Challenger Shuttle Board

Do You Remember Where You Were On Jan 28, 1986?

Description:

This program was used to see how many of my resident remembered where they were on this date and to show how far NASA has come since 1986. The full program will follow in things you might do differently or email me for it.

Instructions/Things Needed:

construction paper
different style paper for each section

Information for the board: (You can cut and paste this info into a word processor, then print it out on your computer)

Crew of the Challenger
Francis Scobee (2), Commander
Michael Smith (1), Pilot
Judith Resnick (2), Mission Specialist
Ellison Onizuka (2), Mission Specialist 2
Ronald E. McNair (2), Mission Specialist 3
Gregory Jarvis (1), Payload Specialist 1
Sharon Christa McAuliffe (1), Payload Specialist 2

Mission Objective for the Challenger
Planned objectives were deployment of Tracking Data Relay Satellite-2 and flying of Shuttle-Pointed for Astronomy/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable, a free-flying ,module designed to observe tail and coma of Halleys comet with two ultraviolet spectrometers and two cameras. Other payloads were Fluid Dynamics Experiment; Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program; Phase Partitioning Experiment; Three Shuttle Student Involvement Program experiments; and set of lessons for Teacher in Space Project.

Bio on the Crew
Francis Scobee, Commander
-B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from
University of Arizona 1965

Michael J. Smith, Pilot
-commander in the U.S. Naval Academy
-class of 1967 U.S. Naval Academy
-M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering 1968

Judith Resnick, Mission Specialist
-B.S. in electrical engineering 1970 from Carnegie-Mellon University
-Ph.D. in electrical engineering 1977 from the University of Maryland
-became the second women in orbit in the maiden flight of the Discovery 1984

Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist
-B.S. in physics 1971 from N. Carolina A&T State University
-MIT 1977 Ph.D. in quantum electronics and laser technology
-became the second African American in space in 1984

Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist
-University of Colorado B.S. and M.S. in engineering in June and December 1969

The 25th shuttle flight ended in disaster on Jan 28, 1986, when Challenger, on its 10th flight, exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven crew members. Shuttle flights were suspended until Sept. 1988 and then resumed on a more conservative schedule.

Shuttle Challenger debris washes up on shore

December 17, 1996
Coca Beach, Florida (CNN)--Two pieces of the shuttle Challenger, which exploded nearly 11 years ago, were found by beach-goers Tuesday morning, officials at the Kennedy Space Center said.

The parts--a 6- by 15-foot rectangular section and a 4- by 8-foot section--may be part of the rudder tail, or wing, or body flap sections of the space sections of the space shuttle, according to NASA spokesman Lisa Malone.

The parts were found covered with barnacles in about 3 feet of water. Malone said the debris has no investigative value because the cause of accident has been determined. Debris has washed ashore periodically in the years since the explosion.

Challenger blew up after launch January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe.

Beach-goers called the Cocoa Beach Police Department at about 7 a.m. and told them about debris they found.

The debris will be brought to a warehouse at the Kennedy Space Center for examination, NASA said. Investigators there will use serial numbers on the solar tiles to identify the parts of the doomed space shuttle.

Early next year, Malone said, the debris will be put into a silo where other pieces of the shuttle are buried.

Launch
Launch Jan. 28th 1986 delayed two hours when hardware interface module in launch processing system failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures.
Just after liftoff at .678 seconds into the flight, photographic data show a strong puff of gray smoke was spurting from the vicinity of the aft field joint on the right Solid Rocket Booster.
AS the Shuttle increased its upward velocity, it flew past the emerging and expanding smoke puffs. The last smoke was seen above the field joint at 2.733 seconds.
At approximately 37 seconds, Challenger encountered the first of several high-altitude wind shear conditions, which lasted until about 64 seconds.
Both the Shuttle main engines and the solid rockets operated at reduced thrust. The first very small flame was detected on image enhanced film at 58.788 seconds into the flight.
The first visual indication that swirling flame from the right Solid Rocket Booster breached the External Tank was at 64.660 seconds when there was an abrupt change in the shape and color of the plume. Within 45 milliseconds of the breach of the External Tank, a bright sustained glow developed on the black-tiled underside of the Challenger between it and the External Tank.
At about 72.20 seconds the lower strut linking the Solid Rocket Booster and the External Tank was severed or pulled away from the weakened hydrogen tank permitting the right Solid Rocket Booster to rotate around the upper attachment strut.
Within milliseconds of 73.137 seconds there was massive, almost explosive, burning of the hydrogen streaming from the failed tank bottom and liquid oxygen breach in the area of the intertank.
At this point in its trajectory, while traveling at a Mach number of 1.92 at an altitude of 46,000 feet, the Challenger was totally enveloped in the explosive burn. The Challenger's reaction control system ruptured and a hypergolic burn of its propellants occurred as it exited the oxygen-hydrogen flames. Then reddish brown colors of the hypergolic fuel burn are visible on the edge of the main fireball. The Orbiter broke into several large sections which emerged from the fireball. Separate sections that can be identified on film include the main engine/tail section with the engines still burning, one wing of the Orbiter, and the forward fuselage trailing a mass of umbilical lines pulled loose from the payload bay.

Name: Laura Palkoner
School: Northern Illinois University
email: pooh_niu@hotmail.com

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