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Essay on Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
The purpose of this report is to write about the space shuttle Challenger accident. Space Shuttle Challenger was launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B from where it began its mission on 11:38:00 a.m. EST on January 28, 1986. In the Challenger Space Shuttle incident there were mainly four organizations thrown together to form one, Morton Thiokol, Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center and NASA Headquarters and they all ignored the warnings because they had already announced the mission and were already delayed with launching and due to the results hundreds of people lost their job. The mission than was accomplished by Shuttle Discovery launched in 1988 and came back to earth after successful mission completion in August 2005.
Overview of Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Space Shuttle Challenger was launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B from where it began its mission on 11:38:00 a.m. EST on January 28, 1986. No one predicted that the Challenger will have such a short life span as it exploded 73 seconds after launch, and putrefied a crew of seven astronauts. At launch time, the temperature at the Kennedy Space Center was 36 degrees Fahrenheit. This was 15 degrees colder than any previous Space Shuttle launch. All of Challenger's pre-launch preparations were routine, with the exception of tremendous ice buildup on the launch pad that formed as temperatures dipped into the low 20's overnight.
At Launch Plus .678 seconds, a large puff of grayish black smoke was seen emerging from the aft field joint of the right Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). This indicated that the aft field joint was not completely sealed and was considered to be a major reason for the Challenger accident.
According to Kovach et al, “In the Challenger Space Shuttle incident there were mainly four organizations thrown together to form one, Morton Thiokol, Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center and NASA Headquarters......
