joey

挑戰者號太空梭災難於美國東岸時間1986年1月28日上午11時39分（格林尼治標準時間16時39分）發生在美國佛羅里達州的上空。挑戰者號太空梭升空後，因其右側固體火箭助推器（SRB）的O型環密封圈失效，毗鄰的外部燃料艙在泄漏出的火焰的高溫燒灼下結構失效，使高速飛行中的太空梭在空氣阻力的作用下於發射後的第73秒解體，機上7名太空人全部罹難。挑戰者號的殘骸散落在大海中，後來被遠程搜救隊打撈了上來。

這次災難性事故導致美國的太空梭飛行計劃被凍結了長達32個月之久。在此期間，美國總統隆納·雷根委派羅傑斯委員會對該事故進行調查。羅傑斯委員會發現，美國國家航空暨太空總署（NASA）的組織文化與決策過程中的缺陷與錯誤是導致這次事件的關鍵因素。NASA的管理層事前已經知道承包商莫頓·塞奧科公司設計的固體火箭助推器存在潛在的缺陷，但未能提出改進意見。他們也忽視了工程師對於在低溫下進行發射的危險性發出的警告，並未能充分地將這些技術隱患報告給他們的上級。羅傑斯委員會向NASA提出了9項建議，並要求NASA在繼續太空梭飛行計劃前貫徹這些建議。

在該事故中遇難的太空人克麗斯塔·麥考利夫是太空教學計劃的第一名成員。她原本準備在太空中向學生授課，因此許多學生觀看了挑戰者號的發射直播。這次事故的媒體覆蓋面非常廣：一項研究的民意調查顯示，85%的美國人在事故發生後一個小時內已經聽聞這次事件的新聞；挑戰者號災難也成為此後工程安全教育中的一個常見案例。

Challenger disaster: remembered
睇完D相覺得好震撼
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Challenger disaster: remembered        On January 28, 1986, at 11:38 a.m., EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.  The entire crew of seven was lost in the explosion 73 seconds into the launch.  Today, on the 25th anniversary of this national tragedy, we honor in memory the brave crew who gave their lives for the exploration of space.  Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire social studies teacher, was NASA's choice for the first teacher in space. Because McAuliffe was our local astronaut, she is featured heavily in this post, but we honor all seven on the anniversary of a nation's great loss. -- Paula Nelson  (34 photos total)


The crew of the space shuttle Challenger. From left: Ellison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair and Judith Resnik. (NASA/1986)


2
Christa McAuliffe at Johnson Space Center in Houston. A whole generation, including McAuliffe's own students, has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space. (AP/1985)  #


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Christa McAuliffe rides in the Lions Club parade, passing in front of the New Hampshire Statehouse, with her daughter, Caroline, and son, Scott. McAuliffe was a social studies teacher at Concord High School, before being chosen NASA's first teacher in space. (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott/1985)  #


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McAuliffe, chosen America's first teacher to fly aboard a space shuttle mission conducts her hometown volunteer "Nevers Band" on the Statehouse lawn. Concord had proclaimed "Christa McAuliffe Day." She conducted the band in "Stars and Stripes Forever" (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott/1985)  #


5
Teacher Christa McAuliffe jogs with friends in Concord, N.H. (AP/Jim Cole) #

joey

6
Christa McAuliffe, the teacher astronaut, celebrates with friends in her house in Concord, N.H., the night she returned from White House. (The Concord Monitor/Suzanne Kreiter) #


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McAuliffe boards a test flight on January 2, 1986, to practice stop and go landings the day after arriving at NASA from Houston. #


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McAuliffe prepares to go for a test ride in a NASA T-38 jet trainer in September 1985. The jet ride was part of her training to ready her for the space shuttle flight in 1986. #


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McAuliffe aboard the T-38 trainer jet over Galveston Bay during training for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger mission 51-L. Part of Galveston Island and the Houston, TX metropolitan area can be seen in background at top left. McAuliffe represents the Teacher-in-Space Project aboard the Challenger. (AP/1986) #


10
High School social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe handles the controls of the remote manipulator arm on the flight deck of a space shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center during a July 1985 visit. (UPI) #

joey

11
McAuliffe hangs suspended in space during zero gravity flight training at Johnson Space Center in October 1985. McAuliffe won the nation-wide search for the Teacher-in-Space Project scheduled to fly on the space shuttle mission in January 1986. (UPI) #


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McAuliffe signs autographs prior to a ceremony honoring her for being chosen as the first teacher to ride on the space shuttle. City officials awarded her an engraved plate and the city flag. (AP/Suzanne Kreiter/1985) #


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McAuliffe stands next to the Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger at Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida in October 1985. (AP/Jim Neihouse) #


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Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan, right, laugh during training in 1986. (NASA)  #


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McAuliffe smiles as she enters the NASA van to be driven to the launch pad. (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott) i #


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The crew of the space shuttle Challenger flight 51-L, leave their quarters for the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. From foreground are commander Francis Scobee, Mission Specialist Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist Ronald McNair, Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis, Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka, teacher Christa McAuliffe and pilot Michael Smith. (AP/Steve Helber) #

joey

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The space shuttle Challenger lifts off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 11:38 a.m., EST, on January 28, 1986. (NASA) #


18
Classmates of the son of Christa McAuliffe, America's first schoolteacher to become an astronaut, cheer as the space shuttle Challenger lifts skyward from Cape Canaveral.  Their delight soon turned to horror as the entire crew of seven was lost in the explosion 73 seconds into the flight. (AP/Jim Cole) #


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This combination photo of sequential images taken by NASA during the catastrophic flight of the space shuttle Challenger, shows a fiery plume escaping from the right solid rocket booster which led to the explosion that killed the crew of seven aboard. (HO/AFP/Getty Images) #


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This photograph of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding 73 seconds after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad became the iconic image of a national tragedy. (Bruce Weaver/AP) #


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McAuliffe's family reacts to a malfunction warning on the NASA public address system, which was followed quickly by the explosion. (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott/1986) #


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Teachers and students from McAuliffe's school in New Hampshire gasp in shock and tears as they watch the debris fall from the sky after the explosion. (The New York Times/ Keith Meyers) #


23
NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw, reports from the NBC Washington studios that the space shuttle Challenger has exploded and all seven astronauts have perished. (NBC News) #


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President Ronald Reagan, surrounded by members of his senior staff, watches a television replay of the explosion of the Challenger at the White House. From left are: Larry Speakes, Deputy White House Press Secretary; Presidential Assistant Dennis Thomas; Special Assistant Jim Kuhn; Reagan; White House Communications Director Patrick Buchanan, and Chief of Staff Donald Regan (AP/Craig Fuji)  #