The Challenger Disaster
Published: August 26, 2026
Duration: 1:01:32
On the night of January 27, 1986, a Morton Thiokol engineer named Allan McDonald refused to sign a document saying it was safe to launch the space shuttle Challenger the next morning.
The engineers who built the shuttle's solid rocket boosters had recommended against flying in temperatures colder than 53 degrees, then reversed themselves after a 30-minute private caucus in which a vice president was told to take off his engineering hat and put on his management hat.
The launch went ahead at 11:38 a.m. in 36-degree weather, and 73 seconds later Challenger came apart on live television.
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The engineers who built the shuttle's solid rocket boosters had recommended against flying in temperatures colder than 53 degrees, then reversed themselves after a 30-minute private caucus in which a vice president was told to take off his engineering hat and put on his management hat.
The launch went ahead at 11:38 a.m. in 36-degree weather, and 73 seconds later Challenger came apart on live television.
...