Challenger
Running Time: 50 minutes (approx)It's 28th January, 1986 and the space shuttle, the 'Challenger', is preparing for lift-off. The crew of seven astronauts, including commander Dick Scobbee and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, are on board and, at 11.39 EST, there's just a minute to go. As the clock counts down to zero, there's one public thought - that this is the most significant space mission since the first moon landing. At lift-off, the spectacular surge of engines and noise belies the calm tones of the man from NASA. After 70 seconds, the rocket is already 10 miles up and spectators are shielding their eyes to witness this historic climb. Then, the unthinkable happens. Five seconds later, the 'Challenger' explodes into plumesof white smoke and hours later, it emerges that everyone on board is dead. This programme looks back at how this tragedy occurres and how it could have been prevented. There is expert testimony from Jud Lovingood, senior manager at NASA in 1986; interviews with Roger Boisjoly, then a senior engineer at Morton-Thiokol; the contractors who built the solid rocket boosters for the spoace shuttle; other technicians, engineers and witnesses who were at the scene on that fatal day; and a moving interview with Grace Corrigan, the mother of Christa McAuliffe. Still looking for more?
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Challenger is a History Documentary programme.
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