Shuttle "Challenger" (photo). Disaster of the shuttle "Challenger"

Space - airless space, the temperature in which is up to -270 ° C. In such an aggressive environment, a person can not survive, so astronauts always risk their lives, rushing into the unknown blackness of the universe. In the process of studying the cosmos, many catastrophes took place, which claimed dozens of lives. One of such tragic milestones in the history of astronautics was the death of the shuttle "Challenger", which resulted in the death of all the crew members.

Briefly about the ship

In 1967, the United States in NASA launched a billion-dollar program, the Space Transportation System. Within its framework, in 1971, the construction of reusable space vehicles - space shuttles (in English Space Shuttle, which literally translates as a "space shuttle") began. It was planned that these shuttles would, like shuttles, cruise between the Earth and the orbit, climbing to a height of 500 km. They should have come in handy for the delivery of payloads to orbital stations, the performance of the necessary assembly and construction works, and the conduct of scientific research.

One of these ships was the shuttle "Challenger" - the second space shuttle, built on this program. In July 1982, it was transferred to NASA in operation.

Its name was given in honor of a sea vessel exploring the ocean in the 1870s. In the directories NASA was listed as an OV-99.

History of flights

For the first time in space, the shuttle "Challenger" climbed in April 1983 to launch a broadcasting satellite. In June of the same year, I started again to put two communication satellites into orbit and conduct pharmaceutical experiments. One of the crew was the first American female cosmonaut Sally Kristen Ryde.

August 1983 - the third start of the shuttle and the first night in the history of American astronautics. As a result, the telecommunication satellite Insat-1B was put into orbit and the Canadian manipulator "Canadarm" was tested. The flight duration was 6 days with little.

In February 1984, the shuttle Challenger again ascended into space, but the mission to bring two more satellites into orbit was failed.

The fifth start took place in April 1984. Then, for the first time in the history of the world, a satellite was repaired in space. In October 1984, there was a sixth launch, which was marked by the presence on board the spaceship of two female astronauts. In the course of this landmark flight, the first in the history of American cosmonautics was the release of a woman into space - Kathryn Sullivan.

The seventh flight in April 1985, the eighth in July and the ninth flight in October of this year were also successful. They were united by a common goal - conducting research in the space laboratory.

The tenth launch on January 28, 1986 became fatal for the shuttle and crew members.

In total, 9 successful flights on the Challenger's account, he stayed in space for 69 days, 987 times made a complete turn around the blue planet, his "run" - 41.5 million kilometers.

Disaster of the shuttle "Challenger"

The tragedy occurred near the coast of Florida on January 28, 1986 at 11 hours 39 minutes. At this time over the Atlantic Ocean there was an explosion of the shuttle "Challenger". It collapsed on the 73rd second of the flight at an altitude of 14 km from the earth. All 7 crew members died.

At start, the O-ring of the right solid-propellant accelerator was damaged. From this, in the side of the accelerator, a hole was blown out, from which a jet jet flew toward the outer fuel tank. The jet destroyed the tail mount and the supporting structures of the tank itself. Elements of the ship shifted, which violated the symmetry of traction and air resistance. The spacecraft deviated from the given axis of flight, as a result was destroyed under the influence of aerodynamic overloads.

Space shuttle "Challenger" was not equipped with an evacuation system, so there was no chance for crew members to survive. But even if such a system existed, the astronauts would fall into the ocean at a speed of more than 300 km / h. The power of the blow against the water would be such that no one would survive.

The last crew

During the 10th start the shuttle "Challenger" had on board seven people:

• Francis Richard "Dick" Skobi - 46 years old, commander of the crew. American military pilot in the rank of lieutenant colonel, NASA astronaut. He had a wife, daughter and son. He was posthumously awarded with the medal "For space flight".
• Michael John Smith - 40 years old, co-pilot. Test pilot in the rank of captain, NASA astronaut. He had a wife and three children. He was posthumously awarded with the medal "For space flight".
• Allison Shoji Onizuka - 39 years old, a scientific specialist. American astronaut NASA of Japanese origin, test pilot in the rank of lieutenant colonel. Posthumously, he was awarded the rank of colonel.
• Judith Arlen Reznik - 36 years old, scientific specialist. One of NASA's best engineers and astronauts. Professional pilot.
• Ronald Erwin McNair - 35 years old, scientific specialist. Physicist, NASA astronaut. He left his wife and two children on Earth. He was awarded the posthumous medal "For space flight".
• Gregory Bruce Jarvis is 41, a specialist in payload. He is an engineer by training. Captain of the US Air Force. Since 1984, NASA astronaut. At home he left his wife and three children. He was awarded the posthumous medal "For space flight".
• Sharon Crista Corrigan McAuliffe - 37 years old, specialist in payload. Civil. Posthumously awarded Cosmic Medal - the highest award of the United States for astronauts.

About the last member of the crew, Kriste McAuliffe is worth saying a little more. How could a civilian get on the space shuttle "Challenger"? It seems incredible.

Krista McAuliffe

She was born on 02/09/1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. She worked as a teacher of English, history and biology. She was married and had two children.

Her life flowed habitually and measuredly, while in 1984 in the United States did not announce the competition "Teacher in Space." His idea was to prove that every young and healthy person, after adequate training can successfully fly into space and return to Earth. Among the 11 thousand applications submitted was the statement of Christa - a cheerful, cheerful and energetic teacher from Boston.

She won the contest. When Vice President G. Bush (senior) handed her the winner's ticket at a White House ceremony, she burst into tears of happiness. It was a one-way ticket.

After three months of training, the specialists recognized Cristus ready for the flight. She was instructed to remove the educational subjects and from the side of the shuttle to conduct several lessons.

Preflight problems

Initially, in the process of preparing the tenth launch of the space shuttle, there were many problems:

• Initially, the launch was scheduled for January 22 from the Kennedy Space Center. But because of the organizational turmoil, the start was moved first to 23, and then to January 24.
• Because of the storm warning and low temperatures, the flight was postponed for another day.
• Again, due to poor weather forecast, the start was postponed to January 27.
• In the course of the regular check-up, the technicians identified several problems, so it was decided to set a new flight date - January 28.

On the morning of January 28, frost was on the street, the temperature dropped to -1 ° C. The engineers were worried, and in a private conversation they warned NASA management that extreme conditions could adversely affect the condition of the O-rings and recommended that the launch date be rescheduled again. But these recommendations were rejected. There was another difficulty: the launching pad was icy. It was an insurmountable obstacle, but, "fortunately", by 10 am the ice began to melt. The start was scheduled for 11 hours and 40 minutes. It was broadcast on national television. The whole of America observed the events at the cosmodrome.

The launch and crash of the shuttle "Challenger"

At 11 hours 38 minutes, the engines started working. After 2 minutes the device started. After 7 seconds, gray smoke escaped from the base of the right accelerator, this was fixed by the ground flight survey. The reason for this was the impact of the shock load during engine start-up. This happened before, while the main sealing ring worked, which ensured reliable isolation of the systems. But that morning it was cold, so the frozen ring lost its elasticity and could not work as expected. This was the cause of the disaster.

At 58 seconds of flight the shuttle "Challenger", a photo of which is in the article, began to collapse. After 6 seconds liquid hydrogen began to flow out of the outer tank, after another 2 seconds the pressure in the external fuel tank fell to a critical level.

At 73 seconds of flight the tank with liquid oxygen collapsed. Oxygen and hydrogen detonated, and the "Challenger" disappeared in a huge fireball.

Search for the remnants of the ship and the bodies of the deceased

After the explosion, the debris of the shuttle fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The Ministry of Defense of the United States, with the support of the military from the Coast Guard, was engaged in searching for debris of the spacecraft and bodies of the dead astronauts . On March 7, at the bottom of the ocean, the shuttle's cabin was found with the bodies of the crew members. Due to prolonged exposure to sea water, the autopsy could not establish the exact cause of death. However, it was possible to find out, after the explosion, the astronauts remained alive, as their cabin was simply torn from the tail part. Michael Smith, Allison Onizuka and Judith Resnick remained conscious and switched on a personal air supply. Most likely, astronauts could not survive the giant force of the impact on water.

On May 1, the search for the wreckage of the shuttle was completed, and 55% of the shuttle was recovered from the ocean.

Investigation of the causes of the tragedy

The internal investigation of all the circumstances of the NASA disaster was conducted under the stamp of the strictest secrecy. To understand all the details of the case and find out the reasons for the fall of the shuttle "Challenger", US President Reagan created a special commission of Rogers (named after William Pierce Rogers chairman). It included prominent scientists, space and aviation engineers, astronauts and military personnel.

A few months later, the Rogers Commission provided the president with a report, where all the circumstances were revealed, which resulted in the disaster of the shuttle "Challenger". It was also pointed out that the NASA management inadequately reacted to warnings of specialists about the problems with the safety of the planned flight.

Consequences of the crash

The crash of the shuttle "Challenger" dealt a heavy blow to the reputation of the United States, the program "Space transport system" was curtailed for 3 years. Because of the largest at the time of the spacecraft disaster, the United States suffered losses ($ 8 billion).

Substantial changes were made in the design of shuttles, which significantly increased their safety.

The structure of NASA was also reorganized. An independent safety oversight agency was created.

Display in culture

In May 2013, the screen shot a film directed by J. Hawse "Challenger". In the UK, she was named the best dramatic film of the year. His story is based on real events and concerns the activities of the Rogers Commission.