and the Hidden Crossing in the
Challenger Space Shuttle Cover-Up


QUICK PREVIEW


The Truth About the Challenger Space Shuttle Investigation

One of the focal points in the book The Betrayal of Mission 51-L is that Challenger's twin booster rockets actually crossed before they emerged from the 51-L fireball. This fact is well illustrated by probative evidence that was extraordinarily concealed by NASA. That agency had the in-flight photography to correctly identify the errant boosters by paint pattern rather than by leak assumption, but it did not do so for the benefit of the general public. It was thus that the myth of a pre-explosion O-ring failure on the "right" booster was instigated and perpetuated. A full-blown NASA cover-up occurred during the space shuttle Challenger investigation (see Preface).

The insight that flows from a stunning awareness of the fireball crossing sheds an entirely new light on the Challenger space shuttle disaster. NASA's explanation for it quickly looms as both cursory and patronizing, to say the least. Readers of this stirring inside look at Mission 51-L soon come to a shocking understanding of the unpunished treachery that cut short the lives of commander Dick Scobee, pilot Mike Smith, NASA crew members Dr. Ron McNair, Dr. Judith Resnik, and Ellison Onizuka, as well as civilian crew members Christa McAuliffe and Greg Jarvis.
 
The Black Photo ID Band


Above, the flared booster slowly rotates after fireball exit. NASA called this the "right" rocket, but the space agency's own ID band (arrows) proves that this rocket is actually the left one! (On space shuttle Challenger, only the left booster had the ID band.) Notice carefully that the black ID band's outside arc (near the SRB systems tunnel) is plainly visible in the Challenger photos above.
 
At Challenger's untimely termination, the black ID band on the inside arc of the left nose was clearly blasted by an adjacent LOX explosion. A huge fireball quickly followed. William Rogers (Lockheed's corporate attorney) chaired the subsequent space shuttle Challenger investigation. He and Executive Director Alton Keel approved NASA's biased interpretation of the space shuttle Challenger video, film, and photos eventually shown to the Presidential Commission.
 
The Fireball Crossing
t+66.5
t+73.3

In the images above, a roll reversal can be detected from the boosters' contrails. As the space shuttle rolled right, the boosters began their fireball crossing. Without mentioning this crossing in their conclusions about the Challenger disaster, NASA and the Rogers Commission deceptively misidentified the flared rocket. For comparison purposes, a 5 mb pre-51-L video of a nominal SRB separation is provided by SRB separation -- northern view.

For those with no time to download even a short space shuttle Challenger video, Fireball Frames painstakingly shows each Challenger booster's direction of motion during passage through the fireball. (Many of those NASA FOIA frames are color space shuttle Challenger photos.)

Donated Images from New Smyrna (Northwest)

73.43 Seconds -- Boosters Have Detached Aft

73.43 Seconds -- Boosters Have Detached Aft


73.5 Seconds -- Boosters Have Swiveled Forward

73.5 Seconds -- Boosters Have Swiveled Forward


73.9 Seconds -- Left Booster Has Begun to Exit

73.9 Seconds -- Left Booster Has Begun to Exit

The above images are useful for comparison with the Patrick AFB ITEK -- southern view, a slow-motion Challenger video originally recorded to identify anomalous sources of intense heat.

The video frames below appear on the book's cover, to expose the earlier rocket crossing.

 
t+74.7
t+75.7

The Dangling Flare

Clearly visible in the frames above is a bright circular spot at the top left. This fiery exit evidence is from the intense heat of protruding structural metal that dangled from the left booster.

In the remaining Challenger photos, notice the bright flare above the contrails. Properly understood, it helps explain the true reasons for the Challenger explosion. (Color video images of this flare can be found at Post Exit , along with the pertinent interval of boresight video.)
t+77.7
t+77.8

The Aerospace Intrigue

The sequential photos above easily confirm that brightly flaming external tank structure hung nearly to the L-SRB nozzle. It formed a major lower-flare component, well below the upper-flare component seen swirling around the L-SRB aft-attach stubs (especially near the IEA). The left drogue parachute is plainly visible as well. So went the Challenger launch disaster that Lockheed and NASA officials negligently and intentionally executed on the morning of January 28, 1986.

The Betrayal of Mission 51-L is a historical story of aerospace intrigue. It should not have gone untold for so long. What caused the solid rocket boosters to cross in the fireball is no longer a secret. Obtained via FOIA requests, space shuttle Challenger photos and video now prove that the Challenger cover-up cannot be dismissed as acceptable space policy!