Essay Examples on Challenger Explosion

1st Essay Sample on Challenger Explosion

At 11:38 A.M. on the morning of Tuesday, January 28, 1986, millions of Americans watched as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off.Seventy-three seconds later, millions of Americans watched in horror as the Challenger disintegrated into a huge ball of fire.It was the twenty-fifth space shuttle mission and the tenth launch of the Challenger.Unfortunately, it would also be the last launch for the Challenger. Dick Scobee was the mission commander.His crew included Mike Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.

The launch was already a very big deal in the United States, but the fact that a teacher would be going into space made the event even bigger.Christa McAuliffe was chosen by NASA to be thefirst civilian in space. Many things contributed to the Challenger disaster, but what really happened?To start off with, the launch date had been changed several times due to poor weather, additional crew training, launch of NASA space shuttle Columbia, desert dust storms, and hatch failure.

Then, an unscheduled teleconference was held with Morton Thiokol Inc. engineers.The shuttle’s solid fuel booster rockets and their ability to perform in cold weather was the topic up for discussion, as NASA was concerned that the flexible O-rings that sealed the four rockets together would not stand up to the cold.The Morton engineers voted against the launch unanimously, but NASA ignored their recommendation.NASA eventually pressured the engineers to reverse their recommendation so that the launch would go on–uninterrupted.

Get quality help now

KarrieWrites

Verified

Proficient in: Aerospace

5 (339)

“ KarrieWrites did such a phenomenal job on this assignment! He completed it prior to its deadline and was thorough and informative. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

That problem was just the beginning.Much, much more went wrong before launch time.For instance, the ships scheduled to recover the booster rocks were grounded because of high winds.Also, the launch pad was very cold and the shuttle was under a constant threat of ice formation.Other problems included a malfunctioning alarm system.

2nd Essay Sample on Challenger Explosion

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great confusion and turmoil in the United States.Americans were afraid, paranoid, and insecure due to events like Watergate, Arab oil price hikes, and the Iranian hostage situation.The U.S. Space Program, or NASA, was becoming more successful in the 1980s, with continued advancements that allowed space exploration to be less expensive and more rewarding.The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, on January 28, 1986, changed the American character by once again proving that the U.S. was not perfect and that even the U.S. Space Program was capable of making mistakes.The cold hard facts and answers from the interviews help to paint a picture of how the explosion affected the American character. Americans were unsure about missions to space during the 1970s, but by 1986, shuttle missions into space were taken for granted by Americans.Many believed that the missions to space were just as routine and simple as a bus ride to work.This flight of the Challenger was unique for two reasons.First, because a civilian and teacher named Christa McAuliffe was aboard the shuttle.She had plans to broadcast school lessons to children all over the United States.The shuttle was secondly unique, because the crew was very diverse.They ranged from having different sexes, religions, races, and they came from many different backgrounds.Americans were somewhat able to relate to this crew.

The Challenger was scheduled to be launched into space on January 20, 1986, but due to a delay in the landing of the Columbus the departure was rescheduled for the 25th of January.On January 25, large dust storms prevented the launching and it was postponed for the next day.The next day came and the launch did not take place because of some damage done to the shuttle.