Major event in world history (34) The doom of the US Space Shuttle Challenger

None of them may have expected that the moment they entered the hatch would be frozen in eternity.

On January 28, 1986, the stands of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida were filled with guests and spectators holding telescopes. Their expressions were both excited and nervous, and all those present were anxiously waiting for that exciting moment. Last night's bitter cold wind blew away the floating clouds over Cape Canaveral, and against the blue sky, the space shuttle Challenger, which towered over the launcher, was about to spread its wings and fly like an eagle ready to strike. Today marks the 10th flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger and the first of the 15 flights planned for this year. The main mission of the flight was to observe Halley's Comet, which only returned once every 76 years, and to conduct a series of space experiments.

"Challenger" is the second generation of space shuttle developed by the United States, compared with the first generation of space shuttle "Columbia", there have been great improvements in structure, materials, performance and other aspects. Prior to this flight, it had successfully made 9 round-trip flights. However, preparations for the flight did not go well. Due to weather and other reasons, the launch time has been postponed for 9 consecutive times. Just today, due to strong winds at high altitudes and other reasons, the launch has been delayed several times in a row. Finally, just for the astronauts

Guys, when preparing for the countdown to launch, the staff suddenly found that they could not remove the handle on the shuttle door, and after tossing and turning for 5 hours, they relied on the hammer to close the hatch. 20 minutes before the launch, someone reported that there were thick icicles hanging under the launcher and the space shuttle, and it was again recommended to postpone the launch. But experts decided that this did not hinder Challenger's 10th flight, and more than 2,000 sensor data on board showed that "everything is OK." Just as the audience was getting tired, Harris, a live television broadcaster at the Space Center, announced that the shuttle was operating normally and would take off at 10:38 a.m., and the stands would suddenly turn into a sea of applause and cheers.

A total of 6 astronauts participated in the shuttle flight. They were: Captain Francis Skobi, 46 years old; Driver Michael Smith, 40 years old; Judy Enresnik (female), 36 years old; Ronald McSol, 35; Ellison Onizuka, 39; Gregory Jervis, 41; Christa McAuliffe (female), 37 years old. In particular, Christa McAuliffe is the most notable. Because she is not a professional astronaut, but a middle school teacher, a mother with a 9-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. As NASA first decided to take civilians into the air, in 1985 President Reagan announced on television: "I order NASA to begin selecting one of america's finest teachers among all the primary and secondary school teachers in the nation as the first civilian passenger in the history of our space program." So McAuliffe became the "lucky one" who stood out from more than 10,000 teachers.

On this morning, the seven astronauts were in a very good mood, and after breakfast, they put on their sky blue spacesuits and happily marched to the shuttle launch pad. None of them expected that the breakfast before they left would become their last breakfast, and the moment they walked into the cabin, it would be frozen in eternity.

The countdown is proceeding smoothly, the liquid oxygen in the shuttle fuel tank is beginning to be injected, and all the conditions are already in place. When the countdown to 1 is exactly 11:38 EST and 16:39 GMT.

The igniter ignited the rocket thruster, and with a loud bang and intense fireworks, the space shuttle Challenger left the launch pad under the support of a huge tongue of fire. It magically rose in the air, dragging a long red flame tail to draw a beautiful lone line in the blue sky, and the scene was very spectacular. "The launch went smoothly!" "We finally succeeded!" In the stands of the Space Center at Cape Canaveral, everyone raised their hands in a "V" shape and cheered to celebrate the victory.

Kennedy Space Center staff have been in close contact with the astronauts on the shuttle. Time passed by second by second, and people were still cheering, and some even sat on the ground, looked up, and watched the "challenger" leave. At 11:38:07, the Challenger dragged a long flame and a few wisps of white smoke toward the predetermined track faster and faster, and everything was normal. Two seconds later, the Challenger slowly turned 90 degrees according to the normal procedure, and everything was still normal. At 11:38:35, according to normal procedures, the main engines of the Challenger orbiter began to slow down to 65 percent of their total thrust to relieve gravitational stress on the shuttle during the initial stages of flight, and all was well. At 11:39:06, the ground command center issued a command to the Challenger: "Challenger, accelerate." At 11:39:12, the Challenger commander replied, "Understand, rise at full speed." "At this time, fly

The speed of travel is 3163 kilometers per hour, more than 3 times the speed of sound, has broken through the sound barrier, and the altitude from the ground is 16 kilometers.

Unexpectedly, the in-flight Challenger suddenly appeared in mid-air with an orange-red fireball, followed by a larger fireball; two seconds later, 75 seconds after the plane took off, the Challenger exploded at an altitude of 50,000 feet above the ground, only to see countless burning fragments of the aircraft pouring down from the sky and scattered in the Atlantic Ocean 20 miles from the launch site. The well-trained rescue team quickly rushed to the site of the accident, but due to the continuous falling of debris, the rescue team entered the scene after 3 hours to carry out search and rescue work.

Witnessing this tragic scene, the audience in the stands and next to the TV set were all dumbfounded. The previous excitement was instantly replaced by pain and sorrow, and everyone knew that such an air disaster would make it impossible for astronauts to survive. At the launch site, an elderly couple hugged and wept for this, and a middle-aged man next to them held the hands of the two children and kept shaking, and the painful tears wet their cheeks. They were the parents and family of the female teacher McAuliffe, respectively. They could not believe that their daughters, wives, and mothers would say goodbye to them in such an almost cruel way. At Concord Middle School in New Hampshire, usa, students cheered with excitement when they saw on television that the Challenger was carrying their teacher into space. Soon, however, in the face of the sudden explosion of the Challenger, the students could not help but be stunned and then cried bitterly. They couldn't accept that fact, and for a long time preferred to believe that it was just a nightmare.

As the debris of the Challenger flew across the Atlantic, President Reagan was having lunch with his top aides. When Vice President Bush rushed in to inform him of the unfortunate news, the president's first reaction was: "Is it the shuttle that the female teacher is on?" "Immediately after the confirmation, the whole room was also enveloped by worry, anxiety and pain. After the initial consternation, Reagan and government officials quickly discussed and decided that Vice President Bush would immediately rush to the Kennedy Space Center to express condolences to the victims and begin to investigate the cause of the accident. Immediately afterward, President Reagan made a televised speech declaring that "today is a day of mourning and remembrance." At this time, the whole United States has long been in grief. Churches rang bells for the victims, radio stations played the American national anthem continuously, the streets were deserted, pedestrians looked solemn, and the flags of major buildings were lowered to half-mast. At night, the Empire State Building, which had always been brightly illuminated, extinguished all the lights to show mourning for the victims. All night, no one slept in the United States.

News of the Challenger's crash quickly spread around the world, with governments and people mourning the victims in different ways. The former Soviet government also decided to name the two craters recently discovered on Venus after two female astronauts. In his letter to Reagan, UN Secretary-General De Cuélal said: "The whole world is deeply saddened by the sacrifice of this tragedy in opening up the frontiers of human knowledge." President Li Xiannian of the People's Republic of China sent a telegram to U.S. President Ronald Reagan the next day to express his condolences for the tragic deaths of seven astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle.

According to the report of the Presidential Commission investigating the cause of the accident, the explosion was caused by the failure of a Type 0 seal. This ring is located between two low-level components of the solid rocket thruster on the right, and the failed ring causes the hot gas to ignite the fuel in the external fuel tank. The Type 0 ring will fail at low temperatures, although on the eve of launch some engineers warned against launching on cold days, but it failed to attract attention.

In the process of human conquest of the universe, the tragic experience of the "Challenger" is not the first time, nor will it be the last, because the process of human pursuit of truth will continue, and the process of human pursuit of self-improvement will not stop. However, it has given us the inspiration that we must be bold on the road of science and learn to be strong; we must be brave in practice and cautious in our decisions. Only in this way can our heroes die their lives, and the lament of mankind has meaning.