The Challenger astronauts (Image: AFP)
As the countdown reached its final moments before the Space Shuttle Challenger’s lift-off on January 28 1986, millions of spectators around the globe remained glued to their television sets.
Whilst a rocket launch was invariably a momentous event, this specific mission carried a particularly remarkable passenger, Christa McAuliffe.
The 37-year-old was poised to make history as the first teacher in space, having been selected from more than 11,000 applicants for the NASA programme – however, just 73 seconds after departure, Challenger erupted into flames, tragically killing all seven astronauts aboard.
The space shuttle seemed to have exploded, with those who dreamed of reaching the stars dying instantly.
Yet three decades later, chilling new findings have emerged indicating that those travelling on Challenger weren’t killed outright and may have survived for several moments, reports the Mirror.
Christa McAuliffe was going to be the first teacher in space (Image: Keith Meyers/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Everything seemed to be going smoothly on launch night – Commander Francis Scobee had spoken what would become the haunting words “go throttle up” and the mission appeared destined for triumph.
But merely three seconds later, mission control detected another transmission. Pilot Michael Smith simply said “uh oh” before all electronic communication with the space shuttle was lost.
Helpless, those at ground level could only look towards the heavens and watch in horror as events unfolded.
At first, it seemed as though a devastating explosion had shattered the rocket into fragments, but six months after the ill-fated flight, Dr Joseph Kerwin, director of Life Sciences at the Johnson Space Center, presented his report on what caused the Challenger astronauts’ deaths.
Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight (Image: The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images)
The crew module was found approximately 18 miles from the launch site in roughly 100 feet of water.
While details of what happened to their bodies have never been publicly disclosed, there was an extensive examination of the module’s condition.
Alarmingly, Dr Kerwin noted in his report that the force of the explosion was not enough to kill or even seriously injure those on board.
He concluded that the cause of death for those aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger remained inconclusive.
NASA has consistently asserted that the seven crew members died instantly in the explosion.
Challenger had disintegrated when it reached 48,000 feet above the earth’s surface but continued to ascend for another 25 seconds before plummeting into the Atlantic.
Contrary to appearances, the space shuttle was actually engulfed by flames just moments after lift-off when a booster designed to prevent fuel tank leaks weakened and failed.
The intense heat caused the fuel tank to buckle and rupture, triggering a massive fireball that tore through sections of Challenger.
The Challenger explosion (Image: Bruce Weaver/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
For a brief period, the space shuttle remained intact and continued to ascend until the immense atmospheric pressure tore it apart, causing it to plummet back to Earth.
Each astronaut on board was equipped with an individual air pack, providing several minutes of oxygen for emergencies.
Reportedly, evidence suggests that several of these packs had been manually activated.
Upon discovering the debris, it was found that three of the air packs had been triggered.
The Challenger launch was watched by millions (Image: MPI/Getty Images)
Dr Kerwin proposed that a sudden drop in cabin pressure could have rendered all seven astronauts unconscious, meaning they would have been oblivious to their impending doom.
However, he also pointed out that a dramatic loss of pressure would have ripped up the space shuttle’s middeck floor, which did not happen.
If the pressure had decreased more slowly, the entire crew would have remained conscious, fully aware of their fate during the last 25 seconds of their lives.