Soccer ball aimed at outer space with Chikenja and Onitsuka Astronaut, 30 years later finally into space

A picture of a blue earth spreading over the window and a single soccer ball floating in front of it. This little football ball was put on the space shuttle "Challenger" launched on January 28, 1986,Ellison OnizukaIt is a soccer ball that was supposed to go to space with seven crew members including astronauts.

Published this photo plays a big role in important missions such as space shuttle at NASAJohnson Space Center. At the corner of the International Space Station (ISS) "Cupola"This soccer ball was taken in the Challenger issue that caused an accident thirty years ago and it was involved in a major accident that remained in history but was aimed at the universe once, I decided to follow fate.

Iss050e033912 | iss050e033912 (01/21/2017) --- A soccer ball ... | Flickr
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Mr. Onizuka (left end of the photo), the former owner of the soccer ball, said the mission name "STS-51-L"I went aboard the Challenger as an astronaut. When boarding the Challenger issue, Clearlake High School football players close to the Johnson Space Center gathered their signs to the soccer balls and gave Mr. Onizuka. This is the soccer ball which flew to space this time, and the signature also contained the sign of Mr. Onizuka's daughter. Mr. Onizuka, who was awarded a soccer ball, took the soccer ball and high school students' dreams together when aiming for a space shuttle and aimed for the universe.

ByNASA Johnson

A challenger with seven crews and soccer balls and a satellite used in the mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:38 am on January 28, 1986 and aimed at the universe as a way I will. But only 73 seconds later, due to a problem that occurred in the right auxiliary booster rocket, the Challenger suddenly disintegrated during launchChallenger's Explosion AccidentThere was a catastrophe called.

When talking about this accident, it is often expressed as "the Challenger exploded", but in fact the investigation has revealed that the main event in the accident was not "explosion" but "disintegration". The right booster which caused the trouble disturbed the attitude of the whole shuttle and the space shuttle which had been continuing to rise at supersonic speed suddenly suffered the aircraft due to lost aerodynamic balance and was broken up into pieces in a moment It is the main event of the accident to say that it has gone.

Although this picture is a photograph that I often see as an accident photograph of the Challenger issue, in fact it is not the smoke caused by the explosion but the liquid hydrogen filled in the external fuel tank was scattered and burned, cloud". Although it was an accident that caused a large fireball just after disassembly, it is considered appropriate to call it "rapid combustion". And although it is a space shuttle that was disassembled in the supersonic state, at this point at least some of the crew were still conscious of being conscious.

ByNASA Johnson

The space that the crew of the space shuttle boards is made of reinforced aluminum and is a particularly strong structure among the aircraft. Therefore, it was found by later investigation that even when sudden airframe decomposition occurred only the crewmembers' section was retained in its original shape. However, there is nothing to do with the crew that lost both propulsive power and control system. It was also obvious later that some crews were doing desperate operations, but 2 minutes and 45 seconds after the aircraft was disassembled, the crew members and the crewmen with the soccer balls on board were at 300 km / h in the Atlantic Ocean It fell.

After the accident, the challenger aircraft that had been sunk in the sea was collected one after another. And among them, the soccer ball that Mr. Onizuka brought was collected miraculously and safely.

ByNASA Johnson

After that, the ball was returned to Clear Lake High School and was displayed in the school for 30 years. Although it was a soccer ball that was about to be forgotten while the moon was flowing, the principal Karen Engle of the same school had its history in his hand. To my school, I have been a son of Robert S. Kimbrough astronaut who went to outer space with Space Shuttle mission and is still participating in ISS mission. As Kimbrau who heard the story of Mr. Onizuka suggested to take the remains of Mr. Onizuka to space in his mission, it was realized that soccer balls were delivered again to outer space.

ByNASA Johnson

This picture was released on January 21, 2017. At NASA, every year, January 31 is said to be "Day of Remembrance" (memorial day) to remember the staff who died in space development and Mr. Kimbrau holds this picture ahead of that day.

In addition, some of the crew members of the Challenger that had been disassembled had traces of efforts to improve the situation until the end. Three of the four personal air supply packs in the flight deck were in operation and that some of the power system switches in the right hand side panel of Michael Smith It was revealed by the investigation after the accident that it was moved from the launch position of.

Mr. Robert Obermeyer, chief investigator of NASA who was involved in the investigation said, "Captain Scobie made every effort to survive, he was flying that ship without having wings for the whole time they fell, they were alive It is laterIn an interviewI am talking. Space development is a side by side with various dangers, but the technology and knowledge that we have now can not be achieved without such many victims.