These Disasters Allowed Astronauts to Reach the Moon

On this day 30 years ago, the Challenger Space Shuttle stood upright waiting for liftoff. Soon after launch, the shuttle exploded in mid-air. Inside was the crew: Dick Scobee (Commander), Mike Smith (Pilot) Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist), Judy Resnik (Mission Specialist), Greg Jarvis, Ronald McNair and Christa McAuliffe (New Hampshire schoolteacher).

The 25^th mission of NASA was supposed an orbital mission around the Earth. However, shortly after launch, a camera near the shuttle captured some grey smoke coming out of the right rocket booster. Also, before launch, engineers claimed that ice formation would have damaged the shuttle upon lift-off. Despite the concerns, NASA proceeded with the launch. In reality, the low temperatures caused the O-ring rubber seals to become rigid and non-flexible, causing hot gases to enter the external fuel tank.

The Challenger Space Shuttle disaster is a case study used by NASA in critical areas such as the ethics of whistle-blowing, engineering safety, group decision-making, communications, and the dangers of groupthink.

Also on this day 49 years ago, Apollo 1 (set to make history as the first manned Apollo flight) suffered a tragedy as a fire erupted during a pre-flight test killing Gus Grissom, Roger Chafee and Ed White. The three astronauts were doing some plug-out tests with pressurized space suits. In the 2^nd run, a fire broke out. The ground team were startled to hear screaming and yelling in the space shuttle 26 seconds later. The ground crew took 5 minutes to open all 3 hatches of the shuttle amidst smoke and fire.

The Apollo 1 fire occurred due to several reasons. One of the factors was that the cabin atmosphere was at a full 100% (similar to previous missions). This led to a false sense of confidence, when in reality, combustible material was in enough quantities to cause a fire in the oxygen-rich environment. NASA thought it was safe to test when everything was unplugged and no fuel was present. Nevertheless, one thing NASA learnt very well – never test in a pure oxygen environment. This, too, changed in subsequent missions with an oxygen/nitrogen mix being used instead of pure oxygen.

After the Apollo 1 disaster, NASA implemented some serious safety and control measures to ensure no astronaut was ever harmed in a space shuttle fire accident. A serious consideration was the Apollo space shuttle itself. It was designed to ensure the highest standards of structural integrity, and not emergency procedures, and required 1.5 minutes to open in a best-case scenario. Also, the door opened inwards, not outwards.

After the Apollo 1 disaster, however, all this was set to change. This was the price paid by the three astronauts that fateful day. Each year in January, NASA holds a "Day of Remembrance" to pay tribute to those who gave their lives so those after them could reach further into space.

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