Space Shuttle Research Paper

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].

After the Apollo 13 mission, the entire crew had to come up with, test, and solve problems that happened during the mission. They had to create and solve more potential hazards for future missions (Al-Khatib 6). The changes that the Apollo 13 mission created in space exploration helped NASA attain their Fra Mauro landing goal. After correcting the known issues, and employing advanced technology, Apollo 14 completed Apollo 13's mission (Smithsonian 5).

Nasa is a successful government program because of its ability to help our lives and make advances in technology safer. The space station helps us understand space and science, Therefore making it very important. Nasa has also taught us a lot of incredible things about space exploration.

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

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.

There are many astronauts who have taken that step to try and exit Earth’s atmosphere. Most have flown to space and returned to the ground with no problems at all. There are also those who have not been so lucky. Of these space missions, was one of the most anticipated flights in the history of NASA. On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger was supposed to be the first flight to orbit Earth with a school teacher onboard. Many of the schools around the country were watching the televised launch of Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew of eight. However, just over 1 minute into the launch something went wrong. What happened to the Shuttle Challenger?

With seven ‒ novice as well as seasoned ‒ astronauts on board, they were going to space to deploy a satellite “into orbit to observe Halley’s comet”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). The first affirmation of a problem was gray smoke, this was detected 678 seconds into flight. Shortly after the smoke there was a small flame and “at 73 seconds, the Challenger reached an altitude of 46,000 feet and exploded”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). That evening, President Ronald Reagan said: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident” 256). Five months later, in June 1986, it was conjectured “that a fuel leak through faulty rubber O-rings that sealed joint sections of the rocket booster caused the accident”(“The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident”

After the disaster, President Ronald Reagan arranged a commission to determine what happened to the Challenger Space Shuttle. (History.com) The commission was comprised of former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. (History.com) The commission concluded that the O-rings were defective because of the cold weather. They also found that the company that designed the rocket boosters, Morton Thiokol, had disregarded warnings about potential issues.

NASA’s Shuttle Program also known as the Space Transportation System, was the first winged manned spacecraft operation to have achieved orbit and land, also the first to use reusable spacecrafts and make multiple flights into various orbits. Although the shuttle program took America to a heighten achievement of orbital transportation, recent closure of the program has baffled many Americans and left questions about the future of the American space missions. The closure of the program by the Obama administration is a short-term allocation of government funds that should be better understood as a strategic move to improve the future stability of the American economy. The budget cuts are part of having a balanced budget that will recuperate

days, due to technical problems and the poor weather. By the day of the launch, January 28th, the managers made the decision to go ahead with the launch, even though all of the engineers warned against it as the rubber O­rings could fail due to the low temperatures. The space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after lift, claiming the lives of all the seven astronauts inside ("​The Space Race”)​. Though this was a disaster, it prompted important investigations into NASA and the safety of shuttles that would later bring man to the moon. Top NASA executives

Seventeen years after Challenger, the Columbia disaster once again shocked the Americans public, mainly because the shuttle was on its return trip to Earth. The final mission of Columbia, took place Jan. 16, 2003. “At the time, the shuttle program was focused on building the International Space Station” (E. Howell). However, this mission stood apart as it emphasized advance research in space. The astronauts abord Columbia performed around 80 experiments in life sciences, material sciences, fluid physics and other matters (E.

In 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center people watched in awe for a little more than a minute before the shuttle exploded in flight. This was the first of only two major accidents that occurred during over two decades of NASA’s shuttle program and many would consider it to be a fluke that could not have been prevented or predicted. In truth the Challenger disaster was an accident waiting to happen and was a symptom of systemic problems that were occurring at NASA during that era. The 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster was cause by a number of factors including structural failure of the shuttle, a change in NASA’s work environment from the days of the

The Space Shuttle Challenger was originally a test vehicle for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1979, NASA ordered Challenger to be converted to a space-rated orbiter, which consisted of massive disassembly and restructuring of the orbiter. It was delivered back to NASA as the second orbiter in their fleet of Space Shuttles in July 1982, where it was launched on its first mission on 4 April 1983. Crew members conducted the first spacewalk of the Space Shuttle program on this mission, and subsequent missions saw many other firsts for space exploration history (1). Over Challenger’s lifetime of three years, nine missions of various basis were successfully completed (2).

NASA was informed that they needed to realize that there was a disconnect between management and their working engineers (Feynman Leighton Pg. 236). The public deserved for NASA to inform them of what was happening and to know that NASA had changed their approach to the space shuttle campaign. There had to be a change in schedule, there had to be an update in technology, and there had to be a change in how design and application were approached (Feynman Leighton Pg. 236). All Morton Thiokol did was suggest the addition of a third O-ring and did not seek to improve the current design or find better materials for the seal. However, they took responsibility for their part and their data that had not been tested enough. It was also their responsibility to pay retribution for the accident as well as accept any and all liability charges. NASA should have taken some of the liability due to the fact that it was essentially their final decision to launch the shuttle despite all of the evidence against so doing. The managers that made the decision to launch should have been held accountable for the lives of the astronauts. Mr. Malloy and Mr. Hardy should have been taken to trial for homicide but, due to the scope and fact that it was the fault of multiple people and companies, they were never tried. However, they gave the go for the launch so they should have at least been fired from NASA and have their

In 1986, the USSR launched its space station Mir in orbit. NASA proposed to construct a permanently manned orbiting space station in response. The US began building the space station Freedom, working with Canada, several European countries, and Japan as partners in the endeavor. Just as work on Freedom began, however, the Soviet Union collapsed. This presented an opportunity for the US to work with Russia in space rather than compete with them. Freedom was reengineered into the new International