9/11 Debate

[capcom]

I wonder whether there were conspiracy theories floating around after the Challenger Space Shuttle blew up. The Russians had a motive to cripple the US Space program as did the Europeans as they were involved in launching satellites via their Ariadne rockets. Could the official explanation of degraded O-rings really explain the explosion when there had been numerous successful launches without any problem in that regard?

There were a few.  24 flights in all before 51L.  ALL had some level of "blow by" on the Solid Rocket Boosters before the O rings were redesigned to cover for any shrinkage in the seals if a "go" was given in cold weather.  Morton Thiokol (SRB manufacturers told NASA to scrub the flight on the 51L launch morning)  That warning was ignored, and  disaster followed.

It was freezing on the 26th January and major ice on the gantry.

The exhaust from the right hand SRB section just burnt thru and collapsed the bottom struts holding the booster to the external tank.  G forces, after the strut gave way, swung the solid rocket booster straight into the full loaded external tank. 

And once ignited, the SRBs cannot be controlled or shut down

All 110 missions that followed 51L worked to perfection.