Challenger Disaster Live on CNN
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January 28th, 1986 at 11:39am EDT - The Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes on its 10th flight during mission STS-51-L. The explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff and was actually the result of rapid deceleration and not combustion of fuel. CNN was the only national news station to broadcast the mission live, so thus what you are witnessing on this video is the only coverage of the disaster as it happened when it did. Approximately 17% of Americans witnessed the launch live, while 85% of Americans heard of the news within 1 hour of the event. According to a study, only 2 other times in history up to that point had news of an event disseminated so fast - the first being the announcement of JFK's assassination in 1963, the second being news spread among students at Kent State regarding the news of FDR's death in 1945. It has been estimated at the time that nearly 48% of 9-13 year olds witnessed the event in their classrooms, as McAuliffe was in the spotlight. The 25th Space Shuttle mission altered the history of manned space exploration and represented the first loss of an American crew during a space mission (Apollo 1 was during a training exercise). Christa McAuliffe was slated to be the first teacher in space for the Teacher in Space Program. As her maximum altitude was ~65,000ft (12.31 miles), she never made it to space. That title was given to Barbara Morgan of STS-118 aboard the shuttle Endeavour in August 2007, 22 and a half years after the Challenger Disaster. Morgan served as McAuliffe's backup during STS-51-L. As Morgan is now part of the Educator in Space Program, she will be credited as the first "educator" in space, to distinguish her from McAuliffe. Aboard Challenger during STS-51-L: Francis "Dick" Scobee (Commander) Michael Smith (Pilot) Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist) Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist) Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist) Gregory Jarvis (Payload Specialist) Sharon Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist - Teacher in Space)
Comments
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Lol
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Dee-Dee: "Oooohhhh... What does THIS button do?!!?!!"
Dexter: "Please, please! Don't push the button! You have no idea what it's-"
<Dee-Dee pushes the button>
1:39 -
Fucking O-rings
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My mother told me that she was my age when this happened, twelve years old in the seventh grade. She told me that her and her classmates were watching this live on tv, and when the shuttle exploded, their teacher calmly stood up, turned the TV off, and sat back down.
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Rip
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A malfunction is when you pee and miss the toilet. A fucking rocket exploding is a bit more than a malfunction.
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Was in third grade. My teacher was excited because one of the crew members was a teacher and this was a historic event. We watched this happen in class, but wasn't sure exactly what happened for a while. Fuzzy memory indeed
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My 5th grade history teacher was one of her students when she died
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bush did this as he did 9 11 lol
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The description is incorrect in the destruction of this shuttle, it was actually the rubber o-rings that failed about 73 seconds after takeoff. Their resiliency was directly related to the temperature, and it being too hot most likely was the reason the rings were unable to provide a complete seal. Hence the reason the shuttle fell apart. What a shame
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And boom goes the dynamite
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r.i.p. astronauts
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Ok so the last part is in XO by Beyonce
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Makes me really sad to think about what may have been going through their heads during this moment
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Me: O_O
Reporter: Lol it's explodez lolololol -
xD Lol everyone is not even screaming their all calm and chill. Someone just exploded and died and their like meh
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My mom remembers that day watching it explode
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I was there that day Fair glen elementary Jan 28th
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Now I'm officaly scared going on the spaceship
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The craziest and maybe saddest thing is that the passenger compartment separated, and they found that 3 of the 7 astronauts had activated the emergency oxygen in their helmets.. meaning at least 3 were alive as the compartment fell and slammed into the ocean. That had to be absolutely horrifying.
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