The Challenger O Ring Failure

He had predicted that if the o rings were to fail the rockets would explode before the shuttle ever lifted off from the launch site.

The challenger o ring failure.

The failure of the solid rocket booster o rings to seal properly allowed hot combustion gases to leak from the side of the booster and burn through the external fuel tank. Nasa s space shuttle challenger accident was a devastating tragedy that killed seven astronauts and shocked the world on jan. In the january 1986 challenger accident primary and secondary o rings in the field joint of the right solid fuel rocket booster were burnt through by hot gases. The rubber o rings of which there were a primary and secondary between each rocket segment weren t supposed to be burned by the gases resulting from liftoff but that s exactly what happened during the testing phase.

The failure of the o rings was attributed to a faulty design whose performance could be too easily compromised by factors including the low ambient temperature on the day of launch. But as he watched the challenger disintegrate at the launch control center that cold sunny january morning he was baffled. The disintegration began with the failure of an o ring seal in the right solid rocket booster srb that let a plume of hot gases break through. At 73 seconds challenger broke apart over atlantic ocean.

Nasa s own pre launch estimates were that there was a 1 in 100 000 chance of shuttle failure for any given launch and poor statistical reasoning was a key. In challenger s case the o ring got so cold it hadn t expanded properly and allowed the leak. On january 28 1986 seven astronauts were killed when the space shuttle they were piloting the challenger exploded at just over a minute into the flight. This plume acting as a blowtorch pierced a hole in the wall of the external tank.

The commission found that the challenger accident was caused by a failure in the o rings sealing the aft field joint on the right solid rocket booster causing pressurized hot gases and eventually flame to blow by the o ring and contact the adjacent external tank causing structural failure. This raised a more pressing question. The failure of the o rings was attributed to a design flaw as their performance could be too easily compromised by factors including the low temperature on the day of launch. The o ring was known to be sensitive to cold and could only work.

He would soon learn that his worst fears had come true. The cause of the disaster was traced to an o ring a circular gasket that sealed the right rocket booster. This had failed due to the low temperature 31 f 0 5 c at launch time a risk that several engineers noted but that nasa management dismissed.