Is it true that Space Shuttle Challenger's crew compartment had extremely disturbing contents when the US Navy finally recovered it from the ocean? David Cote

Is it true that Space Shuttle Challenger's crew compartment had extremely disturbing contents when the US Navy finally recovered it from the ocean?

David Cote, B.A. Engineering, University of New Hampshire (2010)

Updated Tue · Upvoted by Peter Chen, PhD Astronomy & Space Exploration, Case Western Reserve University Alumni (1979) and Kevin Jacobson, former Surface Warfare Officer at United States Navy (2004-2016)

I mean, there were seven people in there when it hit the ocean at 210 mph, subjecting them to 200 g of force. That is far worse than a head-on collision between two vehicles at freeway speeds. At that velocity, water would have provided no cushion whatsoever, they may as well have struck concrete.

I don’t think there is any question of how gruesome that scene must have been for first responders. At least the end would have been near instantaneous.

Let’s just hope the cabin de-pressurized in the explosion. Otherwise, the astronauts would have likely been conscious for the entire 2-minute and 45-second fall.

Edit: After some comments, here is what we know about the astronaut’s final moments. The peak g load immediately after the “explosion” was about 12–20 g for less than 2 seconds before dropping to 4 g, and then stabilizing to free-fall (1 g) within 10 seconds. That is highly survivable (for a well secured individual) and most won’t lose consciousness, certainly not trained pilots.

There was no real explosion at all, with the minimal air pressure at 45,000 feet it would be better described as disintegration with a bit of fire. The wings and tail of Challenger were shredded by aerodynamic forces, not by any explosion. The remaining portion of the hardened crew compartment stabilized into a nose down orientation within 10 seconds and maintained it through until impact.

Of the four emergency oxygen PEAPs recovered, three were manually turned on and the rest never found. They were almost certainly activated after maximum g loads had subsided which means they were conscious after the effects of the “explosion.”

That transcript which is floating around of the Challenger crew’s final moments is a complete fake. Long debunked tabloid rumor.

Yes, it is very likely in my personal opinion that at least some of the astronauts were both alive and conscious when the crew capsule struck the Atlantic ocean almost 3 minutes after their launch vehicle “exploded.” A lot of people do not want to face that fact but its probably true.

163.9k views · View Upvoters · View Sharers