Dying Man Gives Up unseen Challnger Explosion Video

"An amateur video of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion has been made public for the first time. The Florida man who filmed it from his front yard on his new Betamax camcorder turned the tape over to an educational organization a week before he died this past December. The Space Exploration Archive has since published the video into the public domain in time for the 24th anniversary of the catastrophe. Despite being shot from about 70 miles from Cape Canaveral, the shuttle and the explosion can be seen quite clearly. It is unclear why he never shared the footage with NASA or the media. NASA officials say they were not aware of the video, but are interested in examining it now that it has been made available."

www.liveleak.com...

I dont know why he never shared it hardly adds anything extra to what we already know.

A dark moment in space exploration, glad that the guy gave up the video before passing on. Though I'm curious as to why he held on to it for this long without putting it out for the world to see. Perhaps he had forgotten about it and remembered not to long ago?

I hated watching that. Really, really hated it.
Still, it's good to have it added to the record.

Hi,

Thanks for posting this - I sat stunned for a couple of minutes after. Sure we all know what happened but this brought home how (literally) the man in the street saw it and responded.

Peace!

reply to post by Did you see them


why is it that the explosion of the challenger was the end of moon exploration. It was tragic, but bound to happen. Nothing in the world is perfect, cars brake, planes crash, and boats sink. Why would it be different for a spaceship. Why they just scrape it altogether after one failure?

o and the links not working for me

Brought back some memories that I'd rather had stay lost. I was on the transient ramp at Patrick AFB that morning. We usually flew a cross country run down from Jacksonville for shuttle launches. We'd take as many squadron people as we could down to watch the launch. Right after the explosion we launched two of our helos to go look for survivors. We were held out of the area for over 20 minutes, because of falling debris. We brought back some of the first pieces recovered, mostly fuel tank foam and heat sheld tiles. Later we flew back up to Jacksonville and I decided to go to a local bar and get drunk. There was some moron who thought he was funny asking "What does NASA stand for? Need Another Seven Astronauts.". He didn't eat solid food for a few weeks and I broke two fingers on my right hand. As I said some memories are better off lost.

I was a teenager in bed(prolly 17) when mom started yelling for us to wake up the challenger exploded.

I jumped up and leaned over the balcony to see the tv, and I remember being stunned. They played it over and over. I remember a teacher was on the flight.

How nice he released the video before he died. Makes me wonder what else is floating around out there in home archives, unknown or elsewise.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
He didn't eat solid food for a few weeks and I broke two fingers on my right hand. As I said some memories are better off lost.

yep thats one way to be a bigger better man...punch some one else.
I hope you walk around since punching people after every car crash, plane crash, train crash murder, suicide...etc

Do you get my point, just becasue they were straped into atin can that went into space doesnt make them more important than the local bum who dies on a cold night....
Nothing more than crocodile tears and bravado.

I have always heard from scuttlebutt, That the cockpit landed in shallow Water. I have also heard it was in tact, and there we're possible survivors. but The Navy was Ordered to Stand down, for Search and Rescue. Has Anybody ever heard of This? or Was it just a Rumor.

reply to post by 297GT


Sounds to me like you've been picked on to much. I give JIMC5499 props for doing that to the guy, considering what he saw that day. Its not funny at all to make fun of people that died.

reply to post by Did you see them

the video

I am pleased to report that apparently it has been long enough that the Challenger disaster is now funny.

Listening to that man calmy observe that "I don't know, George...that doesn't look right" as the shuttle exploded into a huge ball of flames and large chunks of shrapnel began their descent...listening to him say "I don't know, George. Looks like trouble of some kind" a good thirty seconds after that debris had long since crashed to the ground...well, I laughed.



[edit on 3-2-2010 by LordBucket]

I remember watching the launch on live TV in school. I was in the 5th grade. It was the first time I had ever watched a shuttle launch.

I'm sure the man just hung on to the video for personal reasons. He says in the video that he thinks that he had just recorded something historical. He probably just wanted to keep it for himself and for his family to have as their own record of the event.

297GT .. I will agree with you that one human life is just as important as the next, however, there is a difference in the tragedy of a brave human being putting their lives on the line for the betterment of humanity.

Interesting that this was released right after the furor over Obama killing the moon program.

Originally posted by Target Earth
I have always heard from scuttlebutt, That the cockpit landed in shallow Water. I have also heard it was in tact, and there we're possible survivors. but The Navy was Ordered to Stand down, for Search and Rescue. Has Anybody ever heard of This? or Was it just a Rumor.

Their is some evidence that suggests that they were alive until the crew compartment hit the ocean, that impact was not survivable. Now astronauts wear advanced escape suits with a parachute and liferaft upon take off and re-entry. Changes in protocall for aviation and space exploration are often written in blood.

The crew cabin landed in about 280 feet of water. From what I have heard some of the crew were alive after the impact and died by drowning. I also heard that because of the g-forces during the fall it was highly unlikely that they were conscious on impact. One odd thing here was that when Challenger exploded, Columbia was back in the factory having it's ejection seats removed.

297GT

No I don't make a habit of walking around punching people and no I really don't get your point if there is even one there. Sometimes some people need a little reminder of what is proper at the time. In this case other methods failed and he wasn't getting the message. I just made sure that he recieved and understood the message.

Get the message?

[edit on 3-2-2010 by JIMC5499]

The Question is? What year did this actually happen

Do you remember where you were when this happened?

-I remember a post on ATS or somewhere else about this, so I still put it to the test whenever this subject comes up.

I ask this because I have always gotten different answers from different people, it's a very weird experience to get a group of people together and bring this up.

We all know where we were, but the Year to date is sometimes off between people. Anyone remember this subject?

??

reply to post by 297GT


What that guy said to him was in POOR taste and he deserved to get nailed in the mouth. Maybe he will think next time he runs his mouth to someone. I also think it was a little more personal for the person who hit considering what he did after it happened that day.

OP~ I will never forget this launch because it was the first one I ever saw and I was in 2nd grade. We all went outside to watch it and I knew something wasnt right. I love the shuttle but after that I didnt watch it go up for a while. Now I have to see it. This weekend I will be there to watch it and I hope it goes up on time. I have two friends who work on the shuttle and they keep me posted with information about what is going on and any delays. There was almost one the other day but it's fixed now

reply to post by The_Brave


Slightly off topic here but this video shows how easily people forget details of such events.

I was in high school in Pasadena, CA. when this happened. We were in science class watching the launch live when it happened, I remember how numb I felt afterwards...

I remember the Columbia tragedy just as freshly as if it were last week. I even created a soundtrack dedicated to that event, ReEntry Live.

That soundtrack leaves the moment and the feeling lingering for the rest of the day, but it gives tribute and pays homage to an American tragedy, the second of it's type I've personally witnessed, that touches us all.