Columbia Space Shuttle Essay

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger “violently exploded” tragically after 73 seconds of flight (Reagan). Ronald Reagan then came out to remind everyone of the importance of mistakes like this and not to let them destroy people's confidence. He stated, “It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.

The audience’s probable attitude and personality with respect to the Board and its findings are all addressed in the document. The attitude that the audience has is one of grief and distrust in both NASA and the Government. This is made evident in the statement, “The loss of Columbia and her crew represents a turning point, calling for a renewed public policy debate and commitment regarding human space exploration.” By stating that there is a need for renewed public policy regarding NASA’s missions, it is clear that the public opinion about NASA has been tarnished by the accident. They also have the probable objections that the Board was biased and that they do not have any effective results that could help reduce the risk that another accident like this will ever occur. However, the likely attitude that the audiences will have toward the writer are that of hope for the future and America’s return to space. This is shown when the document states, “These recommendations reflect both the Boardʼs strong support for

However, after further investigations from a special commission by the president, another factor in play was NASA itself, who allowed the launch despite the warnings from its engineers. The warnings of the engineers were blatantly ignored as they were proclaiming that the O-rings may not be able to stand the cold temperatures of that day, and launched the shuttle regardless (Cite About Education). In terms of the NSPE, the engineers were serving their duty by warning the superiors, thus attempting to bring concern to the issue at hand, but sadly to no avail. Without their warning, it may have been substantially more difficult to decipher the cause behind the shuttle’s rapid disintegration. As a necessity however, another investigation that Reagan ordered had to be thorough, so that his team could maximize their potential of finding another potential problem with the challenger.

On January 1986, the Challenger Shuttle blew up shortly after it took off. The accidents took seven lives including aerospace engineers, the specialties pilot, and scientists. The tragic accidents occurred 73 seconds after the flight and caused by the fuel leak from one of the two Solid Rocket Boosters. The explosion represented one of the most significant events in 1980s. However, 17 years after the explosion of the Challenger Shuttle, the Shuttle Colombia also had an in-flight explosion leading to the loss of seven lives.

The Challenger space shuttle exploded after its launch. “Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss,” (Reagan 1). The obstacles of the Challenger exploding caused a period of grief and anguish for the citizens of America.

On the cold morning of January 28th, 1986, The Space Shuttle Challenger was launched. Seventy-three seconds into the flight, the space shuttle broke apart, causing the seven deaths of its crew members. Roger Boisjoly, a mechanical engineer for Thiokol brought to NASA’s attention about a failing O-ring safety concern in the shuttles rocket booster. After being ignored by NASA Boisjoly tried to bring the issue of the O-ring to people higher up in his company, all of the people ignored Boisjoly in his attempts to get the issue resolved. Thirteen hours before the launch of the shuttle, Boisjoly strongly urged not to launch the shuttle, all attempts failed. After the disaster took place Boisjoly told the press exactly why the shuttle failed to

The challenger disaster called for certain changes in the NASA organizational structure, culture and operations. The Rogers Commission carried out a full investigation into the causes of the disaster and recommended to NASA certain actions to mitigate future incidents. First of all, there was a creation of a Solid Rocket Motor Joint redesign team who would also analyse the sealing system (NATA Technical Reports Centre, 2010).

Challenger Disaster and Impacts Space exploration is and always will be an expensive and dangerous ordeal. Before the Challenger accident, it was widely believed that space exploration was an easy and safe. However, as we see with the Challenger accident, that is not always the case. The primary fault for the failure to launch Challenger in orbit was deduced to be because of a defective O-ring. This defective component allowed hot gasses and flames to seep out, that subsequently created a blowtorch that was aimed at the spacecraft.

People stared in disbelief as the shuttle broke up in a plume of smoke and fire. After the flame you couldn’t see the aircraft, because it was engulfed by smoke suggesting that the shuttle had exploded. Red smoke was emitting after the explosion due to the reaction control system burning from the wreckage. The challenger pieces began plummeting to the ocean below. Millions watched the terrible moment occur on live television.

The hot gas acted like a blow torch by burning through the fuel tank. This caused liquid hydrogen to escape and damage one of the supports of the orbiter. When the challenger entered higher altitudes the support broke and the orbiter broke away hit the fuel tank, which set of an explosion that destroyed the challenger. Unacceptable management skills were also

On January 28, 1986, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the space shuttle Challenger. The launch was held in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the Kennedy Space Center. The Challenger shuttle carried seven crew members, including pilots, aerospace engineers and a citizen. Unfortunately, after it launched, the space shuttle broke apart and hit the ocean. The failure of the mission traumatized the whole nation. In fact, millions of people watched the shocking tragedy on television. This incident saddened the nation, and President Ronald Reagan appointed some persons from different areas, such as engineers, pilots, politicians and astronauts, to find the cause of this disaster. Although the investigation revealed that the main reason for the disaster was because of technical issues. In actuality, the disaster was caused by the decision to launch, which was driven by political pressures. The focus on political interest over hard science was the reason for the Challenger disaster.

Exhaustive research revealed the technical cause of the disasters. The Columbia was doomed when during the launch a loose piece of foam struck the leading edge of the left wing ripping a hole in the carbon tiles previously thought to be indestructible.

Evaluate the economic and political impact of big business on the United States in the period from 1870 to 1900.

One of the greatest tragedies in history occurred on January 8, 1986. Shortly after it was launched, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing seven astronauts, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire schoolteacher chosen to be the first teacher in space (“Challenger Disaster, n.d.). The explosion was caused by a failure of the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters. The O-rings were unable to seat properly, causing the leaking of hot combustion gases, which burnt through the external fuel tank. The malfunction was not any one person’s or organization’s fault; it was caused by many factors including the decision to launch despite the cold weather, the poor communication between management levels of the National Aeronautics and

Rockwell, the shuttle’s primary contractor, did not support the launch due to the possibility of ice leaving the structure and damaging the thermal shield tiles during takeoff. Their concerns were relayed to NASA, but in such a way that NASA chose to proceed with the launch [2]. Though this was eventually determined to be a non-issue in the Challenger launch, the true nature of the problems that can occur when an object strikes the shuttle during takeoff would not be learned until 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry due to damage of a heat shield tile that occurred during takeoff [2]--[3].