[Pyramid_Head]

Amazing how footage from 1986 was never seen until now in 2012.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by Cumulonimbus ↗

Actually, there are NASA reports stating that they likely could have survived the initial explosion, as the crew compartment was intact.

Check out this NASA page. Loads of information.
http://history.nasa.gov/sts51l.html

That is very interesting stuff, thanks for that. There are short film clips of different things, voice recorder transcripts, a report from a Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin who tried to determine cause of death. That was probably the most interesting read. I never thought about it before and didn't realize it took the crew compartment 2min 45sec to fall to the ocean. Hopefully they were all unconscious due to lack of oxygen.

[Daverika Wulff]

Originally Posted by Billthegravedigger ↗

NASA said a coulpe of them did survive the explosion. They had grabbed their masks and put them on, and they could not do that if they were dead. The impact with the ocean at 200 mph got any remaining people.

Yah. I searched high & low early last year for death pics from the ocean impact and could not find anything. Still on the lookout.

[Zambini]

Originally Posted by azimuth ↗

That is very interesting stuff, thanks for that. There are short film clips of different things, voice recorder transcripts, a report from a Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin who tried to determine cause of death. That was probably the most interesting read. I never thought about it before and didn't realize it took the crew compartment 2min 45sec to fall to the ocean. Hopefully they were all unconscious due to lack of oxygen.

They got the emergency oxygen on, the valves were open on the tanks.

They died from the impact with the water.

Long fall, plenty of time to think about it.

[Cumulonimbus]

Originally Posted by azimuth ↗

That is very interesting stuff, thanks for that. There are short film clips of different things, voice recorder transcripts, a report from a Dr. Joseph P. Kerwin who tried to determine cause of death. That was probably the most interesting read. I never thought about it before and didn't realize it took the crew compartment 2min 45sec to fall to the ocean. Hopefully they were all unconscious due to lack of oxygen.

You're welcome. Sadly, as Zambini states, a couple of crew members likely endured the entire descent. Truly horrifying.

If you are interested, NBC News Cape Canaveral Jay Barbree wrote an eight-part piece a few years back that highlights some supposed inside information, including the likely of survival after the initial explosion and the retrieval of the bodies from the ocean.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077897/.../#.T1twEnm698F

[Parannoyed]

Great post i had only ever saw one other video of this which gives you a better view of the shuttle but this one lets you see everything else. I had no idea people survived it either and died falling to the water

[ices]

They were very good at suppressing info about what happened to the Challenger and its crew because NASA fucked up big time.

It will always haunt those engineers who tried to stop it and were turned away.

"ha! What does an engineer know?" - NASA politicos

[shoottokill]

sad story. they died in vain. nasa knew of the risks and still decided to push ahead w the mission.

[Curb Stomper]

What I hate about this, is that you KNOW all their friends and family are watching.

[Boondoggle]

Originally Posted by ices ↗

They were very good at suppressing info about what happened to the Challenger and its crew because NASA fucked up big time.

It will always haunt those engineers who tried to stop it and were turned away.

"ha! What does an engineer know?" - NASA politicos

It wasn't NASA managers who overruled the engineers who tried to stop the launch. It was a VP at Morton-Thiokol, the company that manufactured the SRBs (solid rocket boosters) that caused the explosion.

The engineers got screwed. The VP got a big bonus that year.

I watched this launch in front of NASA headquarters. (I was a contractor, not a NASA employee.) At 2:08 when you hear the launch controller say, "We lost the downlink" the entire crowd of NASA people around me gasped. I turned to the guy next to me and asked what that meant. He shook his head and said, "They're dead."

And yeah, they most likely all survived the entire descent to the ocean. The crew capsule is the small object you see falling in a downward arc while the cameraman focuses on the SRBs spiraling out of control upwards.