Somber Anniversary of Challenger Explosion

Since I way 'under the weather' and took the day off- this will be brief.
Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the Challenger Explosion. Here is the visible satellite image- with the explosion debris cloud circled in yellow.

The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lifting off from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven people on board. This included New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe.

It was determined that the cause was the failure of O-ring seals in the solid rocket booster as well as NASA’s organizational culture, which ignored the cold weather warnings.

A sure signature of cold weather on a satellite like this is the distinct line of clouds off shore - like lake effect clouds. The cold air interacting with much warmer water eventually results in low level condensation. More on the Challenger Mission can be found at the NASA web site.

Here is a video of the weather related to the disaster: