The Crew of Challenger Surviving
I just can't wrap my head around this, looking at the footage, how does anyone survive that!
Maybe someone can explain to me.
If this refers to STS-51-L, none of the crew survived.
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"I am a collage of unaccounted for brush strokes, and I am all random!"
Although all of the crew died, there were indications that some of the emergency oxygen supplies were activated, indicating that some of the crew survived the initial explosion. I think this is what to OP is referring to.
shareThis article might help explain how they survived for a short time.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11031097/
__________________________
"I am a collage of unaccounted for brush strokes, and I am all random!"
I probably could've been a bit clearer in my initial post - yes, I was referring to the crew surviving the break-up.
That article did help to explain it, although it's still somewhat hard to imagine. Maybe, I just don't want to imagine it.
It helps to fully understand that Challenger didn't technically explode.
The flame that burned through the SRB blazed up against the external fuel tank, causing it to rupture.
When the tank ruptured, it didn't explode -- its structure failed in a way that caused the SRB to separate from it.
This compromised the structural integrity of the entire shuttle system -- orbiter, SRBs and fuel tank.
As the system collapsed, the orbiter was essentially turned broadside into the oncoming airstream, and this ripped it apart.
The crew module remained intact and was ejected away from the gigantic fireball that formed as the fuel tank ruptured only a fraction of a second after the breakup.
It was this fireball that has been widely interpreted as an "explosion." But by that time, the crew module -- intact and with the crew possibly still alive inside -- was on its own ballistic trajectory. Whether the crew compartment was intact enough to hold pressure, if the crew members were conscious, or the extent of their awareness as they fell to the ocean... we'll never really know.
I say ccguy your explanation helped more than anything else. I now have a reasonable idea of what occured to the shuttle and crew.
share"The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive until then."
My stomach kinda turned around.
Nearly 3 minutes, that is a very, very long time when you're dying... or about to die.