memories!
I was a cynical child (completely unlike now). I was 8 when it happened. While I have vague memories of the distaster I don’t recall seeing it so much as the footage and coverage AFTER the disaster.
As for the cynical part, I remember much more clearly that even before the shuttle launched thinking that sending a ‘teacher’ into space was an incredibly stupid idea. Astronauts were expensive and worked hard for the priveledge to do grueling work in space. Why the hell were they sending in a teacher? It’s tragic that they all died, but it pains me every time they mention ‘the first teacher in space’ in retrospectives. Everyone remembers Christa McAuliffe, but no one ever mentions the other astronauts who died, only the teacher who really shouldn’t have been there to begin with.
I was in the 5th grade. We were lucky enough to watch the launch live on the TV in the library. The boys thought this was the coolest thing ever. 11 year old boys+ big explosion= their first orgasm. This event and the death of Budd Dwyer played a major part in shaping my morbid and cynical personality. Also of interest; I currently live in Port Orange, Fl. About an hour North of the space center. Also, also interesting; I lived five miles from Colombine HS when that incident happened. Lucky enough to watch that live too. I sure know how to party!