Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

Camaraderie and friendship flourished among the group of the 35 recruits. They extended their socializing beyond training, with family barbecues and camping trips becoming commonplace. Many of their children befriended one another at school. 

Still, the competition among the group was strong, with each of them coveting a place on the next space mission. Among the racism of the South and the nation-wide views of women as incapable of scientific exploration, the races to become the first African American and the first American woman in space were also fierce. In the end, it was Guy Bluford and Sally Ride whom George Abbey—director of flight operations—chose in April 1982 for the scheduled launch in November 1983.

Meanwhile, fears continued about the lack of an escape system on the shuttle, as the three engines still presented an explosion risk.

NASA turned its attention to improving the rockets that would launch the shuttle into space. Since they could not be controlled after their ignition, the first 122 seconds of the flight were the most dangerous of the entire mission. The rocket boosters were enormous in size: They were 15 stories high, weighed 590 tons, and were thus difficult and pricey to ship. Initially, NASA considered constructing its own manufacturing site near the Kennedy Space Center, but this proved far too costly. Instead, it was decided that the rocket boosters would be shipped in pieces and then assembled.

Thiokol Chemical was the company contracted to build the rockets. They were instructed to use existing designs as much as possible, with the aim of making the rockets as light as possible. The rocket’s body consisted of four large chambers that were affixed together by Thiokol. These chambers would hold the fuel that would be ignited. To ensure that the fuel burned properly, the chambers had to be lined with a complicated mixture of insulation. The flames needed to burn most strongly when they were first ignited—to provide the energy to propel the shuttle skyward—and then burn more slowly as the shuttle neared space. 

Once they were lit, there was no way to control the rockets. The fuel that the rockets contained was also highly dangerous to prepare—so much so that escape hatches were installed on the floor of the plant to immediately remove technicians in the event that it accidentally ignited.

Also of great importance were the O-rings. These were rubber gaskets that provided an air-tight seal around the joints when the sections of the rocket were fitted together. The compression—called “the squeeze” by engineers—had to be exact. If the seal was not tight enough, fuel could leak from the rocket. As an extra safety measure, engineers added a layer of redundancy by fitting a second O-ring atop the first. In this way, if the first O-ring were to fail in any way, the second one would prevent the fuel from leaking out.

The newly designed rocket was tested in July 1977 in the Utah desert and was deemed a success. However, two months later, when tests were performed, scientists discovered that the O-rings did not behave in the way they had expected. They had predicted that when the rockets were ignited, the pressure would compress the O-rings, thus drawing the pieces of the chambers closer together and creating an airtight seal. Instead, the pressure caused the pieces of the chamber to billow outward. 

After a few milliseconds, pressure inside the rocket then forced the O-rings into place so that it would perform the job that it was designed to do: prevent leaks. However, this left a nearly immeasurable fraction of a second in which the joints were unsealed. This issue led to further testing and discussion with the manufacturers of the O-rings, who countered that NASA was “not [using] them in the way they had intended” (167). This correspondence was lost in the bureaucratic shuffle and never reached Thiokol. 

Tests were conducted on the O-rings recovered from the 1981 test mission. It was concluded that the damage to them had been caused by tiny gaps in the asbestos putty that was used to seal the rings. These gaps were created accidentally when the units were stacked up at Cape Canaveral. The gaps could trap air, and this air, when exposed to the heat of the rocket, could cause the O-ring to burst. Thus, care was taken in handling the O-rings, which, because they were extremely thin, were at risk of being inoperable if even the tiniest nick appeared in one.

The Challenger space shuttle was successfully launched for the first time on April 4, 1983. Two months later, it launched again, making history with the presence of Sally Ride and Guy Bluford. When the spent casings of the rocket boosters were examined, however, Thiokol was alarmed to discover that the lining inside had been completely eaten away by the fuel, instead of being slightly eroded. This meant that the spacecraft could have exploded had the rockets burned for just eight or nine more seconds.

This issue would need to be corrected before the shuttle faced the Flight Readiness Review again—the assessment that determined whether the shuttle could be ensured to operate within acceptable risk range. This assessment involved numerous personnel amid four levels of NASA. It was understood that no launch would ever be completely risk free, and thus the task of determining precisely what constituted appropriate risk was a complex and arduous one. Thiokol endured one Flight Readiness Review after another as 1983 unfolded but could not provide a satisfying explanation for the corrosion of the rockets.

Then, on March 2, 1984, disaster struck when nearly a quarter of a million pounds of propellant caught fire at the Thiokol facility. At the time, NASA had already begun considering revoking Thiokol’s contract. The damage would set the next launch date back months.

Dick Scobee finally experienced his first trip to space aboard the shuttle’s 14th mission.

In August of 1983, Ron McNair contacted a musical instrument shop in California to inquire about renting a very specialized saxophone. He explained to the owner that he wanted to play the instrument in space—setting another “first” for space travel—but needed to determine if it would play in space before asking permission of NASA. The shop owner was sworn to secrecy. McNair’s mission was scheduled for early 1984.

The launch took place on February 3. McNair launched a satellite—named Westar 6—into space, but it was immediately lost. A second satellite—Palapa B2—suffered the same fate. NASA was humiliated, but the second part of the mission was a success: an untethered spacewalk using nitrogen-powered jet packs that the astronauts strapped to their backs. Bob Stewart and Bruce McCandless had eagerly awaited the space walk and found the experience exhilarating. On the same mission, McNair successfully played his saxophone. Though a few photographs were captured, McNair set his sights on broadcasting the music live from space on his next mission. Upon his return, McNair was lauded as the second African American in space.

Meanwhile, NASA began recruiting its first two payload specialists—non- astronauts with specialized knowledge in equipment or in tasks to be completed by the orbiter. They drew from the employees at Hughes Aircraft Company, which designed and built NASA’s satellites. Thirty-nine-year-old Greg Jarvis made the final cut.

The shuttle program, however, suffered more setbacks with the repeated delay of its scheduled June mission. On the second attempt to launch, the engines had to be shut down after a faulty valve created a gas leak. Finally, in August, the launch took place, and Judy Resnik became the second woman in space.