The Syrian airfield prepare for reception of military aircraft of China
The latest news about fast emergence in borders of Syria of navy of China encouraged Syrians and res[...]
Challenger Launch
The morning of January 28, 1986, was colder than any previous Space Shuttle launch day. Challenger was due to take off for its tenth space mission. Icicles hung from the tower next to the spacecraft. There was concern that ice might fall off and damage the vehicle during launch. A team had worked all night to remove as much ice as possible. The launch was delayed to give more time for the remaining ice to melt.
Engineers were also worried about rubber rings in the two solid rocket boosters. The boosters are made in sections that stand on top of each other. The joints between them are sealed with putty and rubber rings. Engineers were concerned that the cold weather could make the rubber too stiff to seal the joints properly. If a seal failed, hot gases from inside the rocket could escape. After some lengthy discussions between engineers and managers about
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О Just seconds after Challenger was launched, a large flame plume (visible in the center of the photo, above the exhaust) showed that the Space Shuttle was in trouble. The spacecraft exploded soon after. |
the weather and the rubber rings in the boosters, it was decided to go ahead with the launch.
Things started to go wrong just moments after liftoff. Close-up photographs of the spacecraft would later reveal puffs of smoke spurting out of the side of one of the solid rocket boosters. This was clear evidence that the seal in one of the joints had failed, as the engineers had feared.