Challenger . . . . go with throttle up.
Twenty-five years ago today the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger
exploded 73 seconds into the 25th space shuttle flight.
The reports (pdf) tell us of O-Ring failures. Today,
we remember one of the
most tragic days in the history of the U.S. manned spaceflight program. Today, January 28, 2011, we remember:
Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.
posted by IvoShandor
on Jan 28, 2011 -
100 comments
7 Dead, 19 Missing "The Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, has cited the Upper Big Branch Mine for hundreds of violations in recent years, including 10 so far this year related to legal requirements for ventilation systems to control methane and dust. The company has contested numerous fines, including two in January totaling more than $130,000 related to mine ventilation."
posted by wv kay in ga
on Apr 5, 2010 -
57 comments
One spring afternoon more than 70 years ago, an East Texas teacher turned on an electric sander. The
subsequent explosion caused the New London School to lift into the air and then smash into the ground, ultimately leaving some 300 students and teachers dead in the
rubble. It remains the worst school disaster in American history.
[more inside]
posted by SpringAquifer
on Feb 23, 2010 -
21 comments
From The Titusville Morning Herald of June 17, 1866, "Our attention has been called to a series of experiments that have been made in the wells of various localities by Col. Roberts, with his
newly patented torpedo. ... The torpedo... is lowered into the well, down to the spot, as near as can be ascertained, where it is necessary to explode it. ... The object of the torpedo is to clean out all the deposits at the bottom of the well."
In the western Pennsylvania oilfields of the second half of the 1800s, "shooters" were men who set off
nitroglycerin charges in wells to get the oil flowing again.
Tales of Destruction relates stories and legends of this absurdly hazardous job.
Additional notes here, in
Samuel Pees's Oil History.
(Previously)
posted by tss
on Nov 5, 2009 -
4 comments
KaBOOM! This past Friday, the
MythBusters exploded 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate (25% of the same material used in the
Oklahoma City bombing,) at a rock quarry in Yolo County, CA for an upcoming episode. But the explosion was apparently a wee bit bigger than they expected. It
shattered windows in nearby Esparto and was large enough to be picked up as a "small event" ground tremor by National Geographical Survey sensors. Which myth were they busting, you ask?
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Mar 26, 2009 -
73 comments
A large series of explosions erupted this morning from a welding chemical storage facility in North York (a suburb of Toronto) at approximately 4am EST. The highway 401, North America's busiest, has been closed in sections, and thousands of local residents are still being evacuated, with several of them
injured. Police and fire officials are currently not sure of the possibility of further explosions and are taking precautionary measures. The whole situation has
produced some
apocalyptic-looking pictures.
posted by tehloki
on Aug 10, 2008 -
39 comments
A splash of urban colour! A dilapidated tower block in Glasgow was the setting for a riotous splash of colour this week as Sony followed up their previous Bravia tv campaign of the bouncing balls down the streets of San Francisco with a new advert using a disused towerblock in Glasgow. Some beautiful urban explosion pics
here,
here,
here,
here and
here.
posted by ClanvidHorse
on Jul 26, 2006 -
20 comments
The Day Las Vegas Shook What were
you doing at 11:45am on May 4, 1988? If you were a resident of southern Nevada, you'd remember. That was the day rocket fuel factory
PEPCON was wiped off the map in a series of 7 explosions, two of which measured 3.0 and 3.5 on the Richter scale.
The explosions sent shockwaves across the valley, taking with it marshmellow cream from the marshmellow factory next door, denting garage doors miles away, and shattering damn near every window in Henderson. As the valley's 500,000 residents stood outside wondering what caused the explosion and the
massive plume of smoke, many speculated the Russians had inexplicably attacked Henderson. Miraculously, only two people died. PEPCON never operated another day in Nevada and moved to Utah.
posted by b_thinky
on Mar 4, 2006 -
37 comments
Huge explosion rocks UK countryside. Police say the
oil depot explosion appears to be
an accident, even though Al-Qaeda called for attacks on the oil industry just a
few days ago. (As usual, the media feels the need to report this, even though Al-Qaeda was speaking of Gulf oil targets, and nothing of this scale could have been implented in just a few days)
Some pictures:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6
posted by empath
on Dec 11, 2005 -
64 comments
Police evacuate Birmingham centre
West Midlands police have evacuated the second largest city in England tonight as a precautionary measure.
Sky News are reporting that a series of controlled explosions (I heard on Sky News TV that one of these was on a bus, but this may be innacurate) have been carried out in the Broad Street area.
I hope that any and all UK MeFi-ites in Birmingham are keeping sane through out all this.
posted by tomcosgrave
on Jul 9, 2005 -
61 comments
What do you get when you give university students 48 hours to complete a short film that must included a briefcase, the phrase "Where did I put that remote control" and has to be a musical?
'Detonate'. (Click the 'detonate' link in the features section, movie plays in a pop up)
posted by Be'lal
on Mar 2, 2004 -
6 comments
This truck garage across the train-tracks from our studio in Chicago just blew up (an hour or so ago) and our able intern Anthony has posted some footage of the blaze and 2 very brave guys in a cherry-picker. Scary.
posted by coudal
on May 7, 2003 -
28 comments
BLUEDANIEL: DJ, jazz drummer, animator, and Blair Witch website designer Dan Karcher's webpage, a true gem, is particularly timely right now. Great site design, great Flash/MX, great music. (More inside.)
posted by Shane
on Feb 26, 2003 -
22 comments
Van Explodes In Northwest Parking Lot Breaking news - not sure if this is just a sad accident, or ...
A friend who works in the area said that the place is swarming with cops, and FBI guys. Has anyone else heard anything? Nothing on any of the majors yet. Could be because this will turn out to be minor.
posted by Corky
on Jul 12, 2002 -
41 comments
L.A. building Rocked By Explosion A large residential building was rocked by an explosion and erupted in flames Friday. There was no immediate word on whether anyone was hurt.
The blast hit the building in the Encino area of the San Fernando Valley about 11 a.m., Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said.
posted by GernBlandston
on May 24, 2002 -
36 comments
Explosion Rocks Manhattan Building NEW YORK -- More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene of a possible collapse Thursday at a building housing a technical school in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.
Fire officials said it appeared some type of explosion collapsed some floors of the building.
They said 21 people were being treated at the scene for injuries.
West 19th Street is closed between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
From The Scene real Player Video
posted by Blake
on Apr 25, 2002 -
46 comments
