Inside the Space Shuttle

[Terminal23]

When Laurel Clark was taking those pictures inside the shuttle before in broke up, I wonder how long she kept taking those pictures? When Columbia started to have trouble, I wonder if NASA only showed a small portion and maybe that would give a clue as to what happened. I don’t want to see any more if they do have it. I just hope it might reveal some of what happened. Just a thought.

[osprey4]

It's most likely that there was little or no time from the moment they realized something was wrong to the moment they perished. At mach 18 (or whatever it was), disasters don't take but a few milliseconds.

[xenon200]

Yeah... Definately wouldn't have been some drawn out affair.

[StealthyV]

when the challenger broke up, there were radio messages for up to a minute afterward, which clearly showed they knew they were going to crash; they were screaming and kept yelling into their microphones. there was a Discovery Channel (usa) special on the Challenger (1989) accident, and they broadcast for the first time the radio messages that were received moments before the wreck hit the ground/water.

it must have been very difficult for the families of both these tragedies to see the photos from the Columbia (2003) and hear the final radio transmissions from the Challenger (1989). Space travel is very dangerous, and for the USA not to have had more accidents shows just how sophisticated and exact this science is. I admire those who are brave enough to travel to and live in space, hundreds of miles above the earth.
~Branson

[alferret]

I thought the Challenger accident happened on Jan. 28, 1986.

[CCiCA]

You are right about he disaster date, Alferret

[Gomer]

StealthyV:

You are incorrect regarding the Challenger Disaster. I have studied this disaster quite a bit. The chance that they were conscious after the explosion were slim.

Accelerometers, instruments that measure the magnitude and direction of forces acting on the shuttle during flight, lost power when the nose section ripped away two tenths of a second after structural break up began. Independent analysis of all recovered data and wreckage concluded the nose pitched down as soon as it broke away and then slowed rapidly from aerodynamic forces. Calculations and analysis of launch photography indicate the acceleration forces the astronauts felt were between 12 and 20 times the force of gravity in a vertical direction, that is, as the cabin broke away, the astronauts were violently pushed down in their seats.

"These accelerations were quite brief," Kerwin wrote. "In two seconds, they were below four G's; in less than 10 seconds, the crew compartment was essentially in free fall. Medical analysis indicates that these accelerations are survivable, and that the probability of major injury to crew members is low."

When Challenger broke up, it was traveling at 1.9 times the speed of sound at an altitude of 48,000 feet. The crew module continued flying upward for some 25 seconds to an altitude of about 65,000 feet before beginning the long fall to the ocean. From breakup to impact took two minutes and 45 seconds. Impact velocity was 207 mph, subjecting the module to a braking force of approximately 200 times the force of gravity. Any astronauts still alive at that moment were killed instantly.

When the cabin ripped away from the fuselage, the crew's oxygen supplies were left behind in the payload bay, "except for a few seconds supply in the lines," Kerwin said. But each astronaut's airtight flight helmet also was connected to a PEAP that contained about six minutes of breathing air. Kerwin said because of the design of the activation switch, it was highly unlikely the PEAPs were turned on by impact. But unlike the oxygen system, the PEAPs did not provide pressurized air and if the cabin lost pressure, they would not have allowed the crew to remain conscious.

"It is possible, but not certain, that the crew lost consciousness due to an in-flight loss of crew module pressure," Kerwin wrote. "Data to support this is:



The accident happened at 48,000 feet and the crew cabin was at that altitude or higher for almost a minute. At that altitude, without an oxygen supply, loss of cabin pressure would have caused rapid loss of consciousness and it would not have been regained before water impact.

PEAP activation could have been an instinctive response to unexpected loss of cabin pressure.

If a leak developed in the crew compartment as a result of structural damage during or after breakup (even if the PEAPs had been activated), the breathing air available would not have prevented rapid loss of consciousness.

The crew seats and restraint harnesses showed patterns of failure which demonstrates that all the seats were in place and occupied at water impact with all harnesses locked. This would likely be the case had rapid loss of consciousness occurred, but it does not constitute proof."

Despite NASA's best efforts, engineers were never able to determine if cabin pressure was lost. Astronaut Crippen said later he was convinced it did, however, because had the cabin maintained pressure there would have been no need to activate the PEAPs. He said in his view, the astronauts made a "desperate" attempt to survive by activating the PEAPs when pressure was suddenly lost.

Of the four PEAPs recovered, the one that belonged to Scobee had not been activated. Of the other three, one was identified as Smith's and because of the location of the activation switch on the back of his seat, Truly said he believed Resnik or Onizuka turned the pilot's emergency air supply on in a heroic bid to save his life. The exact sequence of events will never be known.

PEAP stands for Personal Egress Air Pack. They are used only for an emergency air supply in the even of a launch pad mishap. They do not supply pressurized air.

The odds of the crew compartment being ripped from the rest of the shuttle and being subjected to extreme aerodynamic forces without decompression are slim.

The last known words preserved on the flight recorder were the pilot Smith's... "Uh oh."

Take a look at www.snopes.com for info as well.