Challenger disaster, disintegration after launch. Footage of the catastrophic failure and disintegration that occurred on 28 January 1986 during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L. Just over a minute after launch, a seal failure led to the right-hand solid rocket booster (SRB) detaching, and the external tank exploding (seen as a fireball), with the resulting aerodynamic forces ripping apart the shuttle. The two SRBs are seen continuing on separate trajectories. 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. 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 SRBs). For the launch, disintegration and debris trails, see clips K006/3337, K006/3380, K006/3252, K006/3406 and K006/3188. |