By https://x.com/rumpdumpler/status/2051338760109883888

Context https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/nasa-confirms-talks-fly-big-bird-doomed-shuttle-challenger-n353521

NASA has confirmed reports that space officials discussed putting Big Bird on the space shuttle Challenger, before it was lost along with its entire crew in an explosion in 1986. But the space agency said the plan never got to the point of giving Caroll Spinney, the human who portrays the 8-foot-2 bird on the “Sesame Street” TV show, a spot on the passenger list.

  • TankieTanuki [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    21·
    21 days ago
    Horrifying fact

    The astronauts survived the explosion and were likely fully conscious up until the cockpit hit the water at 200 mph. They watched the ocean surface grow closer through the cockpit window for 2 minutes and 45 seconds while fully knowing their fate. powercry-2

    I cried when I learned this.

    Wikipedia

    At least some of the crew were alive and conscious after the breakup, as Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) were activated for Smith and two unidentified crewmembers, but not for Scobee. The PEAPs were not intended for in-flight use, and the astronauts never trained with them for an in-flight emergency. The location of Smith’s activation switch, on the back side of his seat, indicated that either Resnik or Onizuka likely activated it for him. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply consistent with the expected consumption during the post-breakup trajectory.

    While analyzing the wreckage, investigators discovered that several electrical system switches on Smith’s right-hand panel had been moved from their usual launch positions. The switches had lever locks on top of them that must be pulled out before the switch could be moved. Later tests established that neither the force of the explosion nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them, indicating that Smith made the switch changes, presumably in a futile attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.

    Pressurization could have enabled consciousness for the entire fall until impact. The crew cabin hit the ocean surface at 207 mph (333 km/h) approximately 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup. The estimated deceleration was 200 g, far exceeding structural limits of the crew compartment or crew survivability levels. [emphasis mine]

    • abc [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      19·
      21 days ago

      They watched the ocean surface grow closer through the cockpit window for 2 minutes and 45 seconds while fully knowing their fate

      nerd I mean realistically only Smith, Onizuka, and Resnik could have been staring through the windows at the ocean for almost 3 minutes. McAuliffe, Jarvis, and McNair were seated on the mid-deck and only had a window in the side egress hatch which their chairs didn’t face.

        • abc [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          12·
          21 days ago

          Yeah I have played KSP but spaceflight is more of a ‘read about it’ hobby for me beyond the like 60 hours I sunk into Elite Dangerous haha. I did a real deep dive on Challenger & Columbia awhile back after seeing the memorial & fuselage at Kennedy Space Center.

          FWIW I personally believe the theory that the crew cabin lost pressure after the orbiter broke apart and they all quickly lost consciousness before striking the ocean - based on the facts that:

          1. Activating the PEAPs was likely in response to the cabin depressurizing. 3/4 of the ones found were activated.
          2. They found shrapnel embedded in one of the windows (debatable though due to the high velocity of the impact with the ocean)
          3. The fact that the PEAPs, even when activated, would not have provided enough oxygen to keep them conscious if the cabin had depressurized.