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Space Shuttle Challenger

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"Challenger Spacecraft" redirects here. For other spacecraft called Challenger, see Challenger (disambiguation) § Air and space craft.
Challenger
Challenger in orbit in 1983, during STS-7
TypeSpace Shuttle orbiter
OV designationOV-099
CountryUnited States
Contract awardJanuary 1, 1979
Named afterHMS Challenger (1858)
StatusDestroyed January 28, 1986
First flightSTS-6
April 4–9, 1983
Last flightSTS-51-L
January 28, 1986
No. of missions10
Days spent in space62 days 07:56:22[1]
No. of orbits995
Distance travelled25,803,939 mi (41,527,414 km)
Satellites deployed10

Space Shuttle Challenger (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was the second orbiter of NASA's Space Shuttle program to be put into service, after Columbia. Challenger was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division, in Downey, California. Its maiden flight, STS-6, began on April 4, 1983. The orbiter was launched and landed nine times before disintegrating 73 seconds into its tenth mission, STS-51-L, on January 28, 1986, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members including a civilian school teacher.

Challenger was the first of two orbiters that were destroyed in flight, followed by Columbia in 2003. The Challenger accident led to a two-and-a-half-year grounding of the shuttle fleet; flights resumed in 1988, with STS-26 flown by Discovery. Challenger was replaced by Endeavour, which was built from structural spares ordered by NASA in the construction contracts for Discovery and Atlantis.

History

Challenger was named after HMS Challenger, a British corvette that was the command ship for the Challenger Expedition, a pioneering global marine research expedition undertaken from 1872 through 1876.[2] The Apollo 17 Lunar Module, which landed on the Moon in 1972, was also named Challenger.[2]

Construction

Challenger being prepared in 1985 for its second to last flight STS-61-A
Challenger atop a Crawler-transporter, en route to the launch site for its final flight, STS-51-L

Because of the low production volume of orbiters, the Space Shuttle program decided to build a vehicle as a Structural Test Article, STA-099, that could later be converted to a flight vehicle. The contract for STA-099 was awarded to North American Rockwell on July 26, 1972, and construction was completed in February 1978.[3] After STA-099's rollout, it was sent to a Lockheed test site in Palmdale, where it spent over 11 months in vibration tests designed to simulate entire shuttle flights, from launch to landing.[4] To prevent damage during structural testing, qualification tests were performed to a safety factor of 1.2 times the design limit loads. The qualification tests were used to validate computational models, and compliance with the required 1.4 factor of safety was shown by analysis.[5] STA-099 was essentially a complete airframe of a Space Shuttle orbiter, with only a mockup crew module installed and thermal insulation placed on its forward fuselage.[6]

Challenger being transported by Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905, shortly before being delivered in 1982

NASA planned to refit the prototype orbiter Enterprise (OV-101), used for flight testing, as the second operational orbiter; but Enterprise lacked most of the systems needed for flight, including a functional propulsion system, thermal insulation, a life support system, and most of the cockpit instrumentation. Modifying it for spaceflight was considered to be too difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Since STA-099 was not as far along in the construction of its airframe, it would be easier to upgrade to a flight article. Because STA-099's qualification testing prevented damage, NASA found that rebuilding STA-099 as a flight worthy orbiter would be less expensive than refitting Enterprise. Work on converting STA-099 to operational status began in January 1979, starting with the crew module (the pressurized portion of the vehicle), as the rest of the vehicle was still being used for testing by Lockheed. STA-099 returned to the Rockwell plant in November 1979, and the original, unfinished crew module was replaced with the newly constructed model. Major parts of STA-099, including the payload bay doors, body flap, wings, and vertical stabilizer, also had to be returned to their individual subcontractors for rework. By early 1981, most of these components had returned to Palmdale to be reinstalled. Work continued on the conversion until July 1982, when the new orbiter was rolled out as Challenger.[4]

Challenger, as did the orbiters built after it, had fewer tiles in its Thermal Protection System than Columbia, though it still made heavier use of the white LRSI tiles on the cabin and main fuselage than did the later orbiters. Most of the tiles on the payload bay doors, upper wing surfaces, and rear fuselage surfaces were replaced with DuPont white Nomex felt insulation. These modifications and an overall lighter structure allowed Challenger to carry 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) more payload than Columbia. Challenger's fuselage and wings were stronger and lighter than Columbia's.[4] The hatch and vertical-stabilizer tile patterns were different from those of the other orbiters. Challenger was the first orbiter to have a head-up display system for use in the descent phase of a mission, and the first to feature Phase I main engines rated for 104% maximum thrust.

Construction milestones (as STA-099)

Date Milestone[7]
1972 July 26 Contract Award to North American Rockwell
1975 November 21 Start structural assembly of crew module
1976 June 14 Start structural assembly of aft fuselage.
1977 March 16 Wings arrive at Palmdale from Grumman
1977 September 30 Start of Final Assembly
1978 February 10 Completed Final Assembly
1978 February 14 Rollout from Palmdale

Construction milestones (as OV-099)

Date Milestone[7]
1979 January 5 Contract Award to Rockwell International, Space Transportation Systems Division
1979 January 28 Start structural assembly of crew module
1980 November 3 Start of Final Assembly
1981 October 23 Completed Final Assembly
1982 June 30 Rollout from Palmdale
1982 July 1 Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards
1982 July 5 Delivery to KSC
1982 December 18 Flight Readiness Firing (FRF)
1983 April 4 First Flight (STS-6)
1986 January 28 Disintegration (STS-51-L)

Flights and modifications

After its first flight in April 1983, Challenger flew on 85% of all Space Shuttle missions. Even when the orbiters Discovery and Atlantis joined the fleet, Challenger flew three missions a year from 1983 to 1985. Challenger, along with Discovery, was modified at Kennedy Space Center to be able to carry the Centaur-G upper stage in its payload bay. If flight STS-51-L had 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 flew the first American woman, African-American, Dutchman, and Canadian into space; carried three Spacelab missions; and performed the first night launch and night landing of a Space Shuttle.

Final mission and destruction

Challenger breaks apart after launch in 1986, killing all crew on board, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher with the NASA teacher in space program.
Main article: Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

Challenger was the first space shuttle to be destroyed in a mission accident.[8] The collected debris of the vessel is currently buried in decommissioned missile silos at Launch Complex 31, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A section of the fuselage recovered from Space Shuttle Challenger can also be found at the "Forever Remembered" memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Debris from the orbiter sometimes wash up on the Florida coast.[9] This is collected and transported to the silos for storage. Because of its early loss, Challenger was the only space shuttle that never wore the NASA "meatball" logo, and was never modified with the MEDS "glass cockpit". The tail was never fitted with a drag chute, which was fitted to the remaining orbiters in 1992. Challenger and sister ship Columbia are the only two shuttles that never visited the Mir Space Station or the International Space Station. In September 2020 Netflix began streaming "Challenger: The Final Flight", a four-part miniseries produced by JJ Abrams. It documents and retells the tragedy from those who were there and directly involved.

Lawsuits

In March 1988 the federal government and Morton Thiokol Inc. agreed to pay $7.7 million in cash and annuities to the families of four of the seven Challenger astronauts as part of a settlement aimed at avoiding lawsuits in the nation's worst space disaster, according to government documents. The documents show that Morton Thiokol, which manufactured the faulty solid rocket boosters blamed for the accident, paid 60 percent, or $4,641,000. The remainder, $3,094,000, was paid by the government.

In September 1988 a federal judge dismissed two lawsuits seeking $3 billion from space shuttle rocket-maker Morton Thiokol Inc. by Roger Boisjoly, a former company engineer who warned against the ill-fated 1986 Challenger launch.[10]

List of missions
Challenger's rollout from Orbiter Processing
Facility (OPF) to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Photo 1983-8-25 courtesy of NASA. 		Challenger while in service as structural test article STA-099.
# Date Designation Launch pad Landing location Notes Mission duration
1 April 4, 1983 STS-6 LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Deployed TDRS-A.

First spacewalk during a Space Shuttle mission.

5 days, 00 hours, 23 minutes, 42 seconds
2 June 18, 1983 STS-7 LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space.

Deployed two communications satellites, including Anik C2.

6 days, 02 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds
3 August 30, 1983 STS-8 LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Guion Bluford becomes first African-American in space

First shuttle night launch and night landing.
Deployed INSAT-1B.
Carried 261,900 envelopes stamped to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of NASA, most of which were sold to the public.[11]

6 days, 01 hours, 08 minutes, 43 seconds
4 February 3, 1984 STS-41-B LC-39A Kennedy Space Center First untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

Deployed WESTAR and Palapa B-2 communications satellites unsuccessfully (both were retrieved during STS-51-A).

7 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes, 55 seconds
5 April 6, 1984 STS-41-C LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Solar Maximum Mission service mission. 6 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes, 07 seconds
6 October 5, 1984 STS-41-G LC-39A Kennedy Space Center First mission to carry two women.

Marc Garneau becomes first Canadian in space.
Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes first American woman to make a spacewalk.
Deployed Earth Radiation Budget Satellite.

8 days, 05 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds
7 April 29, 1985 STS-51-B LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Carried Spacelab-3. 7 days, 00 hours, 08 minutes, 46 seconds
8 July 29, 1985 STS-51-F LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Carried Spacelab-2.

Only STS mission to abort after launch.

7 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes, 26 seconds
9 October 30, 1985 STS-61-A LC-39A Edwards Air Force Base Carried German Spacelab D-1.

Wubbo Ockels becomes the first Dutchman in space

7 days, 00 hours, 44 minutes, 51 seconds
10 January 28, 1986 STS-51-L LC-39B (planned to land at Kennedy Space Center). Shuttle disintegrated after launch, killing all seven astronauts on board. Would have deployed TDRS-B. 0 days, 00 hours, 01 minute, 13 seconds

Mission and tribute insignias

NASA Orbiter Tribute for Space Shuttle Challenger
Mission insignia for Challenger flights
STS-6
STS-7
STS-8
STS-41-B
STS-41-C
STS-41-G
STS-51-B
STS-51-F
STS-61-A
STS-51-L
STS-61-F*

* Mission canceled due to loss of Challenger on STS-51-L.

See also

References

  1. ^ Harwood, William (October 12, 2009). "STS-129/ISS-ULF3 Quick-Look Data" (PDF). CBS News. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Orbiter Vehicles" Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, 2000-10-03, retrieved November 7, 2007.
  3. ^ "NASA – Space Shuttle Overview: Challenger (OV-099)". Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Lardas, Mark (2012). Space Shuttle Launch System: 1972–2004. Osprey Publishing. p. 36.
  5. ^ NASA Engineering and Safety Center (2007). Design Development Test and Evaluation (DDT&E) Considerations for Safe and Reliable Human Rated Spacecraft Systems, Vol. II, June 14, 2007, p. 23.
  6. ^ Evans, Ben (2007). Space Shuttle Challenger: Ten Journeys Into the Unknown. Praxis Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-387-46355-1.
  7. ^ a b "Shuttle Orbiter Challenger (OV-099)". NASA/KSC. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Ware, Doug G. (January 28, 2016). "Engineer who warned of 1986 Challenger disaster still racked with guilt, three decades on". United Press International. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  9. ^ CNN (1996). "Shuttle Challenger debris washes up on shore". CNN. Retrieved November 7, 2007. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1988/09/03/judge-dismisses-lawsuits-against-maker-of-shuttle-rocket-by-former-employee/c5b0a4c4-80a6-428e-9980-10376e9e0daf/
  11. ^ Stamps (Philately)/Space Shuttle Challenger Archived May 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Further reading

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