T-6 Days - Challenger 1986 and Columbia 2003

By 1986, the Space Shuttle was falling into a groove.  Everyone felt the kinks had been worked out.  Every mission learned more about what we could accomplish in space and more about biology. materials, chemistry, and physics through all of the experiments we conducted.  We were able to launch and service bigger, more sophisticated communications satellites.  NASA had even started expanding the crews to include politicians to see the benefits first hand, a reporter to help all of us understand.  The 25th mission on Challenger included a Concord, NH high school teacher, who was to conduct classes from the Orbiter to stimulate the thrill of science and technology in children.  Even before the launch it was a memorable mission.

Challenger Explosion

The photo of the rocket trails is immediately recognizable to anyone from the time and perhaps even those of you that have come since.  Seventy two seconds into the launch, the shuttle broke apart.  The separate pieces went different directions as shown in the picture.  There was hope for quite a while that through some miracle the astronauts would survive.  News reported the tracking of the intact cockpit as it descended to the ocean.  We learned the crew had perished. 

Through incredible forensic work, we determined an O-ring on the solid fuel booster had failed, letting hot gases escape onto the external tank which in turn failed causing the entire shuttle to fall apart.  Every procedure and element of the program was review and revised.  It was two and a half years before the shuttle would "returning to flight."  No more trips for politician, reporters, or teachers.

Challenger STS-51-L Crew

It has been claimed that the shuttle is the most complex system of machinery mankind has ever developed.  Others say it takes two million miracles for the shuttle to go into orbit and return successfully and only one failure to destroy it.  We flew 88 missions over 15 years before we suffered another failure resulting in the loss of the shuttle and crew.

Columbia STS-107 Crew

Columbia had completed a very successful 113th shuttle mission, and was headed home in 2003.  As it reentered the atmosphere, we always lose contact due to the plasma plume created from re-entry.  However, this time, communication was not re-established on schedule.  The shuttle was "missing".  As the morning wore on there were reports of a debris field over hundreds of miles of Texas.  Again we learned of the crew and shuttle perishing.  Again the shuttle program spent two and a half years determining the cause, improving procedures, and taking steps to decrease the risks.  We learned that a heat tile had been broken on takeoff and the hot plasma on re-entry had entered the fuselage and caused the wing to fail.  We created procedures to inspect all future Orbiters for tile damage and had repair kits in case we found damage.  The repairs have not been needed.

"Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain."             - - President Reagan at the Challenger memorial service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster