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CHALLENGER (10)
Pad
39-B (6)
25th Shuttle mission
10th liftoff OV-099
1st Shuttle from LC-39B
Francis R. Scobee (2), Commander Michael J. Smith (1), Pilot Judith A. Resnik (2), Mission Specialist 1 Ellison S. Onizuka (2), Mission Specialist 2 Ronald E. McNair (2), Mission Specialist 3 Gregory B. Jarvis (1), Payload Specialist 1 Sharon Christa McAuliffe (1), Payload Specialist 2 (TISP)
Milestones:
OPF -
Nov. 11,1985 VAB -
Dec. 16,1985 PAD - Dec. 22,1985
Payload:
TDRS-B,SPARTAN/HALLEY,MPESS,CHAMP,FDE,RME,TISP,SSIP(x3)
Mission Objectives:
Planned objectives were deployment of Tracking Data Relay
Satellite-2 (TDRS-2)
and flying of Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's
Comet Experiment Deployable, a free-flying module designed to observe
tail and coma of Halleys comet with two ultraviolet spectrometers and
two cameras. Other payloads were Fluid Dynamics Experiment (FDE); Comet
Halley Active Monitoring Program CHAMP); Phase
Partitioning Experiment (PPE); three Shuttle Student Involvement Program
(SSIP)
experiments; and set of lessons for Teacher in Space Project (TISP).
Launch:
January 28, 1986,11:38:00
a.m. EST. First Shuttle liftoff scheduled from Pad B. Launch set for
3:43 p.m. EST, Jan. 22, slipped to Jan. 23, then Jan. 24, due to delays
in mission 61-C.
Launch reset for Jan. 25 because of bad weather at transoceanic abort
landing (TAL)
site in Dakar, Senegal. To utilize Casablanca (not equipped for night
landings) as alternate TAL site, T-zero moved to morning liftoff time. Launch postponed a day when
launch processing unable to meet new morning liftoff time. Prediction of
unacceptable weather at KSC led to launch rescheduled for 9:37 a.m. EST,
Jan. 27. Launch delayed 24 hours again when ground servicing equipment
hatch closing fixture could not be removed from orbiter hatch. Fixture sawed off and attaching bolt drilled out before closeout
completed. During delay, cross winds exceeded return-to-launch-site
limits at KSC's Shuttle
Landing Facility. Launch Jan. 28 delayed two hours when hardware
interface module in launch processing system, which monitors fire
detection system, failed during liquid hydrogen tanking procedures.
Just after liftoff at .678 seconds into the flight, photographic
data show a strong puff of gray smoke was spurting from the vicinity of
the aft field joint on the right Solid Rocket Booster. Computer graphic analysis
of film from pad cameras indicated the initial smoke came from the 270
to 310-degree sector of the circumference of the aft field joint of the right Solid Rocket Booster. This area of the solid
booster faces the External
Tank. The vaporized material streaming from the joint indicated
there was not complete sealing action within the joint.
Eight more distinctive puffs of increasingly blacker smoke were
recorded between .836 and 2.500 seconds. The smoke appeared to puff
upwards from the joint. While each smoke puff was being left behind by
the upward flight of the Shuttle, the next fresh puff could be seen near
the level of the joint. The multiple smoke puffs in this sequence
occurred at about four times per second, approximating the frequency of
the structural load dynamics and resultant joint flexing. As the Shuttle
increased its upward velocity, it flew past the emerging and expanding
smoke puffs. The last smoke was seen above the field joint at 2.733
seconds.
The black color and dense composition of the smoke puffs suggest
that the grease, joint insulation and rubber O-rings in the joint seal
were being burned and eroded by the hot propellant gases.
At approximately 37 seconds, Challenger encountered the first of several high-altitude wind shear conditions,
which lasted until about 64 seconds. The wind shear created forces on
the vehicle with relatively large fluctuations. These were immediately
sensed and countered by the guidance,
navigation and control system. The steering system (thrust
vector control) of the Solid Rocket Booster responded to all
commands and wind shear effects. The wind shear caused the steering
system to be more active than on any previous flight.
Both the Shuttle main engines and the solid rockets operated at
reduced thrust approaching and passing through the area of maximum
dynamic pressure of 720 pounds per square foot. Main engines had been
throttled up to 104 percent thrust and the Solid
Rocket Boosters were increasing their thrust when the first
flickering flame appeared on the right Solid Rocket Booster in the area
of the aft field joint. This first very small flame was detected on image enhanced
film at 58.788 seconds into the flight. It appeared to originate at
about 305 degrees around the booster circumference at or near the aft field joint.
One film frame later from the same camera, the flame was visible
without image enhancement. It grew into a continuous, well-defined plume
at 59.262 seconds. At about the same time (60 seconds), telemetry showed
a pressure differential between the chamber pressures in the right and
left boosters. The right booster chamber pressure was lower, confirming
the growing leak in the area of the field joint.
As the flame plume increased in size, it was deflected rearward by
the aerodynamic slipstream and circumferentially by the protruding
structure of the upper ring attaching the booster to the External Tank.
These deflections directed the flame plume onto the surface of the External
Tank. This sequence of flame spreading is confirmed by analysis of
the recovered wreckage. The growing flame also impinged on the strut
attaching the Solid Rocket Booster to the External
Tank.
The first visual indication that swirling flame from the right Solid
Rocket Booster breached the External
Tank was at 64.660 seconds when there was an abrupt change in the
shape and color of the plume. This indicated that it was mixing with
leaking hydrogen from the External Tank. Telemetered changes in the
hydrogen tank pressurization confirmed the leak. Within 45 milliseconds
of the breach of the External Tank, a bright sustained glow developed on
the black-tiled underside of the Challenger between it and the External
Tank.
Beginning at about 72 seconds, a series of events occurred extremely
rapidly that terminated the flight. Telemetered data indicate a wide
variety of flight system actions that support the visual evidence of the
photos as the Shuttle struggled futilely against the forces that were
destroying it.
At about 72.20 seconds the lower strut linking the Solid Rocket
Booster and the External
Tank was severed or pulled away from the weakened hydrogen tank
permitting the right Solid Rocket Booster to rotate around the upper
attachment strut. This rotation is indicated by divergent yaw and pitch
rates between the left and right Solid Rocket Boosters.
At 73.124 seconds,. a circumferential white vapor pattern was
observed blooming from the side of the External
Tank bottom dome. This was the beginning of the structural failure
of hydrogen tank that culminated in the entire aft dome dropping away. This released massive amounts of liquid hydrogen
from the tank and created a sudden forward thrust of about 2.8 million
pounds, pushing the hydrogen tank upward into the intertank structure. At about the same time, the rotating right Solid Rocket
Booster impacted the intertank structure and the lower part of the liquid
oxygen tank. These structures failed at 73.137 seconds as evidenced
by the white vapors appearing in the intertank region.
Within milliseconds there was massive, almost explosive, burning of
the hydrogen streaming from the failed tank bottom and liquid oxygen
breach in the area of the intertank.
At this point in its trajectory, while traveling at a Mach number of
1.92 at an altitude of 46,000 feet, the Challenger was totally enveloped in the explosive burn. The Challenger's
reaction control system ruptured and a hypergolic burn of its
propellants occurred as it exited the oxygen-hydrogen flames. The
reddish brown colors of the hypergolic fuel burn are visible on the edge
of the main fireball. The Orbiter,
under severe aerodynamic loads, broke into several large sections which
emerged from the fireball. Separate sections that can be identified on
film include the main engine/tail section with the engines still
burning, one wing of the Orbiter,
and the forward fuselage trailing a mass of umbilical lines pulled loose
from the payload bay.
The Explosion 73 seconds after liftoff claimed crew and vehicle.
Cause of explosion was determined to be an O-ring failure in right SRB.
Cold weather was a contributing factor. Launch Weight: 268,829 lbs.
Orbit:
Altitude: 150nm (planned) Inclination: 28.5 degrees (planned) Orbits: 0 Duration: 01 min 13 seconds Distance: 18 miles
Hardware:
SRB:
BI-026 SRM: L025(HPM) ET : 26/LWT-19 MLP :
2 SSME-1:
SN-2023 SSME-2:
SN-2020 SSME-3:
SN-2021
Landing:
None. KSC Landing planned after a 6 day, 34 minute mission.
Mission Highlights:
The planned orbital activities of the Challenger 51-L mission were as follows:
On Flight Day 1, after arriving into orbit, the crew was to have two
periods of scheduled high activity. First they were to check the
readiness of the TDRS-B satellite prior to planned deployment. After lunch they were to deploy
the satellite and its Inertial
Upper Stage (IUS)
booster and to perform a series of separation maneuvers. The first sleep
period was scheduled to be eight hours long starting about 18 hours
after crew wakeup the morning of launch.
On Flight Day 2, the Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program (CHAMP)
experiment was scheduled to begin. Also scheduled were the initial
"teacher in space" (TISP) video
taping and a firing of the orbital maneuvering engines (OMS)
to place Challenger at the 152-mile orbital altitude from which the Spartan would be
deployed.
On Flight Day 3, the crew was to begin pre-deployment preparations
on the Spartan and
then the satellite was to be deployed using the remote manipulator
system (RMS)
robot arm. Then the flight crew was to slowly separate from Spartan by 90
miles.
On Flight Day 4, the Challenger was to begin closing on Spartan while
Gregory B. Jarvis continued fluid dynamics experiments started on day
two and day 3. Live telecasts were also planned to be conducted by
Christa McAuliffe.
On Flight Day 5, the crew was to rendezvous with Spartan and
use the robot arm to capture the satellite and re-stow it in the payload
bay.
On Flight Day 6, re-entry preparations were scheduled. This included
flight control checks, test firing of maneuvering jets needed for
reentry, and cabin stowage. A crew news conferences was also scheduled
following the lunch period.
On Flight Day 7, the day would have been spent preparing the Space
Shuttle for deorbit and entry into the admosphere. The Challenger was scheduled to land at the Kennedy
Space Center.144 hours and 34 minutes after launch.
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