On May 3, 1986, NASA attempted to launch a new weather satellite called GOES-G for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but the rocket malfunctioned in mid-air.
About a minute after it lifted off from Cape Canaveral, lightning struck the Delta rocket and created a short circuit. This caused the rocket's main engine to shut down prematurely. It started tumbling around in the sky with some of its strap-on boosters still firing. NASA sent the rocket a command to self-destruct, and it exploded above the Atlantic Ocean. They did this to minimize the dangers of having the entire rocket crash back down to Earth. This launch failure was especially disheartening for NASA, because it was the first launch since the Challenger disaster three months earlier. Investigators found that this Delta rocket had a lot of problems that were known before the launch, especially with the wiring. After the accident, launch companies across the country changed the way they wired their rockets' electronics.
About a minute after it lifted off from Cape Canaveral, lightning struck the Delta rocket and created a short circuit. This caused the rocket's main engine to shut down prematurely. It started tumbling around in the sky with some of its strap-on boosters still firing. NASA sent the rocket a command to self-destruct, and it exploded above the Atlantic Ocean. They did this to minimize the dangers of having the entire rocket crash back down to Earth. This launch failure was especially disheartening for NASA, because it was the first launch since the Challenger disaster three months earlier. Investigators found that this Delta rocket had a lot of problems that were known before the launch, especially with the wiring. After the accident, launch companies across the country changed the way they wired their rockets' electronics.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space. On May 3, 1986, NASA attempted to launch a new weather
00:06satellite called GOES-G for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
00:10but the rocket malfunctioned mid-air. About a minute after it lifted off from
00:15Cape Canaveral, lightning struck the Delta rocket and created a short circuit.
00:18This caused the rocket's main engine to shut down prematurely. It started
00:23tumbling around in the sky with some of its strap-on boosters still firing. NASA
00:28sent the rocket a command to self-destruct, and it exploded above the Atlantic Ocean.
00:32They did this to minimize the dangers of having the entire rocket crash back down to Earth.
00:37This launch failure was especially disheartening for NASA, because it was the first launch since
00:41the Challenger disaster three months earlier. Investigators found that this Delta rocket had
00:45a lot of problems that were known before the launch, especially with the wiring. After
00:50the accident, launch companies across the country changed the way they wired their rocket's
00:54electronics. And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:58exercises of target northern
01:03VIDEO
01:03at the frequency
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01:07LED
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01:10let
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