Shuttle crew aware of explosion

Press, 30 July 1986, Page 10

Shuttle crew aware of explosion

NZPA-AP Washington

Commander Michael Smith exclaimed “Uh-oh” at virtually the moment an explosion engulfed the space shuttle Challenger on January 29, killing all seven crew members.

Commander Smith's remark is heard on a tape recording recovered from the wreckage of the Challenger and recently analysed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineers. It gave the first evidence that the crew had any awareness of the disaster that had befallen the shuttle.

The tape, a transcript of which was released by N.A.S.A. yesterday, offered no indication that any other crew members felt anything was abnormal prior to Commander Smith’s single exclamation 73 seconds after launching — the very second that ground-controllers lost all communication with the craft

The recording features a conversation between Commander Smith and the^'shuttle’s commander,

Mr Frances “Dick” Scobee, and two mission specialists, Dr Judith Resnik and LieutenantColonel Ellison Onizuko. The schoolteacher-as-tronaut, Christa McAuliffe, and two other mission specialists, Dr Ronald McNair and Gregory Jarvis, are not heard on the recording, which monitored the Challenger’s internal intercom system. Rear-Admiral Richard Truly, associate administrator for space flight, also announced that the space agency has been "unable to determine positively” exactly what killed the Challenger astronauts. "It is possible, but not certaim that loss of consciousness did occur in the seconds following the orbiter break-up,” he said.

As recently as July 17, N.A.S.A. said its reviews of the voice tape indicated that the crew was unaware of the events preceding the orbiter’s break-up. N.A.S.A. said yesterday that more analysis. had showed that Commander Smith’s final comment offered the first potential indication of crew. awareness- of the accident.