Space Shuttle Challenger Case
Case Study Analysis
Activity Title: Case Analysis Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Name:
Date: 7/7/2011
Cause(s) of Accident As I read the Presidents Commission report and the other sources available, it is surprising that there are so few direct causes outlined in the Shuttle Challenger’s ill-fated incident on the morning of January 28, 1986. I remember that morning well, as I was standing on the front stoop of our shop located just off the flight line on MacDill AFB, FL some 125 miles from the launch site, however once the shuttle began its flight you could always see the trail it left for miles. This morning started out no differently than any other, except that it was a launch day, and we were set on watching from our perch at …show more content…
As described in Fundamentals of Aircraft Material Factors 2nd Edition, “When a load is applied to a metallic structural material, the metallic bonding resists a change in the atomic arrangement. This resistance is called stress. Stress is measured in pounds per square inch, psi, in the U.S. customary system of measurements. Stress refers to a definite plane passing through a given point on the structural member.” One can only imagine the shear load changes that were taking place as the shuttle was basically ripped away from its flight structure. NASA describes the Shuttle as a combination of elements comprised of the orbiter, solid rocket boosters and the fuel tank. All of these components are required for launch flight and the thrusts and velocity figures allow for stability in flight when all components are …show more content…
In the NASA response (1987) the Director Dr. Fletcher stated “we are not only responding but implementing every one of those recommendations. The status of the implementation, of course, is varying, depending on how far along-some of them are going to take a long time to fix, but we are in the process of implementing every one of them.” I believe the recommendations were followed and the report made to the President and Congress sub-sequentially allowed NASA to get the shuttle program back on track, and ironically the final flight STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for this week. I will not have the same vantage point as I did in 1986, but I will be monitoring this historic scheduled event via the WWW and National News channels.
Activity Title: Case Analysis Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
Name:
Date: 7/7/2011
Cause(s) of Accident As I read the Presidents Commission report and the other sources available, it is surprising that there are so few direct causes outlined in the Shuttle Challenger’s ill-fated incident on the morning of January 28, 1986. I remember that morning well, as I was standing on the front stoop of our shop located just off the flight line on MacDill AFB, FL some 125 miles from the launch site, however once the shuttle began its flight you could always see the trail it left for miles. This morning started out no differently than any other, except that it was a launch day, and we were set on watching from our perch at …show more content…
As described in Fundamentals of Aircraft Material Factors 2nd Edition, “When a load is applied to a metallic structural material, the metallic bonding resists a change in the atomic arrangement. This resistance is called stress. Stress is measured in pounds per square inch, psi, in the U.S. customary system of measurements. Stress refers to a definite plane passing through a given point on the structural member.” One can only imagine the shear load changes that were taking place as the shuttle was basically ripped away from its flight structure. NASA describes the Shuttle as a combination of elements comprised of the orbiter, solid rocket boosters and the fuel tank. All of these components are required for launch flight and the thrusts and velocity figures allow for stability in flight when all components are …show more content…
In the NASA response (1987) the Director Dr. Fletcher stated “we are not only responding but implementing every one of those recommendations. The status of the implementation, of course, is varying, depending on how far along-some of them are going to take a long time to fix, but we are in the process of implementing every one of them.” I believe the recommendations were followed and the report made to the President and Congress sub-sequentially allowed NASA to get the shuttle program back on track, and ironically the final flight STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for this week. I will not have the same vantage point as I did in 1986, but I will be monitoring this historic scheduled event via the WWW and National News channels.