NASA was advised that it might be wise to divert to make a pass by a satellite to get some images of the impact area to see if there was damage and they opted not to do that. NASA was advised to postpone the launch of Challenger because the temperature had dropped to freezing and the o-rings would fail. They opted to pressure MortonThiokol to override their engineers who built the boosters and was pushing to postpone the launch because the cold would prevent the rubber o-rings from sealing the joints between the booster segments. Two Shuttles and two crews vanished for negligence

I was in Dallas the morning the Columbia broke up. I was in the parking lot of Flight Safety International at the DFW Airport. I was late to ground school class as I stood there watching this machine break apart. I will never forget that horrible day.

Rest in peace, brave crew, very sad for the families.🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹.

Thank you for using the footage that I shot of Columbia in this documentary.

Whenever a government agency says"dont worry" then you know its time to worry

Idk how the algorithm gave me this weird french/english documentary but I'm here till the end now.

I watched the reentry live on a local TV station. When I saw the big piece fall away, my heart just sank, I knew then no one would survive such a break up on reentry. One subject not covered by the video is why the foam was coming unglued and falling off so often during ascent. Ten percent of total launched shuttles had foam come unglued and would strike the orbiter. Also on one of the many videos that was published over the years stated that the originally specified foam formula and glue was replaced with an environmentally friendly type of foam and glue that didn't work as well. I haven't seen that video sense. Very good program. Thanks.

Suits didn't listen to the engineers. That's why we lost Challenger and Columbia. Gross incompetent negligence from bureaucrats.

RIP Rick Husband (1957-2003) William C. McCool (1961-2003) Michael P. Anderson (1959-2003) Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) David M. Brown (1956-2003) Laurel Clark (1961-2003) and Ilan Ramon (1954-2003)

Astronaut Kalpana Chawla’s smile makes me sad every time I see her 😢 RIP

300 million dollars to pick up debris but wouldn't spend a couple of million to take a photo from a military satellite that without NASA most likely wouldn't be up there.

What on excellent documentary. Very impressed with all the details and the honesty of those people on the ground.

53:45 On that day in 2003, i was driving to work on FM 1960 in NW Houston. It was a beautiful bluebird day! At approximately 9am, something made me look off to my left... and I saw what appeared to be silver glitter falling from the sky.... a few minutes later, i walked into the workplace, and found everyone looking at a tv.... news flash about the shuttle! It was then that I knew what I had seen! OMG! tragic moments I will never forget!!! 😢

I remember that morning. I’d had to leave my car in a public lot overnight due to mechanical trouble. I narrowly avoided having it towed. Once I finally had it at the garage, I checked it in and crashed in the waiting room. I rested my eyes for a few minutes, then opened them to see the television playing. Columbia’s crew picture covered the entire screen and in that moment, I knew something had happened. I later had to max out my credit card to pay for the repairs, but it didn’t matter. I was still here. Those astronauts were gone. It was a terrible day.

"An accident some years previous..."??? What an odd way to describe the Challenger disaster.

I bought my first semi 3 months before this happened. The night before this my engine threw 2 rods out of the block and I ended up in Columbia, Mo at a hotel. I remember waking up the next morning and turned on the TV to the news and thought "Why are they showing footage of the Challenger?" then seen that it was Columbia. I, like most people, was in shock that it happened again. R.I.P. to the crew and peace for their families.

it's so stupid that something bad always has to happen before we can do something about it. I know that's how we learn, but when you think about it, it's sad to think this way

No one really wants to talk about it, but the more I hear about the last moments of Columbia, the more I'm convinced that the crew knew they were doomed and were definitely conscious and felt physical pain at the end, if only for a couple of seconds.

The most disgusting thing about all of this (outside of the obvious) is, in that letter from nasa to Columbia the person wrote, "Just one thing, it's not even worth mentioning, but, in case a reporter asks..". Like are you freaking serious. That is a someone trying to save face for nasa. Period. Disgusting.

Speed and velocity have so much power. A little piece of foam travelling hundreds of miles and hour can do so much damage. Same as when people think planes can just ditch in the water and be fine, at the speed the plane is travelling, hitting the water is like slamming into concrete. When the plane landed on the Hudson, it was a miracle landing, due to the captain’s skills.

27:35 so basically, they were worried about spending money than these people lives that are on a perhaps, highly probable damaged rocket.

For four years prior to that launch NASA had problems with trying to keep heat tiles from falling off and were doing space walk inspections to check and repair them with a special caulking gun and extra tiles. So my question is why they didn't hold to that protocol? Incompetence.

Toute personne qui a travaillé avec du carbone sait que si sa résistance à la température est grande, celui-ci peut se briser comme du verre face aux chocs. Cette configuration comportait indéniablement trop de risques en cas de collision contre ne serait-ce qu'un des nombreux déchets spatiaux largué lors de missions précédentes. Comment de tels ingénieurs ont ils pu ignorer ce fait et n'effectuer les tests de résistance qu'après le drame? Ca interpelle... Love-Love !

I saw live on challenger in 86 when I was 8.. than I saw live again on this . Wow

I remember this so well. Tragic.

The difference between the Challenger disaster and Columbia was significant. With the Challenger disaster lessons were learnt particularly as regards to the O rings and their susceptibility to weakness in very cold weather. The Columbia disaster on the other hand showed a fundamental flaw in the very design of the space shuttle , something which was overlooked right from the get go. Foam falling from the main booster rocket and striking the space shuttle was a common occurrence on lift off. It happened so often over the decades it became routine to the point that not much significance was paid to it. U can actually see tiles missing from various space shuttles on their return to Earth. The common perception amongst many was well.. it's only foam right? what possible danger can foam pose to the shuttle and the crew? How wrong they were. It was only after the Columbia accident that tests were performed which showed in fact foam falling and striking the space shuttle can indeed prove fatal. The foam which hit Columbia was larger than what was anticipated and hit a vulnerable part of the undercarriage of the left wing allowing plasma to penetrate it on reentry. It really was only luck a Columbia type disaster didn't happen decades earlier. What's particularly eerie was the video showing the crew preparing for reentry was not a live stream by NASA but a hand held recorder from a fellow astronaut which survived the reentry and was found in a paddock in working order.

Decide the language of the lecturer, the French gaps are so annoying

This video has left me with more questions than answers

Phenomenal job on video!! Thank you.. RIP cew ❤❤❤❤❤😢

Thanks Dave again for great info video. Mikael from Finland 🇫🇮

It could be expected that a lump of foam would be so soft that it would not damage anything. But at an impact at several hundred MPH chunks of foam become very energetic and lethal. The prime job of the tiles that covered the wing surface,was to provide fantastic thermal insulation. As the ship reenters , their outer surface gets very hot ( a thousand degrees or more) due to the compression as the air hits the outside and the friction as that air rubs against the surface. Those tiles do a fantastic job of keeping the aluminum structure of the ship reasonably cool during the 20 minutes or so time of the reentry. The tiles thermal conductivity has to be very minimal. To make that low the tiles had to be made of a felt made of thin fibers of a low conducting materiel. A material of that nature would have very low strength and elasticity. With hindsight maybe the wing should have had an additional layer of thermal insulation or a heat resisting steel leading edge. These suggestions would have added weight.

I’ll never forget this; feb 1, 2003 was my 16th birthday. I remember how this made me sad. Feb 1 is a happy day for me, and for their families it’s a sad day

Pour l´amour de la science, quel sacrifice!!!

What is shocking is how consistently NASA disregarded safety concerns.

Awesome documentary 👍👍

Thanks for information...

The memorial at the Kennedy Space center was my favorite part of the whole museum. All astronauts lost in this and the Challenger each have a dedicated photo and personal belongings to celebrate/honor their sacrifice and at the end of the hallway, I felt something i never have seeing the 2 pieces of both orbiters on display. Truly well done, I highly suggest seeing it in person.

AH la poisse quand elle sy met. Allez David courage. J'aime tes enquetes.Bisous .

Loved this video thank you

That email sent to Rick and Willie is infuriating. So much dismissal of what was a major issue. NASA really dropped the ball.

Astonished and horrified that NASA went to such lengths as redeploying a military satellite and software analysis of ground-based video footage to avoid an EVA visual inspection of the wing in order to establish whether it had in fact been damaged by foam impact. Without any such capability, when damaged a safe return would not be possible. Unfortunately for the crew, NASA chose absence of evidence. The crew paid with their lives. Deeply saddening.

Thank you to the families

This documentary was riveting, nailbiting cold sweat inducing , excellent work by these guys

I just hope the families got welll compensated, and those involved held accountable....pride turned into grief and shame...

I often wonder why they didn't see, and recognize the problem and then proceeded to fixing it.. like Apollo13! They saw the problem, recognized the need for a solution and then went at it.. NASA should have told the crew and then got their collective asses together to solve the problem.. whether or not they sent a new shuttle or not they should have came together to solve it.. that crew deserved a team that was comparable to whom served Apollo.. they may have survived!

Thanxxxx 4 explaining it so well + 4 sharing to us....!!!! Big thank you

Il est super ce reportage

So much damage control from NASA officials in this video. Phrases like “Oh we didn’t know how serious it was” and “No one could’ve imagined what was to happen” all rub me the wrong way. Why in the hell did they willingly refuse to take a photo from a satellite, even when granted permission from the military? Because ignorance is bliss. They knew.

Challenger explosion did not kill the crew. Veteran astronauts have testified that the crew was alive all the way down to the ocean.

Incredible documentary. Sorry for the losses.

The Shuttle Orbiter itself has never failed. The SRB with Challenger destroyed the vehicle. The ET failed, destroying Columbia. The Orbiter was fragile, of course. But, without the other component failure, The Shuttle would still be flying.

What a shame. I still remember this as if it were yesterday. The people at NASA probably have never studied basic physics. Any 12 year old could have told them that F=M x A2. Any physics undergrad could have explained the effect of an accelerating object, that even a very light object can strike and destroy anything in its path. What really makes me mad is that this foam separation had happened on many occasions in the past. Reinforced carbon fractures with impact more readily than they thought. They had never tested this resistance, or lack thereof, of carbon fiber to impact involving a small object weighing essentially a ton, or two. What were they thinking, or not? Their mistake was to trust management. To trust the engineers that were oblivious to the Laws of basic, Newtonian physics. RIP heroes.

The title made me immediately think of the Challenger, something so simple as a rubber ring that took so many intelligent lives including a school teacher. These are some of our lead scientists doing this work trying to prepare for the worst when theres still so much thats unknown about the environment they are planning for. Living my entire life in the "rocket city" surrounded by von Braun accomplishments, i really enjoyed this video.

Sorry to hear the loss of so many families. Being a astronaut is scary and risky. My condolences to the families. 😞

Comme à chaque fois, argent, carrière, argent, contrat.... L'équipage était condamné, et le mensonge de la Nasa à son égard est intolérable. Aucune leçon n'avait était retenue suite à l'explosion de Challenger, qui était là un véritable crime, puisque en 1986, l'équipage n'avait aucune chance de survivre au décollage à cause du froid. A l'époque, Roger Boisjoly, ingénieur chez Morton Thiokol, qui fabriquait les booster à poudre, avait tout fait pour empêcher le décollage, car il savait que les joints des boosters ne rempliraient pas leur fonction vu les températures trop basses. Malgré l'aide d'Allan Mc Donald qui avait refusé de signer l'autorisation de décollage, Challenger avait bien sur explosé. Le mieux, c'est que les responsables se sont vus promus, alors que Boisjoly a été mis au placard comme Mc Donald dans une moindre mesure peut-être.

Imma just stay on earth 🌎

Watched it live as it happened back in the day. Tragic.

15:46 That's not true at all. There was no fault with the O-ring seals on the boosters, it was simply too cold to launch hence the reason they didn't seal properly as designed. This was a 100% preventable disaster.

Paix à leurs âmes

Correction, the challenger crew was alive after the shuttle exploded, the cockpit where the crew were is a protected environment and despite it being now known that they survived, it is likely the impact with the ground (ocean) that killed the crew, so they knew for several minutes that they were going to die.

I remember seeing the craft coming apart during reentry feeling so sad about the end result, so sad indeed, the loss a a fine team and family members being able to see the end result must have been terrible. R.I.P. gallant crew.

I used to work in the thermal Protection Systems Department of Martin Marietta Michoud, and they always preached about the quality of the foam and the dangers of the foam coming off. I really saw why on that day! I am happy to say that it is unlikely that I worked on that foam of that tank since I was probably laid off long before that tank was ever manufactured.

15:57 Je tiens à apporter une précision: Challenger n'a pas explosé mais s'est désintégré. C'est bel et bien un nuage que l'on voit et non pas une explosion (hormis les boosters). Il a d'ailleurs été mentionné que l'équipage n'est donc pas mort à T+72 et que les airpacks ont été utilisé plus de 2min après l'incident. On peut considérer que l'équipage a perdu conscience suite à la dépressurisation et que cela leur a été fatal.

Day 2 NASA knew everyone is going to die because of the hole in the wing. But they didn’t do anything to save them.

I remember. Seeing this On TV and watched in Horror my Hart sunk. Imagine begin burn alive and there's nothing they can do About. I know something was wrong With that space shuttle when started to pick up alot Òf speed. It look ĺike A mentor right falling From the sky. My sincere condolences too the families that lost there loved Ones on Columbia. I will never Forget that Day as long As I live.

Vraiment intéressant. Franchement, on voit bien que ça aurait pu ne pas finir si tragiquement, l'excuse avancée c'est "yavait jamais eu de problème avant "! Mais on voit bien ici que la Nasa savait que la navette était endommagée et ils n'ont rien fait pour tenter quelque chose, ils ont juste dit c'est un problème technique, pas de sécurité, c'est triste pour ceux qui y ont perdu la vie et leurs familles, on sait que de telles missions ne sont pas sans risques mais dans ce cas, l'erreur se paye cher car elle est due à une véritable nonchalance, comme quoi, il ne faut jamais être sûr de rien..😢

A gamble to send them Could not rescue them it’s that simple Those astronauts are very intelligent people They risk their lives for space exploration Very courageous people They are even more intellectually aware of the dangers

Just bumped into this amazing and sadful video on Sunday, April 28 2024. After watching a video on the Chinese President XI's last visit in the US, the UKposts algorithm suggested me this video. It's pretty informative and emotional as well. My prayers touch the beloved ones of these astronauts who unfortunately lost their lives in this incident. Thank you for uploading!

Merci

Rest in Peace , Valiant Space Shuttle Crew , May God comfort Your Families , we recognize your Courage and dedication , Rest In Peace you Valiant Men and Women , May your Families be Comforted, God bless you Guys You will never be Forgotten.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

everytime I see/watch one of these videos, my blood begins to boil- I GUARANTEE you take anyone of these engineering 'experts" and put him or her onboard the Shuttle in place of anyone of these astronauts, and they would have insisted on investigating the damage to the wing alot further - and NOT ONE NASA employee lost their job or was even reprimanded- (although a few resigned) - business as USUAL in this country- sad

Très bon documentaire. Cet équipage aurait-il pu être sauvé, par exemple par le lancement d’une navette de sauvetage ? Un excellent article dans Ars Technica publié il y a quelques années montre que non. Dès les premières minutes cet appareil et son équipage étaient condamnés. Doomed!

May the crew of the Columbia tragedy RIP. ❤❤ I’ve been to both the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Seeing those two incredible places was a dream come true for me. In addition, for extra icing on the cake, I saw Atlantis out on the launchpad.

This video has too many commercials.

As much as I love the Shuttle it was basically a space 737 Max

My Dearest Astronauts - we will never forget your Great Sacrifice for humanity and mankind. Love you we will always remember you.

NASA actually came across this scenario 15 years prior: STS-27, 1988, a chunk of foam from external tank impacted the shuttle, and the crew were informed that their chance to surviving reentry is low, but the foam impacted a point that was holding an antenna which blocks extreme heat from entering Atlantis wing and thus saving all 5 asttonauts onboard

Since it's inception , Falling foam has always been something NASA engineers have contended with ..

Nasa, Apollo era, "We're getting the home." NASA, shuttile era, "its probably too difficult to try, we don't want to risk 7 people to try to save 7." Men were different in the 60s. Failure wasn't an option.

May Allah give sabr to those family members and giv those astronauts place in jannah 🥺😢💔

Yes very tragic! Willie McCool was a Jr High & High School class mate and friend in Guam before his family was transferred to another installation in the US. He and his wife Lani & Kids were special friends and will miss Willie. They even named a Jr High School here in Guam in his memory Willie McCool Jr High School. To Lani and kids, Uncle Joey and Uncle Warren will always Love and miss you all and our friend and classmate Willie. He departed this world doing what he loved and you could not ask for a better way to go no matter how tragic. Lani, you and kids will always hold a special place in our hearts and hope we were able to help and comfort you during your visit to Guam after this tragic event. Take care!

Idk if i can still get in trouble, but i still have a couple of stuff from the debri that i picked up while playing with friends. It's a pen, a pair of broken sunglasses, and 3 buttons with the letters "EN1, " "BUE," and "ES," i assume from some sort of machine on board.

It wasn't the tiles that failed. It was the carbon carbon leading edge of the left wing that was breached by briefcase sized piece of foam that hit it at a relative speed of 550mph (850kph) carrying great kinetic energy.

Paul Wilde has some serious sunburn going on.

Two crews of the nations best died for carelessness and negligence

a 1'07 de la vidéo, la raison de la destruction semble déjà évidente. "à l'époque, on pense que c'est vraiment indestructible..." Cette phrase démontre le niveau.. On pense sans s'en être assuré. On connait la vitesse de la navette, on a des salles de test, or, pour "penser" que c'est indestructible, il faut préalablement faire des tests pour s'en assurer... Les résultats auraient invalidé ou pas les certitudes....

Tous mes hommages à 7 astronautes 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Although NASA said it didn't tell the crew because it didn't want them to worry during the mission they COULD have told them before reentry so they could have tried to minimize the angle of attack on the damaged wing but they just said nothing and let them burn instead.

❤we shall never forget the crew that parished that dark day rest in paradise to all ❤

I remember that day. It was a Saturday morning and I was watching MSNBC. It was incomprehensible. 🥺

Dans un autre documentaire on voit l'étonnement des ingénieurs lors d'une reconstitution du choc de l'impact du bloc de mousse sur l'aile, lorsque effectivement ce choc produit un trou! Ils ne croyaient vraiment pas cela possible... Comme quoi il ne faut jamais penser tout savoir! Et quand on pense que chaque vol de cette navette, c'était jouer avec le feu...

Pour Challenger, les astronautes n’ont pas tous péri au moment de l’explosion mais lors du crash dans l’océan.

Thank you R.I.P. Columbia.

Rest in peace Awesome crew.

déjà rectification dans votre introduction vers 00 :00 :40 Ce n’est pas « comment quelques grammes de mousse ont-ils pu conduirent à la désintégration de cet engin spatial » mais « Comment quelques CONARDS ont-ils pu conduirent à la désintégration de cet engin spatial » !!!

The explosion didn't kill the Challenger crew. At least not immediately. The orbiter and crew cabin was largely intact and continued to climb AFTER the fireball. It took them over 2 minutes to hit the ocean. It's estimated that it was a 45,000 foot drop and they hit the ocean at 200g. That's almost certainly how the crew died. Either that, or drowning.

O-rings: "Nah, there's always some erosion, no biggie" Insulating foam: "Nah, chunks are always coming off, no biggie"

For better subtitle visibility, use bold font with drop shadow of a contrasting color.

I wonder if the astronauts could have docked with the iss until help could arrive?

NASA knew they were going to die on reentry, but still told them to land it