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'Space Shuttle ''Challenger''' (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, ''Columbia'' being the first. Its maiden flight was on April 4, 1983, and it completed nine missions before disintegrating 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission, on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members. (For more on the ''Challenger'' disaster, see Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster.) ''Challenger'' was replaced by the space shuttle ''Endeavour'' which made its first flight in 1992, six years after the disaster.

Contents

History

Construction

Flights and modifications

Loss of Challenger

See also

Notes

External links

History

''Challenger'' was named after HMS ''Challenger'', a British corvette which carried out a pioneering global marine research expedition in the 1870s.[1]

Construction

The shuttle was constructed using a body frame ('STA- 099') that had initially been built as a test article. STA-099 was not originally intended for spaceflight, but NASA found that recycling it would be less expensive than refitting the test shuttle ''Enterprise'' (OV-101) to be spaceworthy, as originally planned.
''Challenger'' (and the orbiters built after it) had fewer tiles in its Thermal Protection System than ''Columbia''. Most of the tiles on the payload bay doors, upper wing surface and rear fuselage surface were replaced with DuPont white nomex felt insulation. This modification allowed ''Challenger'' to carry 1130 kg (2500 lb) more payload than ''Columbia''. ''Challenger'' was also the first orbiter to have a heads-up display system similar to those found in military and newer civilian aircraft. This system eliminated the need to look at the instrument panel during descent and allowed the crew to concentrate more on flying the orbiter.

Flights and modifications

After its first flight, ''Challenger'' quickly became the workhorse of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet, flying far more missions per year than ''Columbia''. In 1983 and 1984, ''Challenger'' flew on 85% of all Space Shuttle missions. Even when the orbiters ''Discovery'' and ''Atlantis'' joined the fleet, ''Challenger'' remained in heavy use with three missions a year from 1983-85. ''Challenger'', along with ''Discovery'', was modified at Kennedy Space Center to be able to carry the Centaur-G upper-stage in its payload bay. Had STS-51-L been successful, ''Challenger's next mission would have been the deployment of the Ulysses probe with the Centaur to study the polar regions of the Sun.
''Challenger's many spaceflight accomplishments included the first American woman, African-American, and Canadian in space, three Spacelab missions, and the first night launch and landing of a Space Shuttle. ''Challenger'' was also the first space shuttle to be destroyed in an accident during a mission. The collected debris of the vessel are currently stored in decommissioned missile silos at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. From time to time, further pieces of debris from the orbiter wash up on the Florida coast.^[1] When this happens, they are collected and transported to the silos for storage. Because of her early loss, ''Challenger'' was the only space shuttle that never wore the NASA "meatball" logo.

Date	Designation	Launch pad	Landing location	Notes
1983 April 4	STS-6	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Deployed TDRS-1. First spacewalk during a space shuttle mission.
1983 June 18	STS-7	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space. Deployed two communications satellites.
1983 August 30	STS-8	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Guion Bluford becomes first African-American in space First shuttle night launch and night landing. Deployed Insat-1B.
1984 February 3	STS-41-B	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	First untethered spacewalk. Deployed two communications satellites, unsuccessfully.
1984 April 6	STS-41-C	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Solar Maximum Mission service mission.
1984 October 5	STS-41-G	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	First mission to carry two women. Marc Garneau become first Canadian in space. Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes first American woman to make a spacewalk. Deployed Earth Radiation Budget Satellite.
1985 April 29	STS-51-B	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Carried Spacelab-3
1985 July 29	STS-51-F	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Carried Spacelab-2
1985 October 30	STS-61-A	39-A	Edwards Airforce Base	Carried German Spacelab D-1
1986 January 28	STS-51-L	39-B	Did not land (Planned to land at KSC)	Shuttle disintegrates after launch, killing all seven astronauts on board. Was to have deployed TDRS-B.

Loss of Challenger

Main articles: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

''Challenger'' was destroyed in the second minute of STS-51-L, the orbiter's tenth mission, on January 28, 1986, when an O-ring seal on its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed. The O-rings failed to seal due to a variety of factors, including unusually cold temperatures.[3] This failure allowed a plume of flame to leak out of the SRB and impinge on both the external fuel tank (ET) and SRB aft attachment strut. This caused both structural failure of the ET and the SRB pivoting into the orbiter and ET. The vehicle assembly then broke up under aerodynamic loads.[4]

See also

★ Challenger flag

★ List of space shuttle missions

★ Rendez-vous Houston

★ Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster

★ Morton Thiokol

★ Roger Boisjoly

Notes

1. [2]CNN - Shuttle Challenger debris washes up on shore - Dec. 17, 1996

External links

★ Ronald Reagan: Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger

★ Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion video

★ Shuttle Orbiter ''Challenger'' (OV-99)

★ Rogers Commission Report

★ Astronautix on ''Challenger''

★ ''Challenger'' Mission Videos of the Accident from Spaceflightnow.com

★ ''NASA film on the accident and investigation downloadable from ''archive.org'' ''The Internet Archive''

★ Memorial to Greg Jarvis in Hermosa Beach, California at "Sites of Memory"

★ Personal Observations on the Reliability of the Shuttle by R. P. Feynman

★ RealPlayer video of Feynman's O-Ring demonstration (low quality)

★ CBS Radio news Bulletin Anchored by Christopher Glenn of the Challenger Disaster from 1/28/86 , Part 2 of CBS Radio coverage of Challenger Disaster , Part 3 of CBS Radio News coverage of Challenger disaster, Part 4 of CBS Radio news coverage of challenger disaster