Few events require or may be counted in seconds, but the tragedy of the Challenger is recorded in seconds in the annals of NASA and in the memories of people of all colors, ages, and beliefs around the world. January 28, 1986 morning EST:
At 11:38:00, the igniter ignited the rocket booster, and the space shuttle Challenger slowly lifted off under the support of the flames, "Success! The audience who watched the launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Center applauded enthusiastically;
At 11:38:07, Challenger overtook the launcher and dragged the flames and white smoke toward the predetermined southeastern direction;
At 11:38:09, the Challenger slowly rotated 90 degrees according to the program; at 11:39:6, the ground command center issued a command to the Challenger: "Challenger, accelerate"; at 11:39:12, the captain of the Challenger, Francis Skoby, replied: "Understand, rise at full speed." These are the last words left to the world by the seven astronauts, and the seven astronauts say goodbye to mankind with such a charismatic sentence, which seems to encourage those who come after.
Almost at the same time, an orange-red fireball suddenly flashed from the lower right of the Challenger's outer fuel tank, followed by another larger fireball on its chest on the other side near the orbiter. The audience on the viewing platform thought this was a normal phenomenon and even applauded the spectacular scenery, but after 3 seconds, their clapping hands stayed in the air for a long time, looking frightened.
At 11:39:15, Challenger set fire at an altitude of 50,000 feet above the ground. It turned into frightening red smoke and spread rapidly. Two solid-fuel booster rockets flew in two directions, trailing two twisted columns of smoke in their tails, forming a terrible "Ya" character. Time froze at 11:39:15 EST on the morning of January 28, 1986.
The parents, husband, son, and daughter of Christa McAuliffe, the only female astronaut among the 7 Warriors, shuddered in the cold wind and burst into tears.
The students of McAuliffe's middle school were watching their teachers in front of the television when they learned that the orange-red flames on the television had taken their teachers, and they cried out after a moment of shock, and the teacher quickly turned off the television, afraid that the children would be stimulated even more.
At United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Security Council suspended the meeting for this purpose, and all members observed a three-minute silence. In Moscow, the Soviets were not schadenfreude over the setbacks of their rivals, and many citizens shed tears. In Beijing, china Central Television disrupted the program for the first time, putting news of the Challenger crash in the headlines, and Chairman Li Xiannian called President Reagan to express his condolences.
The Challenger explosion was a human tragedy that forced humanity to slow down its march into space. But one won't forget the words of The Challenger captain Francis Skoby before a flight: "If something goes wrong or goes wrong, I hope it in no way means the end of the space program." ”
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