Rules were observed, protocols followed, but the launch of the space shuttle Challenger still turned to tragedy.
It was so cold on the night of Jan. 27, 1986, that officials at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center feared the water pipes on the space shuttle launchpad would freeze. To protect the plumbing, they decided to keep the water trickling through the pad’s sprinkler system. By dawn, the gantry was festooned with icicles, like “something out of Dr. Zhivago,” one observer said.
The risk of falling ice was one of several reasons to delay the launch of the space shuttle Challenger on that frigid morning. But the countdown proceeded. Then, 73 seconds into the flight, Challenger exploded, sending its seven crew members—including “teacher in space” Christa McAuliffe—on a fatal plunge into the sea.
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a City Journal contributing editor, cohost of the How Do We Fix It? podcast, and the former editor of Popular Mechanics
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