Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. I wrote about it earlier today on Clusterflock and I don’t have much more to add. The title of this entry, and the accompanning video are different than that entry. I got them from Thingamababy. Hearing the almost robotic way the PA announcer says “Obviously a major malfunction” is to me a bit disturbing and I think makes a great title. Also more disturbing in this video is watching Christa McAuliffe’s parent’s reaction.

The Wikipedia entry is even more amazing, especially when I read the parts about how the crew probably survived past the separation of the vehicle from the external tank and that it wasn’t an explosion in the normal sense. Aerodynamic forces ripped the orbiter apart and if it had actually exploded, there wouldn’t have been any bits to pickup. A definite eye opener.