Days That Shook the World (2003) s02e01 Episode Script
Disaster in the Sky
The pioneers of flight
have captured public imagination.
But the history of aviation
is a catalogue of human tragedy
and technical disaster.
The catastrophic loss of the Hindenburg airship
and the dramatic explosion of
the Challenger space Shuttle
highlight the risks of man's quest to fly.
Based on eye-witness accounts
this is a dramatised reconstruction of events as
they happened on true days that shook the world.
It is the 6th May 1937
and as the Spanish civil war rages on Gurnika
is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
In London, preparations are underway
for the coronation of King George VI.
In America Howard Hughes
has flown from Los Angeles to New York
in a world record seven and a half hours.
And at Lakehurst, New Jersey
another aviation sensation is keenly awaited.
It is dawn on May 6th 1937.
At Lakehurst naval air station
31 year old radio reporter Herb Morrison
and his engineer Charles Neilson
arrive at the base.
Neither man is aware of it yet
but by this time tomorrow
they will have become a part of the events
that will define the rest of their lives.
In doing so they will make history.
850 miles away
the great airship Hindenburg is approaching
the coast of Nova Scotia.
The size of four football pitches
and almost as large as the ill-fated SS Titanic,
Hindenburg is the largest and
most luxurious airship ever built
and the pride of the German Zeppelin fleet.
She is due to arrive in New Jersey in one hour
but strong head winds during the flight
and bad weather ahead
have forced the crew
to take a more northerly route,
delaying arrival by at least eight hours.
The Hindenburg will not arrive this morning.
The northerly route
has afforded passengers and crew
a spectacular view of icebergs
in the cold waters of the north Atlantic.
Among those enjoying the sea is noted
Vaudeville entertainer Joseph Spah
who is looking forward to seeing his wife
and young family later today.
Schpar is a celebrity
on both sides of the Atlantic
due to his death-defying balancing act.
His was a last minute booking on this trip.
He has been performing at The Scala in Berlin
and is now booked to appear
at Radio City music hall in New York.
At that time I was thinking about the Titanic,
how dangerous it must be on the ocean.
One picture particularly
I was very proud of taking,
the sun was throwing a shadow
from the Zeppelin over the ocean
and it went straight for one of the icebergs
and I thought it was an omen.
It looked like the Zeppelin
was ramming the iceberg.
The Zeppelin industry
is the space race of its day.
And the Hindenburg is the greatest
of all the airships ever built.
It is a bold affirmation
of the technological prowess
of Hitler's new Germany.
Designed as the first dedicated
transatlantic passenger aircraft
it is incredible in every respect.
At 804 feet long and 100 feet in diameter
the Hindenburg is by far
the biggest aircraft ever to fly
and can carry up to 112 tonnes in weight.
Although the Hindenburg
made ten trips to America last year
there is still huge press and public interest
in the arrival of
a transatlantic airshiped flight.
Among the reporters who
have headed for Lakehurst today
are Herb Morrison and engineer Charles Neilson.
Be careful with that. It's delicate equipment.
thanks
Morrison is well known to listeners
of Chicago based WLS radio,
the prairie farmers' station.
But he is here today with something to prove.
This is my baby.
Neilson's equipment
was shipped to Lakehurst last night.
It is the latest in mobile recording technology,
a presto disc recorder.
The Hindenburg made ten trips
to America last year
causing a sensation whenever it arrived.
But financially this schedule proved unviable
for the Zeppelin company and this year
they have scheduled an ambitious programme
of 18 return trips
in the spring and summer season.
The Hindenburg's journey began in Frankfurt
two and a half days ago
on the evening of the 3rd May.
On board are 61 crew and 36 passengers,
each paying $400
to enjoy this luxurious crossing.
But despite the sumptuous service
on board the airship
one passenger has been feeling uneasy
ever since he left Germany.
Luftwaffe intelligence officer
Oberst Fritz Erdman
has joined the Hindenburg
in an official capacity.
Erdman is well aware that above and around him
the ship's fuel cells contain
seven million cubic feet
of potentially explosive hydrogen gas.
The Hindenburg is in fact
an enormous flying bomb.
German airships have
a potentially fatal drawback.
They still rely on explosive hydrogen gas
for their buoyancy
whereas American airships use inert helium.
America has a virtual monopoly
on the production of this much safer gas.
But the US Helium Act of 1925
has embargoed the sale
of helium to foreign powers.
Despite this disadvantage
the Hindenburg has maintained
Germany's dominance of lighter
than air technology.
But it makes a tempting target
for saboteurs opposed to the Third Reich.
Erdman knows that
the threat of sabotage is very real.
Shortly before this flight
a letter was received by the
German Ambassador in Washington.
It claimed to expose a plot
to destroy the Hindenburg.
Please inform the Zeppelin company in Frankfurt
that they should open and search
all mail before it is put on board
prior to the very next flight
of the Zeppelin Hindenburg.
The Zeppelin is going to be
destroyed by a time bomb.
The letter was written by
a psychic from Milwaukee
but the hint of sabotage
is being taken very seriously.
It's the latest report.
At Lakehurst,
Base Commander Charles Rosendal
receives bad news.
A storm front passed over
in the night bringing heavy rain,
thunder and spectacular lightening.
The navy weather team
predicts continuing bad conditions
over the station
for much of the day.
Let me know if you hear any change.
Rosendal is one of the most experienced officers
in the US navy's lighter than air fleet
and he is no stranger
to the perils of airship flight.
He cheated death in the spectacular crash
of the US navy airship Shennan Dower in 1925.
Today's weather conditions
are making Rosendal nervous.
Landing an airship is by far
the hardest part of any flight
and is usually performed
in the still air around dawn.
A typical landing employs
several hundred ground crew
to capture the landing lines.
But this process
can be fraught with danger.
An unexpected side wind can suddenly
take the airship skywards once again.
Today's landing will have
to be made in uncertain conditions.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson
have set up their presto recorder
in the front of a hanger.
From here they will have a clear view
of the Hindenburg's arrival.
Morrison is excited.
At a time when radio is the most
powerful news medium in the world,
the use of these mobile location recorders
could usher in a whole new era
of radio reportage.
A hundred miles away, on board Hindenburg,
lunch is being served early
so that the passengers can finish in time
to enjoy the spectacle of New York.
For Joseph Schpar the scenery
becomes reassuringly familiar.
I must have been nervous
because now I was happy to be overland
and as we crossed over Long Island sand
I could almost see my house in Douglaston.
Back at Lakehurst,
Morrison and Nielson
make their first recording of the day,
to set the scene for the great airship's arrival.
Okay, how do you do, everyone.
We're greeting you now
from the naval airbase
at Lakehurst, New Jersey,
from which point
we're gonna bring you
the description of the landing
of the mammoth airship Hindenburg
which was due to land here in America
this morning at dawn
completing the first transatlantic crossing
of the 1937 season.
Charlie Nielson, one of our WLS engineers,
is here at my side working the controls.
We both flew down
from Chicago yesterday afternoon
on board one of the giant new
21 passenger flagships of American Airlines.
It took us only three hours, 55 minutes
to fly non-stop
from Chicago to New York.
It was just one year ago, May 6th,
that the Hindenburg made its
first regular passenger flight to America,
the flight that inaugurated
the first air service across the Atlantic
so this occasion is doubly significant for
this is the first anniversary
of the inauguration of the service
and marks the first flight of this year.
Okay, that's all. Charlie, thank you very much.
At three o'clock, the Hindenburg arrives
over New York causing a sensation.
Crowds pour onto the streets,
shops and offices empty
and traffic stops.
Joseph Spar captures the spectacular view
with his home movie camera.
Well aware of the sensation
he is creating on the ground
and the potential propaganda value,
Captain proust steers
the great ship for Time Square.
Small planes containing sightseers and reporters
buzz around the Hindenburg.
They are dwarfed by the vastness of the airship.
But at Lakehurst,
the weather is a continuing problem.
The sky looks ugly
and lightening can be seen not far away.
Electrostatic conditions in the area
are so dangerous
that in nearby New Jersey
tyre factories are closed for fear
that static might ignite
the stocks of carbon black.
The Hindenburg cannot land yet.
After nearly half an hour
in the skies over Manhattan
the Hindenburg crosses the Hudson River
and heads for its
final destination in New Jersey.
On board, passengers and crew begin
to make final preparations for landing.
Chief steward Cubis is only too aware
that any further delay is bad news.
The Hindenburg already
has to make a record turnaround
if it is to maintain its ambitious schedule.
Many of the passengers now waiting at Lakehurst
to make the return transatlantic trip
are trying to get to London in time
for the coronation of George VI.
Cubis anticipates a very busy time after landing.
Just after 4pm
the Hindenburg finally arrives at Lakehurst.
Here she comes. Hey, my,
look at that thing, it's enormous.
Come on, Charlie,
you should really have a look at this.
But a weather front approaching from the west
means the airship is unable to make a landing.
That is something
The Hindenburg passes directly over the base
and heads out to sea to sit out the storm.
By five o'clock a large crowd
has gathered around the perimeter of the base.
They watch as the ground crew
are assembled at the main mooring circle.
But at quarter to six, the Hindenburg is still
out over the sea near Atlantic City.
At five to six a cloud burst hits the base.
Where did that come from
The storm lasts 15 minutes and is gone
as suddenly as it arrived,
leaving the assembled crew and spectators
thoroughly wet and miserable.
Throughout the day the crowd of people
awaiting the airship has been growing.
Among them are Joseph Schpar's family,
including his two year old son Richard,
who have driven down
from their home on Long Island.
On board Schpar takes up a position by the window
from where he can film the arrival of the ship.
Although the flight is nearing its destination
Oberst Erdman is still
haunted by the threat of sabotage.
If the ship crashes on American soil
it would be a huge blow
to the prestige of Hitler's Third Reich.
At 23 minutes past six,
Commander Rosendal makes a decision.
Conditions are still far from ideal,
the wind direction is changeable
and thunder can be heard in the distance.
But Rosendal is also aware
of the commercial pressures at play.
Inform Decker, "Recommend landing now".
The Hindenburg is 14 miles from Lakehurst
when it receives the message to land.
It begins to make for the base once again.
Perhaps the schedule for
their return trip can yet be saved.
Radio officer Schpek sends a message to Germany,
"Ready for landing. Bad weather."
Radio Quickborn,
Hamburg overzealously forward a message
to the airship HQ at Frankfurt,
"Hindenburg landed".
The airship must now make a wide curve westwards
and make it's final approach
to the anchoring mast from the north.
Okay, now here they are
coming in to make a landing.
I'm gonna step outside
and cover this from the outside.
Stand by forjust a second.
Well here it comes, ladies and gentlemen,
we're out now, outside of the hanger
and what a great sight it is.
It's a thrilling one, it's a marvellous sight.
It's coming down out of the sky
pointing directly toward us
and toward the mooring mast.
No wonder this great floating palace
can travel through the air at such a speed
with those powerful motors behind it.
deck on the eastward side
and sparkling like glittering jewels
on a background of black velvet.
Every now and then the propellers
are caught in the rays of the sun,
the highly polished surfaces reflect
As the ship slows,
Commander Rosendal notices
that she is heavy in the stern
and that her crew is venting water ballast.
and orders are being passed along
and last minute preparations are being completed
for the moment we have waited for so long.
The ship is riding majestically toward us
like some great feather
At 7:21
landing ropes for Lieutenant Tyler's ground crew
were dropped from a height of 200 feet.
The ground crew capture the port trail rope
almost immediately it reaches the ground.
down on the field by number of men.
It's starting to rain again.
As the ground crew start to
bring the airship under control
Rosendal notices the ship
appear to rise and start to drift.
The cameras close in on the ground crew
as they struggle to keep
their footing on the wet ground.
I remember I was trying
to see my wife and children.
There were people below waiving up to us
and I thought I could see my wife.
I put the camera against my eye
to take a picture of them.
Suddenly, there was a muffled roar.
Commander Rosendal sees a burst of flame
from the rear of the left side of the airship.
It is followed by an explosion.
Erdman feels the explosion rip through the ship.
He assumes the worst.
It burst into flames
get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started.
It's raising, raising terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and
and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Pressure in the lift cells near the fire
causes a sudden release
of hydrogen creating a thrust.
The airship makes ajump forward,
directly towards Rosendal.
From his position inside the hanger,
Charles Nielson can only imagine
the horror outside.
The vibrations from the explosion cause
the cutting lathe of his presto recorder
to bounce on the disc
creating distorting deep grooves.
But he is able to quickly
lift the lathe from the disc
and place it back down.
Remarkably, the Hindenburg
has remained trim up to this moment.
But now it becomes tail heavy.
The fire spreads more quickly now
that the nose is pointing up.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now
And the flame rising to ground,
not quite to the mooring mast.
All the humanity
As soon as the control car touches the ground
the US navy ground crew
rush to save passengers and crew
while the airship
still blazes above their heads.
Ladies and gentlemen
Smoking wreckage
everybody can hardly breathe.
Oh lady, I'm so sorry, lady. I'm so sorry.
It it's oh, oh, I'm gonna have to get inside
where I cannot see.
The passengers and crew from the control gondola
have had a miraculous escape
while many of the fatalities are among the crew
who were at their landing stations
in the bowels of the ship.
In the devastating aftermath
it quickly becomes apparent that there are
actually survivors from this inferno.
Volunteers rush forward to give
whatever assistance they can.
By the time the fire is brought under control
16 of the 61 crew members,
one member of the ground crew
and ten of the 36 passengers are dead.
Colonel Fritz Erdman
is listed among the missing.
And for the Schpar family,
there is to be an agonising wait.
There is no news yet of father Joseph.
Over the next 24 hours
nine more passengers and crew
will succumb to their injuries.
Fritz Erdman's body
will be discovered in the wreckage.
But Joseph Schpar has had an incredible
escape and is reunited with his family.
As the survivors struggle
for life in local hospitals
three separate investigations are launched
into the crash amid rumours of sabotage.
The victims' coffins are laid out in a hanger.
10,000 people file past to pay their respects.
Many even make the Nazi salute.
As the bodies are returned to Germany
it is already clear that this golden age
of passenger airship travel is at an end.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson will board
a plane for Chicago.
While they are in the air
the first live radio reports
are being broadcast from the scene.
But at breakfast time tomorrow
Herb Morrison's sensational recording
of the events
will be played to a stunned nation.
get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started.
It's it's terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and
and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Now this is terrible.
This is one of the worst
catastrophes in the world
four or five hundred feet into the sky.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now
and the is crashing to the ground.
Not quite to the mooring mast,
oh the humanities
Herb Morrison will continue as a radio reporter
and later still as a lecturer.
Nielson remains an engineer
at WLS in Chicago.
But thanks to their recordings
of this historic day
a new age of radio actuality has begun.
It is the 28th January 1986.
The United Kingdom and France
have announced plans
to construct the channel tunnel.
In the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachov introduces his policy
of Glasnost and perestroika.
Americans have been celebrating
the first federal holiday
honouring Martin Luther King Junior.
And in Florida
the countdown is underway
to NASA's latest space mission.
Yes, yes
Kennedy space centre.
On the newly refurbished pad 39B
space Shuttle Challenger is in the final stages
of preparation for launch.
Okay
Conditions are not ideal
but the mission has already
been postponed three times
since the original planned go six days ago.
Roger wilko
There have been 24 successful launches
since the inaugural Shuttle mission in April 1981
and in technical terms
today's lift-off is seen as almost routine.
American public interest in
the Shuttle programme is waning.
Many seem to have lost sight of
just how extraordinary this project actually is.
But today's mission
has attracted more press attention
than virtually any other
since the initial launch,
thanks to the inclusion of one crew member.
Krista McCauliff is
a social studies teacher
from Concorde, New Hampshire.
She joins the mission as part of
the teacher in space programme,
initiated by president Ronald Reagan
in a bid to send an ordinary citizen into space.
One of the things that
I hope to bring back into the classroom is
to make that connection with the students
that they too are part of history,
that the space programme belongs to them
and to try to bring them up with the space age.
Such has been its success
in raising public awareness
that further programmes are being discussed
involving journalists and blue collar workers.
Krista will have little to do with the mission
until day four when she steps into the limelight
and is scheduled to teach two lessons from space.
The seven astronauts are all in good spirits,
despite the strong of delays.
Now, as the mission prepares to go,
they find themselves
in the full glare of the media's spotlight.
The commander of this mission is
former air force flyer
Dick Scobey
As usual it's a real pleasure to be at the Cape
to come down here and participate in something
that the Cape does better
than anybody in the world
and that's launching space vehicles.
The pilot is Mike Smith.
It will be his first Shuttle flight.
I understand it's ready to go
and we're looking forward to going to fly.
There are three mission specialists -
Judy Wesnick, Ellison Onizuker
and Ron McNare.
Greg Jarvis is the payload specialist.
But the star of this show,
as far as the press are concerned,
is mother of two, Krista McCauliff.
I don't think any teacher has ever been
more ready to have two lessons in my life.
I've been preparing these since September
and I just hope everybody tunes in on day four
now to watch the teacher teaching from space.
There you go honey
Thanks sweety
In Willard, Utah, it is still early
but Roger Beaujolais is already up
and eating his breakfast.
Roger is an engineer at Morton Thiokol,
in nearby Brigham City.
Morton Thiokol work as
contractors for NASA
and Roger is part of the team
that builds the solid rocket boosters,
the SRBs,
that will power Challenger
into orbit later today.
He's a creature of habit and every morning
Roger eats either creamed wheat or hot oats,
depending on the weather.
Out on the launch pad
the astronauts begin to board Challenger
where they will await
the specified launch time of 9:37am.
NASA launch controllers are careful to only
board the crew if all systems are go.
Conditions on board are at best uncomfortable.
No launch is entirely without its problems
and today it is the weather
that is causing concern.
Yesterday's lift off was scrubbed in advance
when bad weather was predicted
over Kennedy space centre.
But the bad weather failed to materialise.
In the White Room,
the anti-chamber to the Shuttle,
the close out crew are responsible for
manually locking the entry hatch
and verifying it is closed.
But something is wrong.
The door is locked
but a safety indicator is reading that it's not.
The technicians can see
that the lock is correctly in place.
It seems to be the indicator
that is malfunctioning.
Despite this they must call in the fault.
The Space Shuttle programme
has been beset by
a catalogue of technical faults.
Almost every launch has had to overcome problems
which have surfaced throughout prelaunch
and even during or after flights.
But the intrepid nature of the programme
means that NASA is pushing
the very boundaries of available technology.
before making a prestart.
While the close out crew
deal with the faulty door indicator
the wind at launch pad 39B
is pushing towards 15 knots,
the crucial cut off point
at which launch must be scrubbed.
Worse still, the close out crew
have another problem.
As they attempt to remove
the handle to the entrance hatch
they notice that the bolt is stripped.
With 400,000 gallons of
highly flammable liquid hydrogen
in the Shuttle's main tank
no tools that might create a spark
are stored on site.
The crew must now wait for
a battery drill to be delivered.
The 10,000 acre complex of Morton Thiokol
dominates the scenery around Brigham City, Utah.
It is the town's chief employer
and has been Roger Boisjolys' work place
for the past six years.
Roger is an engineer working on
the solid rocket booster programme.
He aims to arrive at work
before his shift begins at 8am.
He likes to make the most of this time,
before the phone starts to ring.
The solid rocket boosters
cost $50 million a pair
and are used to power the Shuttle
to a speed of one mile a second.
They are then jettisoned
and parachute back into the sea
where they are recovered and returned to
Morton Thiokol to be refurbished.
The SRBs are constructed
in sections to ease transport to
and from Utah by rail road.
The sections are then assembled
at Kennedy Space Centre.
Each section of the SRB
has two large washers
or O-rings to seal the inside of the joints
between each section.
These rubber O-rings
expand to fill the gaps
in the joints during the stresses of launch
and prevent a potentially catastrophic
escape of super heated gas.
Roger Beaujolais heads for the regular
morning meeting of the sealed task force,
set up after the January 1985
launch of the Discovery Orbiter.
The Discovery mission had been delayed
for several days due to low temperatures.
When the SRBs were
recovered following launch
there was evidence of blow by,
where hot gas had been able to
pass the primary O-ring.
Roger believes that this problem
was caused by
low temperatures prior to launch
which had degraded
the performance of the rubber O-rings.
Unfortunately, he has
little concrete evidence
to support his theory and,
to complicate matters,
similar blow by had subsequently resulted
from an October launch
where low temperature was not an issue.
Roger and his fellow engineers
have been trying to gather evidence
to support the low temperature theory
that severe cold might
cause both O-rings to fail.
At Cape Kennedy
the faulty hatch door has been resolved
but precious time has been wasted.
Winds are gusting up to 25 miles per hour.
Today's launch now hangs in the balance.
At 12:50 Mission Control admit defeat
and half a million dollar's worth of fuel
must be vented from Shuttles
main tank and written off.
At Morton Thiokol
fellow engineer Arnie Thompson tells Roger
that today's lift-off is scrubbed
and rescheduled for tomorrow.
But between now and then sub zero temperatures
are forecast out of the Cape.
A low temperature launch
is the exact scenario Roger
and his colleagues fear.
The seven Challenger
astronauts leave the Orbiter
and return to their quarters to recover.
Despite the launch delays this mission
has already garnered valuable publicity
for NASA and for the Reagan administration
who instigated the teacher
in space programme.
Of the 11,000 teachers
who applied Krista McCauliff was selected
from ten finalists
after a week of demanding tests.
When that Shuttle goes
there might be one body
but there's going to be
ten souls that I'm taking with me.
The story of an ordinary wife
and mother going to space
has captured the nation's imagination.
But if the Shuttle does not fly tomorrow
Krista may be forced to give her teacher
in space classes over a weekend
to empty classrooms back on earth.
The SRB engineers meet with Joe Kilminster,
the vice president
of the space booster programme.
They must convince him
that their low temperature
concerns are valid
and persuade him to make
a difficult call to NASA.
We presented preliminary data
from March 1985
that told us that the O-rings
did not work properly
at 50 degrees Fahrenheit
and now we were discussing
a launch at below freezing.
For us there was no option but to delay.
It has been five weeks since Challenger
was driven out to the launch pad
aboard one of NASA's huge crawler vehicles
which were originally built
at the time of the Apollo missions.
The Orbiter has stood opposed
to the elements ever since
but as sunset approaches
the temperature begins to tumble.
After nearly an hour of discussion
Joe Kilminster is persuaded
that they must adopt a company position
and advise against tomorrow's launch.
It is a straight forward decision.
It would be an unprecedented step
to act against the advice of a unanimous
recommendation from the engineering team.
As long as Morton Thiokol
hold this position
the Shuttle will not fly.
But even for a manager with
decades of experience,
being the bearer of bad news
to a major supplier
is an unenviable task,
especially as Morton Thiokol's
contract with NASA
is currently under review.
At Cape Kennedy near freezing temperatures
are recorded as the sun goes down.
The first ice begins to
form on the Shuttle launch pad.
The Orbiter and particularly
the O-rings sealing
the SRBs are now entering conditions
in which Morton Thiokol's engineers
have hypothesised
a critical fall off in performance.
A call finally comes through
from Kennedy space centre.
But it is not the news
the Thiokol engineers are hoping for.
O-ring temperature has never been included
as one of NASA's launch commit criteria,
the checklist which governs
all Shuttle launches.
So the SRB programme managers
assembled at the Cape
ask for a full flight readiness
review and in 45 minutes.
At 8:45 eastern standard time
the conference call begins.
This is Roger Boisjoly.
Thank you, Brian.
I'd like to run over
the key points as I see them.
Roger sets out the engineers' case
for a no launch call.
In particular he sights
the evidence of last January's flight
in which he believes low temperature
was the major factor in causing
damage to the primary O-ring.
On that occasion the secondary
O-ring did its job as designed
but if tonight's extreme cold
also damages the secondary O-ring
there's a danger that tomorrow's
launch could end in disaster.
Larry Malloy here. I'm confused
Over at NASA Larry Malloy,
the manager of space booster projects,
can't understand why these issues
have not been raised before.
There have been low temperatures
at the launch site for several days now.
Why has the cold suddenly become an issue?
factor in O-ring erosion.
Malloy also sites the October 1985 launch
when there was also evidence of blow by
but at a temperature of 75 degrees
when cold was certainly not a factor.
You guys are generating
new launch committee criteria.
My god,
when do you want me to launch,
next April?
Tonight at the Challenger launch pad
the ground crew will
use 1400 gallons of anti-freeze
in an attempt to stave off ice formation.
It is nowjust 11 hours
from scheduled launch.
It's paramount that
a decision is made soon.
Okay, um, we're a little bogged down here.
Can I suggest caucus of five minutes
to help us clarify our position?
Okay, that sounds reasonable.
We're all getting a bit tired here too.
Be back with you in five minutes.
Caucus, what do we need a caucas for?
It is pointed out by Thiokol's management
that even with three times the worst erosion
witnessed to date
the O-rings should still seal.
Gentlemen, it is clear we have to make
some kind of management decision here.
The decision has now effectively been
taken out of the engineers' hands.
They sit powerless
as the Thiokol managers
take a vote based
on the available evidence.
Gentlemen, I think it's time for a vote.
The conference call reconvenes.
Joe Kilminster reads from a statement
withdrawing the no launch call.
As Morton Thiokol has
retracted its objections
tomorrow's launch can proceed as planned.
It is late but Roger takes
the time to go back to his office
and note his reactions
to the evening's events.
"Held a serious meeting
concerning the launch of SRM25
since it is so called at the Cape.
After much discussion from 1pm to 8:30pm
the engineering recommendation
was to delay the flight
until the seal was
at 53 degrees Fahrenheit,
to stay within our database.
NASA management
did not like our recommendations
and our management
properly caucused for further discussion.
This resulted in our management
making the decision
that it was a low risk based upon
their assumption that temperature
was not a discriminator.
We at engineering tried
once again to impress
that the timing of the event due
to temperature was the problem.
I sincerely hope that this launch
does not result in a catastrophe.
6:18am is the scheduled
wake up time for the Challenger's crew.
At a quarter to seven
they file in for the traditional
breakfast photo call.
The mission controller has warned them
to anticipate delays due
to temperature problems
with a probable lift off close to noon.
Ron McNear and pilot Mike Smith
followed by Krista McCauliff,
teacher in space.
Ellison on zukker
and pay lift specialist Greg Jarvis.
Big smiles today.
Confidently getting into the van.
Then go out to that pad
and attempt a second try,
second launch
second try at launch today.
It will take a few minutes for
the astronaut van to get to the pad.
The astronauts are driven through
the exclusion zone around the launch pad.
It is enforced because
should a Shuttle explode
before lift off it would do so with
the force of a small atomic bomb.
In the meantime
As the astronauts prepare to board
Commander Dick Scobey has a present
for the close out crew.
It's a bolt wrapped in red ribbon,
a playful dig at the problems of yesterday.
Around the launch pad
ground crew are still clearing ice.
Remote cameras clearly
show the scale of the problem.
As Krista McCauliff prepares to board
the technicians present her with a delicious
big polished apple, for the teacher.
She hands it back saying
"Save it for me.
I'll eat it when I get back".
Krista's parents, Grace and Ed Corrigan,
are also at the Cape to witness the launch.
We're getting a little bit of trepidation
as we're getting closer and closer.
Excitement is also building
at Concorde high school
where Krista's pupils
wait to see their teacher
become the first civilian in space.
The launch countdown clock is at T minus
nine minutes and holding.
The weather at the launch site
is clear but cold.
Jay Green is the mission control
in Houston for this launch.
He now pulls his 11 strong team
and each says "go for launch".
The T minus nine countdown begins.
Roger has never
watched a launch
on television at work.
He prefers to get on
with the tasks in hand.
But today
he has been persuaded to come
and watch by colleague Bob Eberling.
This is the walkway used by the astronauts
to climb in the vehicle
and that arm can be put back in place
within about 15 to 20 seconds
if an emergency should arise.
Liquid oxygen pressure checks
are under way.
At T minus ten seconds
waterjets are turned on
to deaden the sound of launch.
ten seconds
Igniters light the frozen gases
from the engines.
The sudden force rocks
the Shuttle forwards on the pad.
three, two, one
As it returns to upright
the Shuttle is released.
and lift off.
25th space Shuttle mission
and it is clear of the tower.
Roger
During each second of its ascent
the space Shuttle burns ten tonnes
of frozen gases in solid fuel.
94% total thrust.
At 19,000 feet
Challenger passes mach one.
The three main engines
are throttled back to 65%
in anticipation of the stress that engineers
call max Q - maximum aerodynamic pressure.
Engines at 65% are running normally
fuel zones ApS
2257 feet per second,
altitude 4.3 nautical
When the Shuttle reaches 50,000 feet
the engines are powered
back up to full thrust.
Engines throttling up.
Three engines now at 104%.
Challenger, go with throttle up.
throttle up.
15 seconds, velocity 2900 feet per second,
altitude nine nautical miles,
down range distance seven nautical miles.
Flight controllers here looking
very carefully at the situation.
Obviously a major malfunction.
We have no down link.
We have a report from the
30 seconds after the explosion
the solid rocket boosters are
destroyed by remote control.
reports from recovery forces
Stand by
JC, all operators,
contingency procedures in effect.
In the moment
after the crash air sea rescue services
are scrambled to look for survivors
but there are none.
Tonight, president Reagan will
suspend the state of the union address
and instead pay tribute
to the seven astronauts.
Following the stunned silence
that accompanies the knowledge
that something had gone very wrong
people begin to ask themselves "Why?".
It will later transpire
that one of the remote cameras
trained on the launch pad
has captured vital evidence of
exactly what happened.
Even as the Shuttle leaves the pad
super heated gas can be seen being forced
through one of the joints
in the starboard SRB.
Both O-rings have failed.
Roger Boisjoly will give evidence
at the presidential commission
into the Challenger disaster.
In the following months he will leave,
first on sick leave but then for good.
The commission will find
that NASA's senior managers were not
aware of the concerns raised
by Morton Thiokol.
They will also find that Morton Thiokol
revised its position
under pressure from NASA
and contrary to the views of its engineers.
Morton Thiokol will retain
their contract to build the SRBs
and the joint will later be redesigned.
Grace Corrigan, Krista McCauliff's mother,
will step into her daughter's shoes
and give lectures
on the importance of
embracing your ambitions.
Sometimes when we reach
for the stars we fall short
but we must pick ourselves up again
and press on, despite the pain.
Our nation is indeed fortunate
that we can still draw
upon immense reservoirs of courage,
character and fortitude.
have captured public imagination.
But the history of aviation
is a catalogue of human tragedy
and technical disaster.
The catastrophic loss of the Hindenburg airship
and the dramatic explosion of
the Challenger space Shuttle
highlight the risks of man's quest to fly.
Based on eye-witness accounts
this is a dramatised reconstruction of events as
they happened on true days that shook the world.
It is the 6th May 1937
and as the Spanish civil war rages on Gurnika
is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
In London, preparations are underway
for the coronation of King George VI.
In America Howard Hughes
has flown from Los Angeles to New York
in a world record seven and a half hours.
And at Lakehurst, New Jersey
another aviation sensation is keenly awaited.
It is dawn on May 6th 1937.
At Lakehurst naval air station
31 year old radio reporter Herb Morrison
and his engineer Charles Neilson
arrive at the base.
Neither man is aware of it yet
but by this time tomorrow
they will have become a part of the events
that will define the rest of their lives.
In doing so they will make history.
850 miles away
the great airship Hindenburg is approaching
the coast of Nova Scotia.
The size of four football pitches
and almost as large as the ill-fated SS Titanic,
Hindenburg is the largest and
most luxurious airship ever built
and the pride of the German Zeppelin fleet.
She is due to arrive in New Jersey in one hour
but strong head winds during the flight
and bad weather ahead
have forced the crew
to take a more northerly route,
delaying arrival by at least eight hours.
The Hindenburg will not arrive this morning.
The northerly route
has afforded passengers and crew
a spectacular view of icebergs
in the cold waters of the north Atlantic.
Among those enjoying the sea is noted
Vaudeville entertainer Joseph Spah
who is looking forward to seeing his wife
and young family later today.
Schpar is a celebrity
on both sides of the Atlantic
due to his death-defying balancing act.
His was a last minute booking on this trip.
He has been performing at The Scala in Berlin
and is now booked to appear
at Radio City music hall in New York.
At that time I was thinking about the Titanic,
how dangerous it must be on the ocean.
One picture particularly
I was very proud of taking,
the sun was throwing a shadow
from the Zeppelin over the ocean
and it went straight for one of the icebergs
and I thought it was an omen.
It looked like the Zeppelin
was ramming the iceberg.
The Zeppelin industry
is the space race of its day.
And the Hindenburg is the greatest
of all the airships ever built.
It is a bold affirmation
of the technological prowess
of Hitler's new Germany.
Designed as the first dedicated
transatlantic passenger aircraft
it is incredible in every respect.
At 804 feet long and 100 feet in diameter
the Hindenburg is by far
the biggest aircraft ever to fly
and can carry up to 112 tonnes in weight.
Although the Hindenburg
made ten trips to America last year
there is still huge press and public interest
in the arrival of
a transatlantic airshiped flight.
Among the reporters who
have headed for Lakehurst today
are Herb Morrison and engineer Charles Neilson.
Be careful with that. It's delicate equipment.
thanks
Morrison is well known to listeners
of Chicago based WLS radio,
the prairie farmers' station.
But he is here today with something to prove.
This is my baby.
Neilson's equipment
was shipped to Lakehurst last night.
It is the latest in mobile recording technology,
a presto disc recorder.
The Hindenburg made ten trips
to America last year
causing a sensation whenever it arrived.
But financially this schedule proved unviable
for the Zeppelin company and this year
they have scheduled an ambitious programme
of 18 return trips
in the spring and summer season.
The Hindenburg's journey began in Frankfurt
two and a half days ago
on the evening of the 3rd May.
On board are 61 crew and 36 passengers,
each paying $400
to enjoy this luxurious crossing.
But despite the sumptuous service
on board the airship
one passenger has been feeling uneasy
ever since he left Germany.
Luftwaffe intelligence officer
Oberst Fritz Erdman
has joined the Hindenburg
in an official capacity.
Erdman is well aware that above and around him
the ship's fuel cells contain
seven million cubic feet
of potentially explosive hydrogen gas.
The Hindenburg is in fact
an enormous flying bomb.
German airships have
a potentially fatal drawback.
They still rely on explosive hydrogen gas
for their buoyancy
whereas American airships use inert helium.
America has a virtual monopoly
on the production of this much safer gas.
But the US Helium Act of 1925
has embargoed the sale
of helium to foreign powers.
Despite this disadvantage
the Hindenburg has maintained
Germany's dominance of lighter
than air technology.
But it makes a tempting target
for saboteurs opposed to the Third Reich.
Erdman knows that
the threat of sabotage is very real.
Shortly before this flight
a letter was received by the
German Ambassador in Washington.
It claimed to expose a plot
to destroy the Hindenburg.
Please inform the Zeppelin company in Frankfurt
that they should open and search
all mail before it is put on board
prior to the very next flight
of the Zeppelin Hindenburg.
The Zeppelin is going to be
destroyed by a time bomb.
The letter was written by
a psychic from Milwaukee
but the hint of sabotage
is being taken very seriously.
It's the latest report.
At Lakehurst,
Base Commander Charles Rosendal
receives bad news.
A storm front passed over
in the night bringing heavy rain,
thunder and spectacular lightening.
The navy weather team
predicts continuing bad conditions
over the station
for much of the day.
Let me know if you hear any change.
Rosendal is one of the most experienced officers
in the US navy's lighter than air fleet
and he is no stranger
to the perils of airship flight.
He cheated death in the spectacular crash
of the US navy airship Shennan Dower in 1925.
Today's weather conditions
are making Rosendal nervous.
Landing an airship is by far
the hardest part of any flight
and is usually performed
in the still air around dawn.
A typical landing employs
several hundred ground crew
to capture the landing lines.
But this process
can be fraught with danger.
An unexpected side wind can suddenly
take the airship skywards once again.
Today's landing will have
to be made in uncertain conditions.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson
have set up their presto recorder
in the front of a hanger.
From here they will have a clear view
of the Hindenburg's arrival.
Morrison is excited.
At a time when radio is the most
powerful news medium in the world,
the use of these mobile location recorders
could usher in a whole new era
of radio reportage.
A hundred miles away, on board Hindenburg,
lunch is being served early
so that the passengers can finish in time
to enjoy the spectacle of New York.
For Joseph Schpar the scenery
becomes reassuringly familiar.
I must have been nervous
because now I was happy to be overland
and as we crossed over Long Island sand
I could almost see my house in Douglaston.
Back at Lakehurst,
Morrison and Nielson
make their first recording of the day,
to set the scene for the great airship's arrival.
Okay, how do you do, everyone.
We're greeting you now
from the naval airbase
at Lakehurst, New Jersey,
from which point
we're gonna bring you
the description of the landing
of the mammoth airship Hindenburg
which was due to land here in America
this morning at dawn
completing the first transatlantic crossing
of the 1937 season.
Charlie Nielson, one of our WLS engineers,
is here at my side working the controls.
We both flew down
from Chicago yesterday afternoon
on board one of the giant new
21 passenger flagships of American Airlines.
It took us only three hours, 55 minutes
to fly non-stop
from Chicago to New York.
It was just one year ago, May 6th,
that the Hindenburg made its
first regular passenger flight to America,
the flight that inaugurated
the first air service across the Atlantic
so this occasion is doubly significant for
this is the first anniversary
of the inauguration of the service
and marks the first flight of this year.
Okay, that's all. Charlie, thank you very much.
At three o'clock, the Hindenburg arrives
over New York causing a sensation.
Crowds pour onto the streets,
shops and offices empty
and traffic stops.
Joseph Spar captures the spectacular view
with his home movie camera.
Well aware of the sensation
he is creating on the ground
and the potential propaganda value,
Captain proust steers
the great ship for Time Square.
Small planes containing sightseers and reporters
buzz around the Hindenburg.
They are dwarfed by the vastness of the airship.
But at Lakehurst,
the weather is a continuing problem.
The sky looks ugly
and lightening can be seen not far away.
Electrostatic conditions in the area
are so dangerous
that in nearby New Jersey
tyre factories are closed for fear
that static might ignite
the stocks of carbon black.
The Hindenburg cannot land yet.
After nearly half an hour
in the skies over Manhattan
the Hindenburg crosses the Hudson River
and heads for its
final destination in New Jersey.
On board, passengers and crew begin
to make final preparations for landing.
Chief steward Cubis is only too aware
that any further delay is bad news.
The Hindenburg already
has to make a record turnaround
if it is to maintain its ambitious schedule.
Many of the passengers now waiting at Lakehurst
to make the return transatlantic trip
are trying to get to London in time
for the coronation of George VI.
Cubis anticipates a very busy time after landing.
Just after 4pm
the Hindenburg finally arrives at Lakehurst.
Here she comes. Hey, my,
look at that thing, it's enormous.
Come on, Charlie,
you should really have a look at this.
But a weather front approaching from the west
means the airship is unable to make a landing.
That is something
The Hindenburg passes directly over the base
and heads out to sea to sit out the storm.
By five o'clock a large crowd
has gathered around the perimeter of the base.
They watch as the ground crew
are assembled at the main mooring circle.
But at quarter to six, the Hindenburg is still
out over the sea near Atlantic City.
At five to six a cloud burst hits the base.
Where did that come from
The storm lasts 15 minutes and is gone
as suddenly as it arrived,
leaving the assembled crew and spectators
thoroughly wet and miserable.
Throughout the day the crowd of people
awaiting the airship has been growing.
Among them are Joseph Schpar's family,
including his two year old son Richard,
who have driven down
from their home on Long Island.
On board Schpar takes up a position by the window
from where he can film the arrival of the ship.
Although the flight is nearing its destination
Oberst Erdman is still
haunted by the threat of sabotage.
If the ship crashes on American soil
it would be a huge blow
to the prestige of Hitler's Third Reich.
At 23 minutes past six,
Commander Rosendal makes a decision.
Conditions are still far from ideal,
the wind direction is changeable
and thunder can be heard in the distance.
But Rosendal is also aware
of the commercial pressures at play.
Inform Decker, "Recommend landing now".
The Hindenburg is 14 miles from Lakehurst
when it receives the message to land.
It begins to make for the base once again.
Perhaps the schedule for
their return trip can yet be saved.
Radio officer Schpek sends a message to Germany,
"Ready for landing. Bad weather."
Radio Quickborn,
Hamburg overzealously forward a message
to the airship HQ at Frankfurt,
"Hindenburg landed".
The airship must now make a wide curve westwards
and make it's final approach
to the anchoring mast from the north.
Okay, now here they are
coming in to make a landing.
I'm gonna step outside
and cover this from the outside.
Stand by forjust a second.
Well here it comes, ladies and gentlemen,
we're out now, outside of the hanger
and what a great sight it is.
It's a thrilling one, it's a marvellous sight.
It's coming down out of the sky
pointing directly toward us
and toward the mooring mast.
No wonder this great floating palace
can travel through the air at such a speed
with those powerful motors behind it.
deck on the eastward side
and sparkling like glittering jewels
on a background of black velvet.
Every now and then the propellers
are caught in the rays of the sun,
the highly polished surfaces reflect
As the ship slows,
Commander Rosendal notices
that she is heavy in the stern
and that her crew is venting water ballast.
and orders are being passed along
and last minute preparations are being completed
for the moment we have waited for so long.
The ship is riding majestically toward us
like some great feather
At 7:21
landing ropes for Lieutenant Tyler's ground crew
were dropped from a height of 200 feet.
The ground crew capture the port trail rope
almost immediately it reaches the ground.
down on the field by number of men.
It's starting to rain again.
As the ground crew start to
bring the airship under control
Rosendal notices the ship
appear to rise and start to drift.
The cameras close in on the ground crew
as they struggle to keep
their footing on the wet ground.
I remember I was trying
to see my wife and children.
There were people below waiving up to us
and I thought I could see my wife.
I put the camera against my eye
to take a picture of them.
Suddenly, there was a muffled roar.
Commander Rosendal sees a burst of flame
from the rear of the left side of the airship.
It is followed by an explosion.
Erdman feels the explosion rip through the ship.
He assumes the worst.
It burst into flames
get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started.
It's raising, raising terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and
and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Pressure in the lift cells near the fire
causes a sudden release
of hydrogen creating a thrust.
The airship makes ajump forward,
directly towards Rosendal.
From his position inside the hanger,
Charles Nielson can only imagine
the horror outside.
The vibrations from the explosion cause
the cutting lathe of his presto recorder
to bounce on the disc
creating distorting deep grooves.
But he is able to quickly
lift the lathe from the disc
and place it back down.
Remarkably, the Hindenburg
has remained trim up to this moment.
But now it becomes tail heavy.
The fire spreads more quickly now
that the nose is pointing up.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now
And the flame rising to ground,
not quite to the mooring mast.
All the humanity
As soon as the control car touches the ground
the US navy ground crew
rush to save passengers and crew
while the airship
still blazes above their heads.
Ladies and gentlemen
Smoking wreckage
everybody can hardly breathe.
Oh lady, I'm so sorry, lady. I'm so sorry.
It it's oh, oh, I'm gonna have to get inside
where I cannot see.
The passengers and crew from the control gondola
have had a miraculous escape
while many of the fatalities are among the crew
who were at their landing stations
in the bowels of the ship.
In the devastating aftermath
it quickly becomes apparent that there are
actually survivors from this inferno.
Volunteers rush forward to give
whatever assistance they can.
By the time the fire is brought under control
16 of the 61 crew members,
one member of the ground crew
and ten of the 36 passengers are dead.
Colonel Fritz Erdman
is listed among the missing.
And for the Schpar family,
there is to be an agonising wait.
There is no news yet of father Joseph.
Over the next 24 hours
nine more passengers and crew
will succumb to their injuries.
Fritz Erdman's body
will be discovered in the wreckage.
But Joseph Schpar has had an incredible
escape and is reunited with his family.
As the survivors struggle
for life in local hospitals
three separate investigations are launched
into the crash amid rumours of sabotage.
The victims' coffins are laid out in a hanger.
10,000 people file past to pay their respects.
Many even make the Nazi salute.
As the bodies are returned to Germany
it is already clear that this golden age
of passenger airship travel is at an end.
Herb Morrison and Charles Nielson will board
a plane for Chicago.
While they are in the air
the first live radio reports
are being broadcast from the scene.
But at breakfast time tomorrow
Herb Morrison's sensational recording
of the events
will be played to a stunned nation.
get out of the way, get out of the way.
Get this started, get this started.
It's it's terrible.
Oh my, get out of the way, please.
It's burning and bursting into flames and
and it's falling on the mooring bed.
Now this is terrible.
This is one of the worst
catastrophes in the world
four or five hundred feet into the sky.
It's a terrific blaze, ladies and gentlemen,
the smoke and the flames now
and the is crashing to the ground.
Not quite to the mooring mast,
oh the humanities
Herb Morrison will continue as a radio reporter
and later still as a lecturer.
Nielson remains an engineer
at WLS in Chicago.
But thanks to their recordings
of this historic day
a new age of radio actuality has begun.
It is the 28th January 1986.
The United Kingdom and France
have announced plans
to construct the channel tunnel.
In the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachov introduces his policy
of Glasnost and perestroika.
Americans have been celebrating
the first federal holiday
honouring Martin Luther King Junior.
And in Florida
the countdown is underway
to NASA's latest space mission.
Yes, yes
Kennedy space centre.
On the newly refurbished pad 39B
space Shuttle Challenger is in the final stages
of preparation for launch.
Okay
Conditions are not ideal
but the mission has already
been postponed three times
since the original planned go six days ago.
Roger wilko
There have been 24 successful launches
since the inaugural Shuttle mission in April 1981
and in technical terms
today's lift-off is seen as almost routine.
American public interest in
the Shuttle programme is waning.
Many seem to have lost sight of
just how extraordinary this project actually is.
But today's mission
has attracted more press attention
than virtually any other
since the initial launch,
thanks to the inclusion of one crew member.
Krista McCauliff is
a social studies teacher
from Concorde, New Hampshire.
She joins the mission as part of
the teacher in space programme,
initiated by president Ronald Reagan
in a bid to send an ordinary citizen into space.
One of the things that
I hope to bring back into the classroom is
to make that connection with the students
that they too are part of history,
that the space programme belongs to them
and to try to bring them up with the space age.
Such has been its success
in raising public awareness
that further programmes are being discussed
involving journalists and blue collar workers.
Krista will have little to do with the mission
until day four when she steps into the limelight
and is scheduled to teach two lessons from space.
The seven astronauts are all in good spirits,
despite the strong of delays.
Now, as the mission prepares to go,
they find themselves
in the full glare of the media's spotlight.
The commander of this mission is
former air force flyer
Dick Scobey
As usual it's a real pleasure to be at the Cape
to come down here and participate in something
that the Cape does better
than anybody in the world
and that's launching space vehicles.
The pilot is Mike Smith.
It will be his first Shuttle flight.
I understand it's ready to go
and we're looking forward to going to fly.
There are three mission specialists -
Judy Wesnick, Ellison Onizuker
and Ron McNare.
Greg Jarvis is the payload specialist.
But the star of this show,
as far as the press are concerned,
is mother of two, Krista McCauliff.
I don't think any teacher has ever been
more ready to have two lessons in my life.
I've been preparing these since September
and I just hope everybody tunes in on day four
now to watch the teacher teaching from space.
There you go honey
Thanks sweety
In Willard, Utah, it is still early
but Roger Beaujolais is already up
and eating his breakfast.
Roger is an engineer at Morton Thiokol,
in nearby Brigham City.
Morton Thiokol work as
contractors for NASA
and Roger is part of the team
that builds the solid rocket boosters,
the SRBs,
that will power Challenger
into orbit later today.
He's a creature of habit and every morning
Roger eats either creamed wheat or hot oats,
depending on the weather.
Out on the launch pad
the astronauts begin to board Challenger
where they will await
the specified launch time of 9:37am.
NASA launch controllers are careful to only
board the crew if all systems are go.
Conditions on board are at best uncomfortable.
No launch is entirely without its problems
and today it is the weather
that is causing concern.
Yesterday's lift off was scrubbed in advance
when bad weather was predicted
over Kennedy space centre.
But the bad weather failed to materialise.
In the White Room,
the anti-chamber to the Shuttle,
the close out crew are responsible for
manually locking the entry hatch
and verifying it is closed.
But something is wrong.
The door is locked
but a safety indicator is reading that it's not.
The technicians can see
that the lock is correctly in place.
It seems to be the indicator
that is malfunctioning.
Despite this they must call in the fault.
The Space Shuttle programme
has been beset by
a catalogue of technical faults.
Almost every launch has had to overcome problems
which have surfaced throughout prelaunch
and even during or after flights.
But the intrepid nature of the programme
means that NASA is pushing
the very boundaries of available technology.
before making a prestart.
While the close out crew
deal with the faulty door indicator
the wind at launch pad 39B
is pushing towards 15 knots,
the crucial cut off point
at which launch must be scrubbed.
Worse still, the close out crew
have another problem.
As they attempt to remove
the handle to the entrance hatch
they notice that the bolt is stripped.
With 400,000 gallons of
highly flammable liquid hydrogen
in the Shuttle's main tank
no tools that might create a spark
are stored on site.
The crew must now wait for
a battery drill to be delivered.
The 10,000 acre complex of Morton Thiokol
dominates the scenery around Brigham City, Utah.
It is the town's chief employer
and has been Roger Boisjolys' work place
for the past six years.
Roger is an engineer working on
the solid rocket booster programme.
He aims to arrive at work
before his shift begins at 8am.
He likes to make the most of this time,
before the phone starts to ring.
The solid rocket boosters
cost $50 million a pair
and are used to power the Shuttle
to a speed of one mile a second.
They are then jettisoned
and parachute back into the sea
where they are recovered and returned to
Morton Thiokol to be refurbished.
The SRBs are constructed
in sections to ease transport to
and from Utah by rail road.
The sections are then assembled
at Kennedy Space Centre.
Each section of the SRB
has two large washers
or O-rings to seal the inside of the joints
between each section.
These rubber O-rings
expand to fill the gaps
in the joints during the stresses of launch
and prevent a potentially catastrophic
escape of super heated gas.
Roger Beaujolais heads for the regular
morning meeting of the sealed task force,
set up after the January 1985
launch of the Discovery Orbiter.
The Discovery mission had been delayed
for several days due to low temperatures.
When the SRBs were
recovered following launch
there was evidence of blow by,
where hot gas had been able to
pass the primary O-ring.
Roger believes that this problem
was caused by
low temperatures prior to launch
which had degraded
the performance of the rubber O-rings.
Unfortunately, he has
little concrete evidence
to support his theory and,
to complicate matters,
similar blow by had subsequently resulted
from an October launch
where low temperature was not an issue.
Roger and his fellow engineers
have been trying to gather evidence
to support the low temperature theory
that severe cold might
cause both O-rings to fail.
At Cape Kennedy
the faulty hatch door has been resolved
but precious time has been wasted.
Winds are gusting up to 25 miles per hour.
Today's launch now hangs in the balance.
At 12:50 Mission Control admit defeat
and half a million dollar's worth of fuel
must be vented from Shuttles
main tank and written off.
At Morton Thiokol
fellow engineer Arnie Thompson tells Roger
that today's lift-off is scrubbed
and rescheduled for tomorrow.
But between now and then sub zero temperatures
are forecast out of the Cape.
A low temperature launch
is the exact scenario Roger
and his colleagues fear.
The seven Challenger
astronauts leave the Orbiter
and return to their quarters to recover.
Despite the launch delays this mission
has already garnered valuable publicity
for NASA and for the Reagan administration
who instigated the teacher
in space programme.
Of the 11,000 teachers
who applied Krista McCauliff was selected
from ten finalists
after a week of demanding tests.
When that Shuttle goes
there might be one body
but there's going to be
ten souls that I'm taking with me.
The story of an ordinary wife
and mother going to space
has captured the nation's imagination.
But if the Shuttle does not fly tomorrow
Krista may be forced to give her teacher
in space classes over a weekend
to empty classrooms back on earth.
The SRB engineers meet with Joe Kilminster,
the vice president
of the space booster programme.
They must convince him
that their low temperature
concerns are valid
and persuade him to make
a difficult call to NASA.
We presented preliminary data
from March 1985
that told us that the O-rings
did not work properly
at 50 degrees Fahrenheit
and now we were discussing
a launch at below freezing.
For us there was no option but to delay.
It has been five weeks since Challenger
was driven out to the launch pad
aboard one of NASA's huge crawler vehicles
which were originally built
at the time of the Apollo missions.
The Orbiter has stood opposed
to the elements ever since
but as sunset approaches
the temperature begins to tumble.
After nearly an hour of discussion
Joe Kilminster is persuaded
that they must adopt a company position
and advise against tomorrow's launch.
It is a straight forward decision.
It would be an unprecedented step
to act against the advice of a unanimous
recommendation from the engineering team.
As long as Morton Thiokol
hold this position
the Shuttle will not fly.
But even for a manager with
decades of experience,
being the bearer of bad news
to a major supplier
is an unenviable task,
especially as Morton Thiokol's
contract with NASA
is currently under review.
At Cape Kennedy near freezing temperatures
are recorded as the sun goes down.
The first ice begins to
form on the Shuttle launch pad.
The Orbiter and particularly
the O-rings sealing
the SRBs are now entering conditions
in which Morton Thiokol's engineers
have hypothesised
a critical fall off in performance.
A call finally comes through
from Kennedy space centre.
But it is not the news
the Thiokol engineers are hoping for.
O-ring temperature has never been included
as one of NASA's launch commit criteria,
the checklist which governs
all Shuttle launches.
So the SRB programme managers
assembled at the Cape
ask for a full flight readiness
review and in 45 minutes.
At 8:45 eastern standard time
the conference call begins.
This is Roger Boisjoly.
Thank you, Brian.
I'd like to run over
the key points as I see them.
Roger sets out the engineers' case
for a no launch call.
In particular he sights
the evidence of last January's flight
in which he believes low temperature
was the major factor in causing
damage to the primary O-ring.
On that occasion the secondary
O-ring did its job as designed
but if tonight's extreme cold
also damages the secondary O-ring
there's a danger that tomorrow's
launch could end in disaster.
Larry Malloy here. I'm confused
Over at NASA Larry Malloy,
the manager of space booster projects,
can't understand why these issues
have not been raised before.
There have been low temperatures
at the launch site for several days now.
Why has the cold suddenly become an issue?
factor in O-ring erosion.
Malloy also sites the October 1985 launch
when there was also evidence of blow by
but at a temperature of 75 degrees
when cold was certainly not a factor.
You guys are generating
new launch committee criteria.
My god,
when do you want me to launch,
next April?
Tonight at the Challenger launch pad
the ground crew will
use 1400 gallons of anti-freeze
in an attempt to stave off ice formation.
It is nowjust 11 hours
from scheduled launch.
It's paramount that
a decision is made soon.
Okay, um, we're a little bogged down here.
Can I suggest caucus of five minutes
to help us clarify our position?
Okay, that sounds reasonable.
We're all getting a bit tired here too.
Be back with you in five minutes.
Caucus, what do we need a caucas for?
It is pointed out by Thiokol's management
that even with three times the worst erosion
witnessed to date
the O-rings should still seal.
Gentlemen, it is clear we have to make
some kind of management decision here.
The decision has now effectively been
taken out of the engineers' hands.
They sit powerless
as the Thiokol managers
take a vote based
on the available evidence.
Gentlemen, I think it's time for a vote.
The conference call reconvenes.
Joe Kilminster reads from a statement
withdrawing the no launch call.
As Morton Thiokol has
retracted its objections
tomorrow's launch can proceed as planned.
It is late but Roger takes
the time to go back to his office
and note his reactions
to the evening's events.
"Held a serious meeting
concerning the launch of SRM25
since it is so called at the Cape.
After much discussion from 1pm to 8:30pm
the engineering recommendation
was to delay the flight
until the seal was
at 53 degrees Fahrenheit,
to stay within our database.
NASA management
did not like our recommendations
and our management
properly caucused for further discussion.
This resulted in our management
making the decision
that it was a low risk based upon
their assumption that temperature
was not a discriminator.
We at engineering tried
once again to impress
that the timing of the event due
to temperature was the problem.
I sincerely hope that this launch
does not result in a catastrophe.
6:18am is the scheduled
wake up time for the Challenger's crew.
At a quarter to seven
they file in for the traditional
breakfast photo call.
The mission controller has warned them
to anticipate delays due
to temperature problems
with a probable lift off close to noon.
Ron McNear and pilot Mike Smith
followed by Krista McCauliff,
teacher in space.
Ellison on zukker
and pay lift specialist Greg Jarvis.
Big smiles today.
Confidently getting into the van.
Then go out to that pad
and attempt a second try,
second launch
second try at launch today.
It will take a few minutes for
the astronaut van to get to the pad.
The astronauts are driven through
the exclusion zone around the launch pad.
It is enforced because
should a Shuttle explode
before lift off it would do so with
the force of a small atomic bomb.
In the meantime
As the astronauts prepare to board
Commander Dick Scobey has a present
for the close out crew.
It's a bolt wrapped in red ribbon,
a playful dig at the problems of yesterday.
Around the launch pad
ground crew are still clearing ice.
Remote cameras clearly
show the scale of the problem.
As Krista McCauliff prepares to board
the technicians present her with a delicious
big polished apple, for the teacher.
She hands it back saying
"Save it for me.
I'll eat it when I get back".
Krista's parents, Grace and Ed Corrigan,
are also at the Cape to witness the launch.
We're getting a little bit of trepidation
as we're getting closer and closer.
Excitement is also building
at Concorde high school
where Krista's pupils
wait to see their teacher
become the first civilian in space.
The launch countdown clock is at T minus
nine minutes and holding.
The weather at the launch site
is clear but cold.
Jay Green is the mission control
in Houston for this launch.
He now pulls his 11 strong team
and each says "go for launch".
The T minus nine countdown begins.
Roger has never
watched a launch
on television at work.
He prefers to get on
with the tasks in hand.
But today
he has been persuaded to come
and watch by colleague Bob Eberling.
This is the walkway used by the astronauts
to climb in the vehicle
and that arm can be put back in place
within about 15 to 20 seconds
if an emergency should arise.
Liquid oxygen pressure checks
are under way.
At T minus ten seconds
waterjets are turned on
to deaden the sound of launch.
ten seconds
Igniters light the frozen gases
from the engines.
The sudden force rocks
the Shuttle forwards on the pad.
three, two, one
As it returns to upright
the Shuttle is released.
and lift off.
25th space Shuttle mission
and it is clear of the tower.
Roger
During each second of its ascent
the space Shuttle burns ten tonnes
of frozen gases in solid fuel.
94% total thrust.
At 19,000 feet
Challenger passes mach one.
The three main engines
are throttled back to 65%
in anticipation of the stress that engineers
call max Q - maximum aerodynamic pressure.
Engines at 65% are running normally
fuel zones ApS
2257 feet per second,
altitude 4.3 nautical
When the Shuttle reaches 50,000 feet
the engines are powered
back up to full thrust.
Engines throttling up.
Three engines now at 104%.
Challenger, go with throttle up.
throttle up.
15 seconds, velocity 2900 feet per second,
altitude nine nautical miles,
down range distance seven nautical miles.
Flight controllers here looking
very carefully at the situation.
Obviously a major malfunction.
We have no down link.
We have a report from the
30 seconds after the explosion
the solid rocket boosters are
destroyed by remote control.
reports from recovery forces
Stand by
JC, all operators,
contingency procedures in effect.
In the moment
after the crash air sea rescue services
are scrambled to look for survivors
but there are none.
Tonight, president Reagan will
suspend the state of the union address
and instead pay tribute
to the seven astronauts.
Following the stunned silence
that accompanies the knowledge
that something had gone very wrong
people begin to ask themselves "Why?".
It will later transpire
that one of the remote cameras
trained on the launch pad
has captured vital evidence of
exactly what happened.
Even as the Shuttle leaves the pad
super heated gas can be seen being forced
through one of the joints
in the starboard SRB.
Both O-rings have failed.
Roger Boisjoly will give evidence
at the presidential commission
into the Challenger disaster.
In the following months he will leave,
first on sick leave but then for good.
The commission will find
that NASA's senior managers were not
aware of the concerns raised
by Morton Thiokol.
They will also find that Morton Thiokol
revised its position
under pressure from NASA
and contrary to the views of its engineers.
Morton Thiokol will retain
their contract to build the SRBs
and the joint will later be redesigned.
Grace Corrigan, Krista McCauliff's mother,
will step into her daughter's shoes
and give lectures
on the importance of
embracing your ambitions.
Sometimes when we reach
for the stars we fall short
but we must pick ourselves up again
and press on, despite the pain.
Our nation is indeed fortunate
that we can still draw
upon immense reservoirs of courage,
character and fortitude.