Science

‘Isn’t That Amazing’: Rare Home Video of Challenger Shuttle Disaster Surfaces

More than 25 years later, what is thought to be one of the only home videos capturing the tragedy that befell the Challenger Shuttle on Jan. 28, 1986, has been released.

New Scientist reports that the father of one of its current employees had been filming the launch from Kennedy Space Center while on a return trip from a family vacation to Disney World. The footage taken by Bob Karman at the Orlando airport was converted from its VHS format last month.

Watch the clip:

According to New Scientist, The Guardian had called a similar amateur video that was found in 2010 the only one like it, but Karman’s footage shows otherwise:

His late wife and 3-year-old daughter Kim, who now works at New Scientist, are visible in the beginning of the clip. “After shooting the video, I had a sense that something went wrong but it wasn’t until we were on the plane that the pilot confirmed the tragedy,” he says.

Karman always remembered filming the event but it was only recently, while researching historic amateur videos, that he became aware of the video’s rarity. Captured in an era that precedes mobile phones, when few people owned camcorders, it’s one of few video recordings of the disaster by a member of the public.

[...]

According to NASA spokesperson Michael Curie, NASA does not have a collection of amateur videos of the disaster. “The Rogers Commission used all the NASA photography and videos in its investigation but we do not know if they used outside amateur videos,” he says.

Home Video Captures the Challenger Shuttle Tragedy

Challenger shuttle footage taken from the Orlando airport as it rose from Kennedy Space Center.

Home Video Captures the Challenger Shuttle Tragedy

Footage of the shuttle from the home camera after things went awry.

There is a stark difference between the home video with no commentary aside from that of spectators or ability to zoom close enough to capture the true severity of the event. Watch this CNN clip to see the difference:

All seven crew members were killed in the explosion. The disaster struck due to an improperly sealed component in one of its  solid rocket boosters, which resulted in a series of events that led to several components falling off at Mach speeds.

Comments (117)

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  • TRUMPETCALL
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:34pm

    MAJOR MALFUNCTION

    Obviously.

    We watched from a Pizza Hut in Rome, Georgia. Shaken deeply because we were at the Cape for the previous launch; seeing a launch from the observation area is almost indescribable.

    Where did the time go….

    Report Post »  
    • bigdaddyt46
      Posted on June 8, 2012 at 7:36am

      my Uncle was a big wig at NASAduring this time and in fact was one of the last people to sign off on the launch. he did so he said because of the final mechanics report stating everything was corrected and was good to go. when this happened he took it personally, and it nearly destroyed him. 2 months after he retired from NASA because he couldn’t face the day to day workings of NASA, and the guilt ate at him. he still has major contacts/friends at NASA and when i visited him last year we were sitting around with the tv on talking and catching up because it was my first visit back to LA in 35+ years. when something(i can’t remember exactly what) came on about NASA he told me that him and his older NASA friends cannot believe what NASA has become today. he didn’t go into further detail, so i just left it at that. but all this time has passed, and i know he still has this weighing heavy on his heart that he didn’t look into things before signing off on this shuttle. in his own words after this was that he blindly trusted those under him did their jobs and investigated the mechanical problems that delayed the launches in the first place.

      Report Post » bigdaddyt46  
  • simplegirl
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:27pm

    Glenn, great site for reading news, and I love the comments, by your followers. But I gotta say the consistancy of your video clips actually working is crummy. You need to hire a replacement for the video clip embedder position. It sure makes u look unprofessional.

    Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:38pm

      And your complaining makes you look petty. Don‘t like the video’s don’t watch them.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • smittycity42
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:42pm

      I agree, broken links are unprofessional. And being annoyed by them does not make you petty.

      Report Post »  
    • SPOT_OF_TEA
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 9:54am

      Don’t sweat the petty things and dont pet the sweaty things.

      Report Post » SPOT_OF_TEA  
    • NOT A CRAZY
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 10:08am

      Simple, Just because people comment on here does not make them a Beck “follower.”

      Report Post » NOT A CRAZY  
    • ozchambers
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 11:10am

      didnt have any problems with the video……

      Report Post » ozchambers  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:20pm

    My best friend worked on the shuttles in Palmdale, Ca. When they “rolled out” the shuttle to return back to Florida after some repairs, we got to watch. Then they put it up on the plane it piggybacked to ride, and it was an amazing sight. I know the loss was really hard on her, and the rest of the people who worked on the shuttles. It about broke her heart. God bless all who have been the pioneers in the space program

    Report Post »  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:11pm

      I remember that day well. We were on our morning break and I asked if anyone wanted to go outside (in the very cold for Fl weather) to see the Shuttle. Everyone said I was crazy to go out in that cold. When I came back in and sat down at the break table one of the guys asked me if I just saw a ghost. I told them what happened and no one believed me. The Electrical Engineer turned on his radio and everyone listened in horror as the announcement was broadcast. I just sat there and said, “They haven’t even hit the ground yet” as the jerk in the group shouted, “Wow, I wish I went out with my camera.”
      Like Quincy in the movie Jaws, when he said, “I’ll never wear a life vest again”… I’ll never watch a video replaying that moment. I was watching it through my binoculars and it is burned into my memory.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • LetFreedomRing
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:38pm

      It definitely impacted the communities of Lancaster and Palmdale, CA. The street that was used to transport the shuttle to it’s piggy-back journey was renamed Challenger Way which gives us frequent cause to remember those honorable souls.

      Report Post »  
    • Navyavi8or
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 12:02pm

      I remember that day as well. I was in my office at Mayport Naval Air Station (about 160 miles up the coast) when a Chief rushed in from outside exclaiming “The Space Shuttle just blew up!“ We laughed at him and told him to ”get outta here!” But sure enough, we walked out onto the flight ramp and were able to see the flume of smoke in the southern sky. There was an eerie, somber, and sad mood in the air that day . I felt that feeling again (albeit with much more intensity) on Sept 11, 2001.

      Report Post »  
    • csbulldog
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 1:10pm

      I remember that day very well, however, the gravity of what happened didn’t hit me for about a week. I was 2 weeks over-due for the birth of my first child and was more concerned with myself. I had a healthy boy 5 days after the disaster and then it hit me….WOW, all those lives lost, how utterly sad! Then the Columbia disaster was the day before my son’s 17th birthday, we watched it happen from here in Texas.

      Report Post » csbulldog  
  • Sayre
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:43pm

    Seems like yesterday… so sad. Yet, that day was to be the State of the Union and President Reagan put of the State of the Union and gave a short, under five minutes, about the Space Shuttle… one of the best he ever gave! Find it on youtube
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa7icmqgsow

    Report Post » Sayre  
    • JoJoStarbuck173
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:05pm

      Does seem like a very long time ago now. I was standing outside my Junior High School about 2 miles North of the Orlando airport that day and saw exactly what is on that video, well without the zoom of course. A very sad day indeed.

      Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:15pm

      JoJo – I graduated from Colonial High School in Orlando. I am trying to figure out which Jr. High you attended, was it in the Conway area or was it Stonewall Jackson Jr. High. Are you one of my rivals?

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 7:08am

      Time is funny, ain’t it?

      I watched this happen live from a courtyard at my elementary school in Tampa in the third grade, yet I remember it like it was yesterday.

      Back then, the teachers used to put on PBS (which covered launches live back then) and when I saw something that didn’t look like every other launch, I ran into the classroom and I remember seeing the explosion and debris cloud being shown up close, and I knew what happened. I ran out and yelled the news “The Space Shuttle blew up!”

      Kids were crying– hell! The TEACHER was crying! I also remember every word of the Reagan speech that day and the service that took place in Houston a couple of days later.

      Reagan: “”We will never forget them, not the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and they ‘Slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’” …a well-chosen quote from a poem that absolutely fit the moment. Chosen so well, in fact, that it was remembered and quoted again by many people in the wake of Columbia.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 8:02am

      Watching the video, I was kinda surprised that the people didn’t realize what had happened.

      After the explosion, the guy running the video says “They must be out there.”

      Then I remembered that we’re watching the reaction of people at an airport, which probably means that they’d never seen a launch live before. It‘s probable that they didn’t know.

      You can also tell that nobody from the Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina was in the crowd around them because it was obvious to anyone who had seen more than one launch. Back then, they averaged one launch a month. If someone who lived within 300 miles of the KSC area was there, presumably you’d hear someone say “Something’s wrong. That’s not how a launch looks.”

      Here’s a pic that shows what the visibility was for shuttle launches. You can see that anyone in the area around Florida would have known something was wrong.

      http://www.space.com/3172-space-shuttle-launch-visible-eastern-thursday.html

      I’m hoping Atlantis will be open for public tour. I’d love to climb aboard her and take a look around. I know Discovery won’t be open to the public- none of the Air and Space planes are. Enterprise has never been open to the public as it’s been at Air and Space, but who knows what rules will be in place where she’s going, and then Endeavour? Well- rules don’t apply to Californians, so even if the rule is that they can’t go aboard, someone will be in there hanging around.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • JoJoStarbuck173
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 11:13am

      I went to Conway Jr High and would have gone to Boone H.S. however the division of GE that my dad was working at closed and we ended up moving to Cincinnati.
      I love that area, Orlando in general, and actually moved back there to live with some friends after graduating H.S. here in Ohio. For some reason after a year I ended up deciding to move back to Ohio to go to College and have been here since. I like it here, but I still have fond thoughts of moving back to Orlando, or the Tampa area.

      Cheers!

      Report Post »  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:39pm

    They were brave and they were the best of Americans. No less.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:09pm

      Everyone who stepped foot on the Shuttle and blasted off to space was brave no more no less.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • kevin
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:30pm

    the homemade clip isnt working russian harrp is responsible for cold weather look for lights on fusalage this was no accident

    Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:41pm

      Go away. I was in Deltona, FL watching the launch, it was due to the O-ring not sealing properly and nothing else. Quit trying to drum your conspiracy friends who are clueless to begin with.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • netmarcos
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 1:27pm

      Former Morton-Thiokol employee here: you sir, are so far off base that you just scored a touchback.

      Report Post » netmarcos  
    • hpyagl
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 8:16pm

      HAARP was responsible for this accident? Fact: Challenger explosion, Jan 1986. Construction start on HAARP station.: 1993. Now that’s pretty amazing that HAARP is so powerful that it was actually transmitting before it existed!

      Report Post »  
  • sillyfreshness
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:21pm

    Seems like this happened so long ago now…..

    Report Post » sillyfreshness  
  • Eaglesnest
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:19pm

    I lived 24 miles from the Cape and was 17 years old that day. I remember it was very cold and as I stood on our driveway with my father to watch the launch as I was on my way to the gym, I knew something was wrong when it looked like it was just hanging there in the air. We went inside to watch the news coverage and stood in complete shock for what seemed like hours. My father looked at me and said, “life here on the Space Coast is about to change” and he was right about that.

    Report Post » Eaglesnest  
  • neverending
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:17pm

    It is just so difficult to watch again – almost as tragic as 9/11. Tragedy indeed.

    Report Post »  
  • 1PORattler
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:06pm

    I toured the Challenger as a kid on its last successful launch. Special tour too as we had the rare privilege of seeing it on the launch pad without all the gear around it. We stood on the beach near the launchpad and watched it go up at Cape Canaveral. Never forgot that day. Then I moved and the next launch it exploded as I watched it on tv… Never forgot that sad day either…

    Report Post » 1PORattler  
  • CanteenBoy
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:01pm

    Saw it live on CNN (no Fox back then) when I was in high school. Stunning.

    Bless them, they died for our country.

    Report Post » CanteenBoy  
    • Wool-Free Vision
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 7:47pm

      I was a junior at Mauldin High School, and that morning I cut my first two classes to stay home and watch the launch. I was always kind of a NASA fanboy, and this disaster was pretty traumatic to watch.

      When I finally got to school, the place was surreal. We all felt pain that day. Kind of a hint at what we were destined to feel on 9/11.

      Report Post » Wool-Free Vision  
    • The_Constitutionalist
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 11:20pm

      Screw Fox.

       
  • bane73
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:00pm

    My father worked for Thiokol at the time this happened. He wasn’t on the o-ring team prior to it exploding, but was brought on for the o-ring’s redesign. I believe there were only 7 people on that team (to redesign the o-ring after it failed). They came up with a design they called the “j-ring”; it’s design was such that, rather than the seal being pushed apart by internal-pressures, it actually was compressed more as pressure built.

    After that new design, the booster’s seals never again failed.

    Today he’s an aged, nearly-blind, poor man that paints when his eyes allow and helps my mom run a bed & breakfast to earn their keep. (they don’t own it)

    He doesn’t have money, but it’s neat to know he played a pivotal role in helping to save future lives and make the shuttle safer.

    Report Post »  
    • beatobama
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:23pm

      You are rightfully proud. God bless him.

      Report Post » beatobama  
    • AxelPhantom
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:01pm

      Small world, my father worked for Thiokol in Illinois but was likewise not involved with the O rings. He died shortly after this disaster, and never got to see them fix the problem

      Report Post »  
    • netmarcos
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 1:30pm

      Still O-rings – capture feature in the joint added another one. Heat-tape on the joint prevented the stiffening of the acrylonitrile butadiene rubber under cold conditions.

      Report Post » netmarcos  
  • Firebrand
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:59pm

    Was watching live on TV in my 4th grade classroom.

    Report Post » Firebrand  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:32pm

      Do you remember what your 4th grade teacher said about it?

      Report Post » The-Monk  
  • Wanderer66
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:58pm

    A fitting and very sad parody for what just happened to our country under Obama the last three years.

    RIP space program! And USA?

    Report Post »  
  • Bronco II
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:51pm

    I will never forget that day I went inside and didn‘t watch had a bad feeling because it seem to be going up much slower then it normally did and a co workers husband said he wasn’t going to watch either he had a bad feeling he to said it’s to cold they should have cancelled it.It was the first one I didn’t watch all the way through.

    Report Post » Bronco II  
    • Rick16803
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:56pm

      If you weren’t watching the launch, how could you think it was going up “ much more slowly” than usual.
      Not that anyone has the ability to judge speeds of thousands of MPH from a TV set anyway.

      Report Post »  
    • john koenig
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 9:07pm

      Rick…I agree with the other poster. Right at liftoff, there was a “sluggishness” that had never been seen in any of the launches up to that point. Usually a shuttle “jumped” off the pad; Challenger didn’t that day. As for judging speed, as the tower was cleared, shuttles were usually traveling about 80 mph…an easy enough speed to notice differences.

      Report Post » john koenig  
    • Rayblue
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 10:54pm

      If you’ve ever witnessed a road accident, you may have noticed that it can take on a slow motion quality. Other people who spend time on the highway have commented on this strange phenomenon. It would seem applicable to other scenes of tragedy. Or it may have been the engines ruining themselves in flight. Since this was filmed, it would appear to be the latter.

      Report Post » Rayblue  
  • honor007
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:49pm

    I was a High School Senior at my Trade School watching this on TV along with all of the other students. That was just so, so sad.

    Report Post » honor007  
  • AZ Prosecutor
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:47pm

    “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”" President Ronald Reagan 1/28/1986

    Now that NASA is dead, we have to catch a ride from other countries. Thanks Barack!

    Report Post » AZ Prosecutor  
    • neverending
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:51pm

      I remember those words from President Reagan just as though they were yesterday.

      Report Post »  
  • TheHalfrican
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:40pm

    It is truly a shame that these brave men & women gave their lives for space exploration and now we have obama shut down the program and tell NASA to work on improving Muslim relations around the world.

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:47pm

      Agree … I listen to internet radio each day from that area .. sadly the traffic is always moving right along .. I remember when it was BUSY. Obama is destroying everything good in America.

      Report Post »  
  • stix_n_stones
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:34pm

    that was sad…

    Report Post » stix_n_stones  
  • momrules
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:33pm

    I was watching the launch and still remember how I felt watching this happen. My husband worked at NASA at Johnson Space Center, I called him, everyone was stunned.

    Report Post »  
  • Bluzie
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:29pm

    I grew up in a beach town (still live) about 1/2 hour south of the Cape. Was junior in HS when that happened. Sitting in auto shop class the teacher asked us if we wanted to go outside and watch the launch. It was a cold cold day and we said nah we‘ve a bunch of them by that point and didn’t think it was going to be anything special.

    There was probably 20 minutes left of class after the accident occurred. By the time we left that class the vapor plumes that were going every which way were still in the sky. One of those moments when you recall every minute of that day.

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:39pm

      Yes .. this was filmed in Orlando .. I now live in Southwest FL and people on this side of the state could see the plumes .. I have watched launches since and at night you could really see them. I was working in a hospital at the time .. in the computer room .. one of the office ladies came running in saying that it exploded .. we couldn’t believe it because no one thought that they were going to launch that day when we came to work.

      Report Post »  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:45pm

      I was on my second tour in Germany stationed in Heilbronn. That particular day one other guy who also worked in operations and I had to drive an M1009 CUCV (military Blazer) to Landstuhl Army Hospital Installation to pick up a military couple who had just finished an alcohol/drug detox program. The tactical vehicle did not have a radio and we were oblivious to what had happened until we walked into our company upon returning to Heilbronn. Our two female unit clerks were actually crying out loud in the hallway. Then we caught the video on AFN. Yeah, it’s one of those days where you just never forget what you were doing. Much like the JFK assassination. I was in grammar school, but I still remember what I was doing when the announcement was made.

      Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
    • Eaglesnest
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:23pm

      I grew up in Cocoa Beach and was a freshman at BCC that morning. It was very cold and I watched it live from my driveway in total shock. Many of my friend’s parents worked at KSC and on the shuttle.

      Report Post » Eaglesnest  
    • Eaglesnest
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 6:33pm

      Bluzie, you will appreciate this. Here on the Space Coast, we think the distinctive double-sonic booms when the shuttle is landing is a reassuring and comforting sound, despite the house rattling. When Columbia broke up on re-entry it was supposed to land in the wee hours of the morning. In my sleep and with FOX News flickering in the background, I listened for her booms. When I did not her them, I tuned up FOX and said, “Oh no, not again”. My wife woke and up and we watched in horror again.

      Report Post » Eaglesnest  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:21pm

      Small world, I use to live at the Cape and then when we moved into base housing at Patrick AFB in the Satellite Beach section. A fellow Floridian. Greetings. Originally, I am from Orlando.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • COFemale
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:26pm

      I can relate to hearing specific sounds and staying up or getting up in the wee hours of the morning. When I lived in Albuquerque, I got up just before 4am to watch the Shuttle flyover. I almost missed it. It was still dark and I only saw it by its plume of smoke. It was also travel quite fast. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. It was also quite, which surprised me.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 8:41pm

      @RJJinGadsden
      I was watching “Flipper” on the TV when the announcement came that JFK was shot. I yelled to my Mother, “Hey Mom, you know that guy that Mrs. Reamy is always talking about? He was just shot”. Strange how some memories are never forgotten.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • spirited
      Posted on February 21, 2012 at 9:08pm

      Do you remember what your mother said about it ?

      >Blessings to the family, friends, students… of those perished Americans.

      Report Post » spirited  
    • Bluzie
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 2:26am

      @Eaglesnest; Yeah I know what you mean on the double sonic booms upon landing. When the Challenger broke up on reentry that was my then GF’s b-day……not much to celebrate that day. But when you don’t expect it those booms will surely make you duck when they happen. Might have been the first or one of the first landings at KSC I was working up in Titusville when one of the shuttles were coming in. Was working construction putting up a metal building….the sonic booms happened and we nearly hit the ground thinking someone was shooting a shotgun. Shook the building.

      @Cofemale Greetings back to a fellow Floridian…..SB is where I grew up.

      Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:28pm

    I certainly remember where I was and what I was doing at that time. I remember having a sick feeling in my stomach the rest of the day.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on February 22, 2012 at 8:26am

      Me too Anon, it’s like the Kennedy assassination, everyone remembers where they were when they heard about it. The other lasting memory was President Reagans tribute to them. That might be the greatest Presidential speech in my lifetime

      Report Post » Gonzo  
  • disenlightened
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:22pm

    “Obviously a major malfunction.”

    Report Post » disenlightened  
  • CleanUpAisle2013
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:17pm

    “Will we see it separate?” Yes, unfortunately, you will.

    Report Post » CleanUpAisle2013  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on February 21, 2012 at 5:15pm

    Watched it live in Norristown PA.

    Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
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