Challenger disaster, debris impact. Footage of debris impacting the ocean after the catastrophic failure and disintegration that occurred on 28 January 1986 just over a minute after the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L. The crew compartment remained intact, impacting the ocean 2 minutes 45 seconds after the break-up, killing all seven on board. The members of the crew were US astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, US engineer Gregory Jarvis, and US high school teacher Christa McAuliffe. An extensive search took place to retrieve the debris from the ocean floor. The launch had taken place after several days of delay at 11:38 local time (16:38 UTC) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The cold conditions on the launch day contributed to the failure of an already defective design element (the O-ring seal in one of the sold rocket boosters). For the launch, disintegration and debris trails, see clips K006/3337, K006/3380, K006/3252, K006/3406 and K006/3188. |