Up next in 10
Went Went Wrong: Teacher In Space Challenger Disaster 1986 | Time Travels
2K views
Apr 4, 2025
In 1986, a tragic day in space travel was broadcast across America. Within 73 seconds of launching, the Challenger Shuttle exploded, killing the 7 astronauts on board. One of these people was Christa McAuliffe, the representative of Nasa's Teacher In Space Project. But what led to this harrowing disaster?
View Video Transcript
0:00
The Teacher in Space program was intended to be the great triumph of the space shuttle Europe
0:06
From orbit, the chosen teacher would be able to teach lessons and inspire millions of children
0:11
across America to enter the STEM fields which focus on science and math. It would cement NASA
0:17
as an essential American institution and revitalise interest in space development among the public
0:23
Then it blew up live in front of millions of people. This is the story of the Challenger disaster, the loss of six astronauts, and the tragic
0:36
death of Krista McAuliffe. The Challenger mission was the 25th flight of the space shuttle and was launched to deploy
0:55
a new communications satellite that would have increased NASA's ability to communicate into space
1:00
Well, that was the original idea, at least. As time went on and NASA's mission schedules were shifted
1:05
the Challenger also became the centerpiece of a new initiative. The Teacher in Space program was planned by the Reagan administration
1:11
to bring an ordinary American citizen into space, to prove America's capabilities
1:17
to inspire millions of children to pursue careers in science, and to bridge the gap between NASA and an increasingly apathetic public
1:25
After the moon landing in 1969, public interest in spaceflight began to die off
1:32
Questions were even asked about why billions of dollars were even being spent on space missions anymore
1:37
NASA and the government were finding new ways to show the world that spaceflight was a worthy endeavour
1:42
and the Teacher in Space program just might be the way to do it
1:46
Krista McAuliffe was a high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, and one of over 10,000 applicants for the Teacher in Space program
1:54
She'd been a teacher since 1970 when she was 22. A dedicated, passionate professional
1:59
she cared deeply for her students and the state of America's education system. Krista's teaching style focused heavily on field trips and interaction
2:07
and the New York Times reported that she emphasized the impact of ordinary people on history
2:12
saying they were as important to the historical records as kings, politicians, or generals
2:18
Krista was also active in her community, taking part in the A Better Chance program
2:22
or the ABC, which helped underprivileged American kids reach higher studies and opportunities
2:28
When the Teacher in Space program was announced, Krista replied immediately, promising NASA that she would keep a three-part journal that would detail the planning, execution
2:36
and after-effects of the mission. After a process lasting more than a year, with thousands of applicants having entered
2:43
only a select few made the shortlist. In the end, the announcement was made and headlines across the US printed the name
2:50
Krista McAuliffe. Her students were elated. Ms. McAuliffe was going to space
3:00
In 1985, Krista reported to NASA in Texas to undergo training. Because the program was intended as a way to get an ordinary person into space
3:10
the requirements for spaceflight were surprisingly thin, given what was at stake
3:14
Krista would need to go basic training, but she wouldn be subject to the same rigorous standards that astronauts were While Krista began to pass NASA fitness tests and start her training NASA planners were hard at work organizing the mission
3:28
From the very beginning of the program, though, there were issues. The Teacher in Space program
3:33
had been decided on without even having a clear objective in mind. The Challenger mission was
3:37
only settled on as the one to take Krista to space because it had been delayed from the year before
3:42
and the schedules now matched. There was always a certain disconnect between the government's
3:46
political goals and the practical requirements from NASA, the president had decided that a
3:51
teacher was going to space, and NASA had to find somewhere to slaughter in. Unfortunately
3:56
this sort of political manoeuvring might have played a role in the mission's eventual catastrophic
4:01
failure. It was an unsettling fact for NASA that public interest in space development had faded
4:06
since its heyday in the 1960s. It had been decades since anything had captured the public's imagination
4:11
quite like the moon landing had. It was hoped by putting a regular person into space
4:15
and broadcasting her experiences, NASA would once again be able to inspire the public as it once had
4:22
As part of these preparations, McAuliffe spent months before the launch travelling the country and giving interviews on television
4:29
She became quite a celebrity before the launch. Every effort was made by NASA to make her an appealing candidate for the program
4:35
When all was said and done, the Teacher in Space program wasn't a scientific mission
4:40
It was a cultural stunt designed to boost support for NASA. Krista herself reportedly commented before the launch
4:46
that although she appreciated the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream and go to space
4:51
she felt she was being used by NASA for political purposes. By January 1986, the Challenger mission had been prepared
5:00
The shuttle and its enormous boosters sat towering in the launching cradle at Cape Canaveral in Florida
5:07
It would be the vehicle that would carry Krista and the rest of the crew into orbit at 28,000 kilometers or 17,000 miles per hour
5:15
It looked mighty and impressive, but there was an unforeseen problem. 1986 was an unusually cold year for the north of Florida
5:23
and in January, temperatures were dropping below freezing. Usually, they would sit at around 57 Fahrenheit or 14 degrees Celsius
5:30
The launch was delayed several times due to these conditions, but on the 28th of January, the decision was made that the shuttle should be launched anyway
5:37
This was in spite of the cold front that had hit Florida and dropped the temperature so low that ice had formed on the launch pad
5:44
Despite the fact that conditions really hadn't changed at all since the mission had been cancelled the first time, the mission was given a go-ahead
5:51
Suited up, the Challenger crew proudly marched to the launching pad, but this would be the last time they'd be seen alive
5:57
cameras were switched on around the country millions of television sets were tuned in
6:10
with the usual process and rigmarole the countdown began in stands miles away family and friends of
6:17
the challenger crew watched with a mixed sense of apprehension and extreme pride among them
6:22
were Krista's elderly parents. They surely couldn't believe that their little girl would be going to space
6:29
They held each other close in the chilly January air and waited
6:36
With a roar the Challenger rocket engines burst into fiery life and then like a giant hand lifted the monstrous vehicle up it began to soar skyward faster and faster until by 11 it was arcing triumphantly in the sky
6:51
It had gone well. The shuttle had cleared the launch pad. It was well on its way
6:55
Krista's parents hugged and grinned. But then, something went wrong. A small flame sprouted from the side of the shuttle
7:03
It quickly expanded into a fireball. The entire assembly disintegrated, with rocket boosters flying off in crazy directions
7:11
their engines still firing madly. The Challenger exploded in mid-air just 73 seconds after launch
7:17
For more than an hour, fiery debris rained down over the ocean and spent fuel and pieces of rocket plummeted back down to Earth
7:32
None of the crew made it. Commander Richard Scobie, pilot Michael J. Smith
7:38
and astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Gregory Jarvis and Ron McNair were all lost
7:49
So too was America's sweetheart, the elementary teacher from Boston, Kristen McAuliffe
7:57
It wasn't just her parents who'd watched it happen. Back home, her entire student cohort had watched it live on TV
8:04
Immediately after the crash, the State of the Union address was cancelled out of respect
8:14
At 5pm that evening, President Reagan gave a live speech from the Oval Office saying..
8:19
The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted. It belongs to the brave
8:24
The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them
8:29
We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews
8:35
And yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and our journeys continue
8:44
We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning
8:49
as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God
8:58
Thank you. In the country in shock and mourning, serious questions began to be asked
9:07
The Rogers Commission was organized to investigate the failure of the Challenger and in June delivered a report that condemned NASA as a whole
9:15
The organization had been assigned too much work with not enough resources and had allowed its leadership to become disconnected from the engineers
9:22
For the next few years, NASA underwent a structural shift as the report's suggestions were implemented
9:28
There would be fewer missions with greater preparation time, and the NASA managers had to be in constant contact with scientific personnel
9:34
to ensure that no future incidents like Challenger could occur. Disturbingly, what had actually gone wrong on board the rocket
9:47
was actually foreseen by many engineers on the ground and then ignored by NASA officials
9:52
The O-ring seals on the rocket engines were a rubbery material that was designed to seal the joint between the individual sections of the solid rocket boosters
10:01
Surprisingly the O hadn been designed to work in freezing temperatures The immense cold that January had caused the O to seize harden and eventually crack from the pressures of the engines
10:12
Eventually the flames broke through the seal, caused a failure in the fuel tank and a catastrophic
10:17
explosion that tore the shuttle apart. To this day there are questions about why NASA was so
10:24
insistent on launching on the 28th of January. One possible answer is that President Reagan
10:29
was giving his State of the Union address that same day, and the successful launch of the Challenger
10:33
and the completion of the Teacher in Space program would have provided a nice way to round out the speech
10:39
It's possible the government influenced NASA to push the launch forward in spite of the risks
10:44
in order to please Reagan. There's no direct evidence of this, and Reagan certainly didn't order the shuttle
10:50
to be launched on that day. It's likely that there is no single answer
10:54
and any involvement from the White House came more from implication rather than direct orders
11:00
Nevertheless, against the warnings of the engineers on the ground, the Challenger was launched and everybody aboard was lost
11:09
The Challenger disaster wasn't just a failure that killed six astronauts and America's sweetheart
11:14
What was meant to be the fulfillment of NASA's mission was a spectacular and public failure
11:18
that set back public support for NASA by an enormous margin. It would be more than two years
11:24
before any other space shuttle mission was given the go-ahead as the program underwent review
11:28
As for the Teacher in Space program, well, after the disaster, periodic meetings took place in NASA
11:34
discussing the status of the program, but nothing was ever decided on
11:38
It was simply too risky to allow another civilian onto a space shuttle flight until a complete overhaul of the program had taken place
11:45
Eventually, in 1990, the Teacher in Space program was shut down entirely
11:53
The spaces on the shuttle mission were too valuable and too much could go wrong to allow civilians on board for at least the foreseeable future
12:00
But then in 2007, some 21 years after Challenger, an educator finally travelled to space where she spent over 12 hours in orbit as part of a shuttle crew
12:10
She wasn't technically a teacher at the time, though. She was just an astronaut who had happened to formally be a teacher
12:16
Her name was Barbara Morgan. Back in 1986, she had been the original backup astronaut for Krista McAuliffe
12:24
It was in some ways the culmination of the efforts Krista and six other astronauts had given their lives for
12:29
some two decades earlier. Today, Krista is remembered through memorials and monuments
12:39
throughout the US. In 2004, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
12:45
In 2021, had a commemorative coin issued in her memory. She'd lost her life for something that she truly believed in
12:53
something that she had dedicated her 37 years on Earth to. Reagan's words weren't just hyperbole
13:00
He was right. There were more space shuttle missions, and we continue as a species to touch the face of God
13:06
For Krista's part, she is probably best remembered by her inspirational words
13:11
What are we doing here? We're reaching for the stars. May your future be limited only by your dreams
#education
#History