Janury month of space hazards

[alokmohan]

The end of January marks a somber time for NASA with the anniversary of the three major tragedies in the history of U.S. spacef<br /> <br />On Jan. 27, 1967, three of the first group of NASA astronauts - Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee - died during a routine ground test of the Apollo capsule, later named Apollo 1. <br /><br /><br />The astronauts suffocated when an electrical spark ignited a fire that engulfed their high-pressurized, pure-oxygen cabin. The Apollo 1 ground test had not been designated as potentially hazardous, the NASA History Web site said.<br /><br /><br />These were the first U.S. astronaut deaths associated with spaceflight. Sadly, that accident was not the last such tragedy.<br /><br /><br />The highly anticipated Jan. 28, 1986, launch of Space Shuttle Challenger, which carried the first teacher-astronaut, Christa McAuliffe, was watched live by many around the nation, including school children. But 73 seconds after takeoff, the shuttle erupted in a fireball that killed the entire crew. <br /><br /><br />In June 1986, the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, chaired by William P. Rogers, found that the O-ring seals in the right solid-rocket booster failed in the cold temperature, eventually causing the booster to rupture and explode, taking the lives of McAuliffe and astronauts Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ron McNair, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik and Greg Jarvis. A complete failure of the O-ring was not expected at frigid temperatures, said Roger Launius, chairman of the Washington-based space history division of the Smithsonian Institute.<br /><br /><br />Seventeen years later, tragedy struck NASA once again. On Feb. 1, 2003, following a 16-day science mission, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry, killing the entire crew: U.S. astronauts Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Israeli astronaut Ilan (yahoo news)<br />

 

[willpittenger]

Not just January, but a very short portion thereof. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

And February too, to be technical. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

By what, one day? Weird. February 1st, 1905 just happens to be my Grandpa's birthday. He died in 1996, but I think that if he had been around, Columbia's death would have ruined the day for him. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[rfoshaug]

The fact that the Apollo 1 accident happened at that time of year was just by chance. If they'd performed that same test any other time of year, the same could have happened.<br /><br />Challenger, however, was directly related to the cold weather at the time of launch.<br /><br />The Columbia accident was due to ice falling from the External Tank. This problem may have been made worse by the cold weather this time of year, but as it turned out, Columbia was an accident waiting to happen, and could have happened at other times of the year as well.<br /><br />There's no doubt that all three accidents were very sad tragedies, but the fact that they all happened within a few days of each other's dates is purely a coincidence. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>

 

[PistolPete]

I hereby decree a new piece of space slang: The last week of January.<br /><br />1) Used to signify a very tense period of time where people are very nervous that something bad might happen, 2) Used to describe a period of unexpected stress, drama, or other unpleasantness <i>"The last several days have been like the last week of January for me."</i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>

 

[kimmern123]

Columbia was due to foam, not ice, breaking off of the external tank. The foam was located at the port side of the bipod foam bracket and broke off at about 81 seconds into the flight.