The pioneers of flight have captured public imagination.
But the history of aviation is a catalogue of human tragedy
and technical disaster.
The catastrophic loss of the Hindenburg airship and the dramatic explosion of
the Challenger space Shuttle highlight the risks of man's quest to fly.
Based on eye-witness accounts
this is a dramatised reconstruction of events as they happened on true days that shook the world.
It is the 6th May 1937
and as the Spanish civil war rages on Gurnika
is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
In London, preparations are underway
for the coronation of King George VI.
In America Howard Hughes
has flown from Los Angeles to New York
in a world record seven and a half hours.
And at Lakehurst, New Jersey
another aviation sensation is keenly awaited.
It is dawn on May 6th 1937.
At Lakehurst naval air station
31 year old radio reporter Herb Morrison
and his engineer Charles Neilson arrive at the base.
Neither man is aware of it yet
but by this time tomorrow
they will have become a part of the events
that will define the rest of their lives.
In doing so they will make history.
850 miles away
the great airship Hindenburg is approaching
the coast of Nova Scotia.
The size of four football pitches
and almost as large as the ill-fated SS Titanic,
Hindenburg is the largest and most luxurious airship ever built
and the pride of the German Zeppelin fleet.
She is due to arrive in New Jersey in one hour
but strong head winds during the flight and bad weather ahead
have forced the crew to take a more northerly route,
delaying arrival by at least eight hours.
The Hindenburg will not arrive this morning.
The northerly route has afforded passengers and crew
a spectacular view of icebergs in the cold waters of the north Atlantic.
Among those enjoying the sea is noted Vaudeville entertainer Joseph Spah
who is looking forward to seeing his wife and young family later today.
Schpar is a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic
due to his death-defying balancing act.
His was a last minute booking on this trip.
He has been performing at The Scala in Berlin
and is now booked to appear at Radio City music hall in New York.
At that time I was thinking about the Titanic,
how dangerous it must be on the ocean.
One picture particularly I was very proud of taking,
the sun was throwing a shadow from the Zeppelin over the ocean
and it went straight for one of the icebergs
and I thought it was an omen.
It looked like the Zeppelin was ramming the iceberg.
The Zeppelin industry is the space race of its day.
And the Hindenburg is the greatest of all the airships ever built.
It is a bold affirmation of the technological prowess
of Hitler's new Germany.
Designed as the first dedicated
transatlantic passenger aircraft
it is incredible in every respect.
At 804 feet long and 100 feet in diameter
the Hindenburg is by far the biggest aircraft ever to fly
and can carry up to 112 tonnes in weight.
Although the Hindenburg made ten trips to America last year
there is still huge press and public interest
in the arrival of a transatlantic airshiped flight.
Among the reporters who have headed for Lakehurst today
are Herb Morrison and engineer Charles Neilson.
Be careful with that. It's delicate equipment.
...thanks
Morrison is well known to listeners of Chicago based WLS radio,
the prairie farmers' station.
But he is here today with something to prove.
This is my baby.
Neilson's equipment
was shipped to Lakehurst last night.
It is the latest in mobile recording technology,
a presto disc recorder.
The Hindenburg made ten trips to America last year
causing a sensation whenever it arrived.
But financially this schedule proved unviable
for the Zeppelin company and this year
they have scheduled an ambitious programme
of 18 return trips in the spring and summer season.
The Hindenburg's journey began in Frankfurt two and a half days ago
on the evening of the 3rd May.
On board are 61 crew and 36 passengers,
each paying $400
to enjoy this luxurious crossing.
But despite the sumptuous service on board the airship
one passenger has been feeling uneasy ever since he left Germany.
Luftwaffe intelligence officer Oberst Fritz Erdman
has joined the Hindenburg in an official capacity.
Erdman is well aware that above and around him
the ship's fuel cells contain seven million cubic feet
of potentially explosive hydrogen gas.
The Hindenburg is in fact an enormous flying bomb.
German airships have a potentially fatal drawback.
They still rely on explosive hydrogen gas
for their buoyancy
whereas American airships use inert helium.
America has a virtual monopoly
on the production of this much safer gas.
But the US Helium Act of 1925
has embargoed the sale of helium to foreign powers.
Despite this disadvantage the Hindenburg has maintained
Germany's dominance of lighter than air technology.
But it makes a tempting target
for saboteurs opposed to the Third Reich.
Erdman knows that the threat of sabotage is very real.
Shortly before this flight
a letter was received by the German Ambassador in Washington.
It claimed to expose a plot to destroy the Hindenburg.
Please inform the Zeppelin company in Frankfurt
that they should open and search all mail before it is put on board
prior to the very next flight of the Zeppelin Hindenburg.
The Zeppelin is going to be destroyed by a time bomb.
The letter was written by a psychic from Milwaukee
but the hint of sabotage
is being taken very seriously.
It's the latest report.
At Lakehurst,
Base Commander Charles Rosendal receives bad news.
A storm front passed over in the night bringing heavy rain,
thunder and spectacular lightening.
The navy weather team
predicts continuing bad conditions over the station
for much of the day.
Let me know if you hear any change.
Rosendal is one of the most experienced officers
in the US navy's lighter than air fleet
and he is no stranger to the perils of airship flight.
He cheated death in the spectacular crash
of the US navy airship Shennan Dower in 1925.
Today's weather conditions are making Rosendal nervous.
Landing an airship is by far the hardest part of any flight
and is usually performed in the still air around dawn.
A typical landing employs several hundred ground crew
to capture the landing lines.
But this process can be fraught with danger.
An unexpected side wind can suddenly take the airship skywards once again.
Today's landing will have
to be made in uncertain conditions.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson
have set up their presto recorder in the front of a hanger.
From here they will have a clear view
of the Hindenburg's arrival.
Morrison is excited.
At a time when radio is the most powerful news medium in the world,
the use of these mobile location recorders
could usher in a whole new era of radio reportage.
A hundred miles away, on board Hindenburg,
lunch is being served early
so that the passengers can finish in time
to enjoy the spectacle of New York.
For Joseph Schpar the scenery becomes reassuringly familiar.
I must have been nervous
because now I was happy to be overland
and as we crossed over Long Island sand
I could almost see my house in Douglaston.
Back at Lakehurst,
Morrison and Nielson
make their first recording of the day,
to set the scene for the great airship's arrival.
Okay, how do you do, everyone.
We're greeting you now from the naval airbase
at Lakehurst, New Jersey,
from which point we're gonna bring you
the description of the landing of the mammoth airship Hindenburg
which was due to land here in America this morning at dawn
completing the first transatlantic crossing
of the 1937 season.
Charlie Nielson, one of our WLS engineers,
is here at my side working the controls.
We both flew down from Chicago yesterday afternoon
on board one of the giant new 21 passenger flagships of American Airlines.
It took us only three hours, 55 minutes
to fly non-stop
from Chicago to New York.
It was just one year ago, May 6th,
that the Hindenburg made its first regular passenger flight to America,
the flight that inaugurated
the first air service across the Atlantic
so this occasion is doubly significant for
this is the first anniversary of the inauguration of the service
and marks the first flight of this year.
Okay, that's all. Charlie, thank you very much.
At three o'clock, the Hindenburg arrives over New York causing a sensation.
Crowds pour onto the streets,
shops and offices empty
and traffic stops.
Joseph Spar captures the spectacular view
with his home movie camera.
Well aware of the sensation he is creating on the ground
and the potential propaganda value,
Captain proust steers the great ship for Time Square.
Small planes containing sightseers and reporters
buzz around the Hindenburg.
They are dwarfed by the vastness of the airship.
But at Lakehurst, the weather is a continuing problem.
The sky looks ugly and lightening can be seen not far away.
Electrostatic conditions in the area are so dangerous
that in nearby New Jersey tyre factories are closed for fear
that static might ignite the stocks of carbon black.
The Hindenburg cannot land yet.
After nearly half an hour in the skies over Manhattan
the Hindenburg crosses the Hudson River
and heads for its final destination in New Jersey.
On board, passengers and crew begin
to make final preparations for landing.
Chief steward Cubis is only too aware
that any further delay is bad news.
The Hindenburg already has to make a record turnaround
if it is to maintain its ambitious schedule.
Many of the passengers now waiting at Lakehurst
to make the return transatlantic trip
are trying to get to London in time
for the coronation of George VI.
Cubis anticipates a very busy time after landing.
Just after 4pm the Hindenburg finally arrives at Lakehurst.
Here she comes. Hey, my, look at that thing, it's enormous.
Come on, Charlie, you should really have a look at this.
But a weather front approaching from the west
means the airship is unable to make a landing.
That is something
The Hindenburg passes directly over the base
and heads out to sea to sit out the storm.
By five o'clock a large crowd has gathered around the perimeter of the base.
They watch as the ground crew
are assembled at the main mooring circle.
But at quarter to six, the Hindenburg is still
out over the sea near Atlantic City.
At five to six a cloud burst hits the base.
Where did that come from
The storm lasts 15 minutes and is gone as suddenly as it arrived,
leaving the assembled crew and spectators
thoroughly wet and miserable.
Throughout the day the crowd of people awaiting the airship has been growing.
Among them are Joseph Schpar's family,
including his two year old son Richard,
who have driven down from their home on Long Island.
On board Schpar takes up a position by the window
from where he can film the arrival of the ship.
Although the flight is nearing its destination
Oberst Erdman is still
haunted by the threat of sabotage.
If the ship crashes on American soil
it would be a huge blow
to the prestige of Hitler's Third Reich.
At 23 minutes past six,
Commander Rosendal makes a decision.
Conditions are still far from ideal,
the wind direction is changeable and thunder can be heard in the distance.
But Rosendal is also aware of the commercial pressures at play.
Inform Decker, "Recommend landing now".
The Hindenburg is 14 miles from Lakehurst
when it receives the message to land.
It begins to make for the base once again.
Perhaps the schedule for their return trip can yet be saved.
Radio officer Schpek sends a message to Germany,
"Ready for landing. Bad weather."
Radio Quickborn, Hamburg overzealously forward a message
to the airship HQ at Frankfurt,
"Hindenburg landed".
The airship must now make a wide curve westwards
and make it's final approach to the anchoring mast from the north.
Okay, now here they are coming in to make a landing.
I'm gonna step outside and cover this from the outside.
Stand by forjust a second.
Well here it comes, ladies and gentlemen,
we're out now, outside of the hanger
and what a great sight it is.
It's a thrilling one, it's a marvellous sight.
It's coming down out of the sky pointing directly toward us
and toward the mooring mast.
No wonder this great floating palace
can travel through the air at such a speed
with those powerful motors behind it.
...deck on the eastward side and sparkling like glittering jewels
on a background of black velvet.
Every now and then the propellers are caught in the rays of the sun,
the highly polished surfaces reflect...
As the ship slows,
Commander Rosendal notices that she is heavy in the stern
and that her crew is venting water ballast.
...and orders are being passed along
and last minute preparations are being completed
for the moment we have waited for so long.
The ship is riding majestically toward us like some great feather
At 7:21
landing ropes for Lieutenant Tyler's ground crew
were dropped from a height of 200 feet.
The ground crew capture the port trail rope
almost immediately it reaches the ground.
...down on the field by number of men.
It's starting to rain again.
As the ground crew start to bring the airship under control
Rosendal notices the ship appear to rise and start to drift.
The cameras close in on the ground crew
as they struggle to keep their footing on the wet ground.
I remember I was trying to see my wife and children.
There were people below waiving up to us
and I thought I could see my wife.
I put the camera against my eye
to take a picture of them.
Suddenly, there was a muffled roar.
Commander Rosendal sees a burst of flame
from the rear of the left side of the airship.
It is followed by an explosion.
Erdman feels the explosion rip through the ship.
He assumes the worst.
It burst into flames... get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started. It's raising, raising terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and... and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Pressure in the lift cells near the fire
causes a sudden release of hydrogen creating a thrust.
The airship makes ajump forward, directly towards Rosendal.
From his position inside the hanger,
Charles Nielson can only imagine
the horror outside.
The vibrations from the explosion cause the cutting lathe of his presto recorder
to bounce on the disc creating distorting deep grooves.
But he is able to quickly lift the lathe from the disc
and place it back down.
Remarkably, the Hindenburg has remained trim up to this moment.
But now it becomes tail heavy.
The fire spreads more quickly now that the nose is pointing up.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now...
And the flame rising to ground, not quite to the mooring mast.
All the humanity...
As soon as the control car touches the ground
the US navy ground crew
rush to save passengers and crew
while the airship still blazes above their heads.
Ladies and gentlemen...
Smoking wreckage... everybody can hardly breathe.
Oh lady, I'm so sorry, lady. I'm so sorry.
It... it's... oh, oh, I'm gonna have to get inside
where I cannot see.
The passengers and crew from the control gondola have had a miraculous escape
while many of the fatalities are among the crew
who were at their landing stations in the bowels of the ship.
In the devastating aftermath
it quickly becomes apparent that there are actually survivors from this inferno.
Volunteers rush forward to give whatever assistance they can.
By the time the fire is brought under control
16 of the 61 crew members,
one member of the ground crew
and ten of the 36 passengers are dead.
Colonel Fritz Erdman
is listed among the missing.
And for the Schpar family, there is to be an agonising wait.
There is no news yet of father Joseph.
Over the next 24 hours
nine more passengers and crew
will succumb to their injuries.
Fritz Erdman's body will be discovered in the wreckage.
But Joseph Schpar has had an incredible escape and is reunited with his family.
As the survivors struggle for life in local hospitals
three separate investigations are launched
into the crash amid rumours of sabotage.
The victims' coffins are laid out in a hanger.
10,000 people file past to pay their respects.
Many even make the Nazi salute.
As the bodies are returned to Germany
it is already clear that this golden age of passenger airship travel is at an end.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson will board
a plane for Chicago.
While they are in the air
the first live radio reports are being broadcast from the scene.
But at breakfast time tomorrow
Herb Morrison's sensational recording of the events
will be played to a stunned nation.
...get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started. It's... it's terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and... and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Now... this is terrible.
This is one of the worst catastrophes in the world...
four or five hundred feet into the sky.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now
and the... is crashing to the ground. Not quite to the mooring mast,
oh the humanities...
Herb Morrison will continue as a radio reporter
and later still as a lecturer.
Nielson remains an engineer
at WLS in Chicago.
But thanks to their recordings of this historic day
a new age of radio actuality has begun.
It is the 28th January 1986.
The United Kingdom and France have announced plans
to construct the channel tunnel.
In the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachov introduces his policy
of Glasnost and perestroika.
Americans have been celebrating
the first federal holiday honouring Martin Luther King Junior.
And in Florida the countdown is underway
to NASA's latest space mission.
Yes, yes...
Kennedy space centre.
On the newly refurbished pad 39B
space Shuttle Challenger is in the final stages
of preparation for launch.
Okay
Conditions are not ideal
but the mission has already been postponed three times
since the original planned go six days ago.
Roger wilko
There have been 24 successful launches
since the inaugural Shuttle mission in April 1981
and in technical terms
today's lift-off is seen as almost routine.
American public interest in the Shuttle programme is waning.
Many seem to have lost sight of
just how extraordinary this project actually is.
But today's mission has attracted more press attention
than virtually any other since the initial launch,
thanks to the inclusion of one crew member.
Krista McCauliff is
a social studies teacher
from Concorde, New Hampshire.
She joins the mission as part of the teacher in space programme,
initiated by president Ronald Reagan
in a bid to send an ordinary citizen into space.
One of the things that I hope to bring back into the classroom is
to make that connection with the students that they too are part of history,
that the space programme belongs to them
and to try to bring them up with the space age.
Such has been its success in raising public awareness
that further programmes are being discussed
involving journalists and blue collar workers.
Krista will have little to do with the mission
until day four when she steps into the limelight
and is scheduled to teach two lessons from space.
The seven astronauts are all in good spirits,
despite the strong of delays.
Now, as the mission prepares to go,
they find themselves
in the full glare of the media's spotlight.
The commander of this mission is former air force flyer
Dick Scobey
As usual it's a real pleasure to be at the Cape
to come down here and participate in something
that the Cape does better than anybody in the world
and that's launching space vehicles.
The pilot is Mike Smith.
It will be his first Shuttle flight.
I understand it's ready to go
and we're looking forward to going to fly.
There are three mission specialists -
Judy Wesnick, Ellison Onizuker
and Ron McNare.
Greg Jarvis is the payload specialist.
But the star of this show, as far as the press are concerned,
is mother of two, Krista McCauliff.
I don't think any teacher has ever been
more ready to have two lessons in my life.
I've been preparing these since September
and I just hope everybody tunes in on day four
now to watch the teacher teaching from space.
There you go honey
Thanks sweety
In Willard, Utah, it is still early
but Roger Beaujolais is already up and eating his breakfast.
Roger is an engineer at Morton Thiokol,
in nearby Brigham City.
Morton Thiokol work as
contractors for NASA
and Roger is part of the team that builds the solid rocket boosters,
the SRBs,
that will power Challenger
into orbit later today.
He's a creature of habit and every morning
Roger eats either creamed wheat or hot oats,
depending on the weather.
Out on the launch pad the astronauts begin to board Challenger
where they will await the specified launch time of 9:37am.
NASA launch controllers are careful to only
board the crew if all systems are go.
Conditions on board are at best uncomfortable.
No launch is entirely without its problems
and today it is the weather that is causing concern.
Yesterday's lift off was scrubbed in advance
when bad weather was predicted over Kennedy space centre.
But the bad weather failed to materialise.
In the White Room, the anti-chamber to the Shuttle,
the close out crew are responsible for manually locking the entry hatch
and verifying it is closed.
But something is wrong.
The door is locked
but a safety indicator is reading that it's not.
The technicians can see that the lock is correctly in place.
It seems to be the indicator that is malfunctioning.
Despite this they must call in the fault.
The Space Shuttle programme
has been beset by a catalogue of technical faults.
Almost every launch has had to overcome problems
which have surfaced throughout prelaunch and even during or after flights.
But the intrepid nature of the programme
means that NASA is pushing the very boundaries of available technology.
...before making a prestart.
While the close out crew
deal with the faulty door indicator
the wind at launch pad 39B is pushing towards 15 knots,
the crucial cut off point
at which launch must be scrubbed.
Worse still, the close out crew
have another problem.
As they attempt to remove the handle to the entrance hatch
they notice that the bolt is stripped.
With 400,000 gallons of
highly flammable liquid hydrogen in the Shuttle's main tank
no tools that might create a spark are stored on site.
The crew must now wait for a battery drill to be delivered.
The 10,000 acre complex of Morton Thiokol
dominates the scenery around Brigham City, Utah.
It is the town's chief employer
and has been Roger Boisjolys' work place for the past six years.
Roger is an engineer working on the solid rocket booster programme.
He aims to arrive at work before his shift begins at 8am.
He likes to make the most of this time,
before the phone starts to ring.
The solid rocket boosters cost $50 million a pair
and are used to power the Shuttle to a speed of one mile a second.
They are then jettisoned
and parachute back into the sea
where they are recovered and returned to Morton Thiokol to be refurbished.
The SRBs are constructed in sections to ease transport to
and from Utah by rail road.
The sections are then assembled at Kennedy Space Centre.
Each section of the SRB has two large washers
or O-rings to seal the inside of the joints between each section.
These rubber O-rings expand to fill the gaps
in the joints during the stresses of launch
and prevent a potentially catastrophic escape of super heated gas.
Roger Beaujolais heads for the regular
morning meeting of the sealed task force,
set up after the January 1985 launch of the Discovery Orbiter.
The Discovery mission had been delayed for several days due to low temperatures.
When the SRBs were recovered following launch
there was evidence of blow by,
where hot gas had been able to pass the primary O-ring.
Roger believes that this problem
was caused by low temperatures prior to launch
which had degraded the performance of the rubber O-rings.
Unfortunately, he has little concrete evidence
to support his theory and,
to complicate matters, similar blow by had subsequently resulted
from an October launch
where low temperature was not an issue.
Roger and his fellow engineers have been trying to gather evidence
to support the low temperature theory
that severe cold might cause both O-rings to fail.
At Cape Kennedy
the faulty hatch door has been resolved
but precious time has been wasted.
Winds are gusting up to 25 miles per hour.
Today's launch now hangs in the balance.
At 12:50 Mission Control admit defeat
and half a million dollar's worth of fuel
must be vented from Shuttles main tank and written off.
At Morton Thiokol
fellow engineer Arnie Thompson tells Roger
that today's lift-off is scrubbed and rescheduled for tomorrow.
But between now and then sub zero temperatures
are forecast out of the Cape.
A low temperature launch is the exact scenario Roger
and his colleagues fear.
The seven Challenger astronauts leave the Orbiter
and return to their quarters to recover.
Despite the launch delays this mission has already garnered valuable publicity
for NASA and for the Reagan administration
who instigated the teacher in space programme.
Of the 11,000 teachers
who applied Krista McCauliff was selected
from ten finalists after a week of demanding tests.
When that Shuttle goes there might be one body...
...but there's going to be ten souls that I'm taking with me.
The story of an ordinary wife and mother going to space
has captured the nation's imagination.
But if the Shuttle does not fly tomorrow
Krista may be forced to give her teacher
in space classes over a weekend
to empty classrooms back on earth.
The SRB engineers meet with Joe Kilminster,
the vice president of the space booster programme.
They must convince him
that their low temperature concerns are valid
and persuade him to make a difficult call to NASA.
We presented preliminary data from March 1985
that told us that the O-rings
did not work properly at 50 degrees Fahrenheit
and now we were discussing a launch at below freezing.
For us there was no option but to delay.
It has been five weeks since Challenger
was driven out to the launch pad
aboard one of NASA's huge crawler vehicles
which were originally built at the time of the Apollo missions.
The Orbiter has stood opposed to the elements ever since
but as sunset approaches the temperature begins to tumble.
After nearly an hour of discussion
Joe Kilminster is persuaded
that they must adopt a company position and advise against tomorrow's launch.
It is a straight forward decision.
It would be an unprecedented step
to act against the advice of a unanimous recommendation from the engineering team.
As long as Morton Thiokol hold this position
the Shuttle will not fly.
But even for a manager with decades of experience,
being the bearer of bad news to a major supplier
is an unenviable task,
especially as Morton Thiokol's contract with NASA
is currently under review.
At Cape Kennedy near freezing temperatures
are recorded as the sun goes down.
The first ice begins to form on the Shuttle launch pad.
The Orbiter and particularly the O-rings sealing
the SRBs are now entering conditions in which Morton Thiokol's engineers
have hypothesised a critical fall off in performance.
A call finally comes through from Kennedy space centre.
But it is not the news the Thiokol engineers are hoping for.
O-ring temperature has never been included as one of NASA's launch commit criteria,
the checklist which governs all Shuttle launches.
So the SRB programme managers
assembled at the Cape
ask for a full flight readiness
review and in 45 minutes.
At 8:45 eastern standard time
the conference call begins.
This is Roger Boisjoly.
Thank you, Brian.
I'd like to run over the key points as I see them.
Roger sets out the engineers' case for a no launch call.
In particular he sights
the evidence of last January's flight
in which he believes low temperature
was the major factor in causing damage to the primary O-ring.
On that occasion the secondary O-ring did its job as designed
but if tonight's extreme cold
also damages the secondary O-ring
there's a danger that tomorrow's launch could end in disaster.
Larry Malloy here. I'm confused...
Over at NASA Larry Malloy, the manager of space booster projects,
can't understand why these issues
have not been raised before.
There have been low temperatures at the launch site for several days now.
Why has the cold suddenly become an issue?
...factor in O-ring erosion.
Malloy also sites the October 1985 launch
when there was also evidence of blow by but at a temperature of 75 degrees
when cold was certainly not a factor.
You guys are generating new launch committee criteria.
My god,
when do you want me to launch,
next April?
Tonight at the Challenger launch pad
the ground crew will use 1400 gallons of anti-freeze
in an attempt to stave off ice formation.
It is nowjust 11 hours from scheduled launch.
It's paramount that a decision is made soon.
Okay, um, we're a little bogged down here.
Can I suggest caucus of five minutes
to help us clarify our position?
Okay, that sounds reasonable.
We're all getting a bit tired here too.
Be back with you in five minutes.
Caucus, what do we need a caucas for?
It is pointed out by Thiokol's management that even with three times the worst erosion
witnessed to date the O-rings should still seal.
Gentlemen, it is clear we have to make
some kind of management decision here.
The decision has now effectively been taken out of the engineers' hands.
They sit powerless
as the Thiokol managers
take a vote based on the available evidence.
Gentlemen, I think it's time for a vote.
The conference call reconvenes.
Joe Kilminster reads from a statement withdrawing the no launch call.
As Morton Thiokol has retracted its objections
tomorrow's launch can proceed as planned.
It is late but Roger takes the time to go back to his office
and note his reactions to the evening's events.
"Held a serious meeting concerning the launch of SRM25
since it is so called at the Cape.
After much discussion from 1pm to 8:30pm
the engineering recommendation was to delay the flight
until the seal was at 53 degrees Fahrenheit,
to stay within our database.
NASA management did not like our recommendations
and our management
properly caucused for further discussion.
This resulted in our management
making the decision that it was a low risk based upon
their assumption that temperature was not a discriminator.
We at engineering tried once again to impress
that the timing of the event due to temperature was the problem.
I sincerely hope that this launch does not result in a catastrophe.
6:18am is the scheduled wake up time for the Challenger's crew.
At a quarter to seven
they file in for the traditional breakfast photo call.
The mission controller has warned them
to anticipate delays due to temperature problems
with a probable lift off close to noon.
Ron McNear and pilot Mike Smith
followed by Krista McCauliff, teacher in space.
Ellison on zukker and pay lift specialist Greg Jarvis.
Big smiles today. Confidently getting into the van.
Then go out to that pad and attempt a second try,
second launch... second try at launch today.
It will take a few minutes for the astronaut van to get to the pad.
The astronauts are driven through the exclusion zone around the launch pad.
It is enforced because should a Shuttle explode
before lift off it would do so with the force of a small atomic bomb.
In the meantime...
As the astronauts prepare to board
Commander Dick Scobey has a present
for the close out crew.
It's a bolt wrapped in red ribbon,
a playful dig at the problems of yesterday.
Around the launch pad
ground crew are still clearing ice.
Remote cameras clearly show the scale of the problem.
As Krista McCauliff prepares to board
the technicians present her with a delicious big polished apple, for the teacher.
She hands it back saying
"Save it for me. I'll eat it when I get back".
Krista's parents, Grace and Ed Corrigan,
are also at the Cape to witness the launch.
We're getting a little bit of trepidation as we're getting closer and closer.
Excitement is also building at Concorde high school
where Krista's pupils wait to see their teacher
become the first civilian in space.
The launch countdown clock is at T minus nine minutes and holding.
The weather at the launch site is clear but cold.
Jay Green is the mission control in Houston for this launch.
He now pulls his 11 strong team
and each says "go for launch".
The T minus nine countdown begins.
Roger has never
watched a launch on television at work.
He prefers to get on with the tasks in hand.
But today
he has been persuaded to come and watch by colleague Bob Eberling.
This is the walkway used by the astronauts to climb in the vehicle
and that arm can be put back in place within about 15 to 20 seconds
if an emergency should arise.
Liquid oxygen pressure checks are under way.
At T minus ten seconds
waterjets are turned on to deaden the sound of launch.
...ten seconds...
Igniters light the frozen gases from the engines.
The sudden force rocks the Shuttle forwards on the pad.
...three, two, one...
As it returns to upright the Shuttle is released.
...and lift off. 25th space Shuttle mission
and it is clear of the tower.
...Roger...
During each second of its ascent the space Shuttle burns ten tonnes
of frozen gases in solid fuel.
...94% total thrust.
At 19,000 feet
Challenger passes mach one.
The three main engines are throttled back to 65%
in anticipation of the stress that engineers call max Q - maximum aerodynamic pressure.
Engines at 65%... are running normally
...fuel zones... ApS...
...2257 feet per second, altitude 4.3 nautical...
When the Shuttle reaches 50,000 feet
the engines are powered back up to full thrust.
Engines throttling up.
Three engines now at 104%.
Challenger, go with throttle up.
...throttle up.
...15 seconds, velocity 2900 feet per second,
altitude nine nautical miles, down range distance seven nautical miles.
Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation.
Obviously a major malfunction.
We have no down link.
We have a report from the...
30 seconds after the explosion
the solid rocket boosters are destroyed by remote control.
...reports from recovery forces
Stand by
JC, all operators, contingency procedures in effect.
In the moment after the crash air sea rescue services
are scrambled to look for survivors but there are none.
Tonight, president Reagan will suspend the state of the union address
and instead pay tribute to the seven astronauts.
Following the stunned silence
that accompanies the knowledge that something had gone very wrong
people begin to ask themselves "Why?".
It will later transpire
that one of the remote cameras trained on the launch pad
has captured vital evidence of exactly what happened.
Even as the Shuttle leaves the pad
super heated gas can be seen being forced
through one of the joints in the starboard SRB.
Both O-rings have failed.
Roger Boisjoly will give evidence at the presidential commission
into the Challenger disaster.
In the following months he will leave,
first on sick leave but then for good.
The commission will find that NASA's senior managers were not
aware of the concerns raised by Morton Thiokol.
They will also find that Morton Thiokol
revised its position under pressure from NASA
and contrary to the views of its engineers.
Morton Thiokol will retain
their contract to build the SRBs
and the joint will later be redesigned.
Grace Corrigan, Krista McCauliff's mother,
will step into her daughter's shoes and give lectures
on the importance of embracing your ambitions.
Sometimes when we reach for the stars we fall short
but we must pick ourselves up again and press on, despite the pain.
Our nation is indeed fortunate
that we can still draw upon immense reservoirs of courage,
character and fortitude.