tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) (01/25/91)
In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >So, what does it say? --- WARNING --- This may make you very sad. I sure was. Nevertheless, I think it needs to be posted. Hit 'n' now if you would rather not hear... NASA's account of tapes made during the ill-fated Challenger mission ends with pilot Michael Smith saying "uh-oh" one minute, 13 seconds into the flight. Here is the rest: the suppressed transcript of the crew's last minutes, captured on Christa McAuliffe's personal cassette recorder and recovered from the shattered crew cabin. The sex of the speaker is indicated by M or F. T+1:15 (M): What happened? What happened? Oh God, no -- no! T+1:17 (F): Oh dear God. T+1:18 (M): Turn on your air pack! Turn on your air... T+1:20 (M): Can't breathe... choking... T+1:21 (M): Lift up your visor! T+1:22 (M/F): (Screams). It's hot. (sobs). I can't. Don't tell me... God! Do it now! T+1:24 (M): I told them... I told them... Dammit! Resnik don't... T+1:27 (M): Take it easy! Move (unintelligible)... T+1:28 (F): Don't let me die like this. Not now. Not here... T+1:31 (M): Your arm:... no... I (extended garble, static). T+1:36 (F): I'm... passing... out... T+1:37 (M): We're not dead yet. T+1:40 (M): If you ever wanted (unintelligible) me a miracle... (unintelligible)... (screams). T+1:41 (M): She's... she's... (garble)... Damn! T+1:50 (M): Can't breathe... T+1:51 (M/F): (Scream). Jesus Christ! No! T+1:54 (M): She's out. T+1:55 (M): Lucky... (unintelligible). T+1:56 (M): God. The water... we're dead! (Screams). T+2:00 (F): Goodbye (sobs)... I love you. I love you... T+2:03 (M): Loosen up... loosen up... T+2:07 (M): It'll be just like a ditch landing... T+2:09 (M): That's right. Think positive. T+2:11 (M): Ditch procedure... T+2:14 (M): No way! T+2:17 (M): Give me your hand... T+2:19 (M): You awake in there? I... I... T+2:29 (M): Our father... (unintelligible)... T+2:42 (M):... hallowed be Thy name... (unintelligible) T+2:57 (M): You... over there? T+2:58 (M): The Lord is my shepherd, I shall... not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... I will dwell in the house... T+3:15 to end (None): Static. Silence.
gt6337a@prism.gatech.EDU (Niel M. Bornstein) (01/26/91)
In article <73191734@bfmny0.BFM.COM> tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >>So, what does it say? >Here is the rest: the suppressed transcript of the crew's last minutes, I'm no psychologist (though I do have a BS in Applied Psychology), but this reads to me more like a movie script than an actual transcript. I am extremely doubtful about the validity of this 'transcript'. I can't back it up, but it just sounds wrong. Everything you'd expect to hear is in there. The whole thing smacks of the kind of conspiracy you'd expect in tabloids like the Weekly World News. Niel -- * Niel M. Bornstein gt6337a@prism.gatech.edu * * Even if I understood the opinions of Georgia Tech, I couldn't explain them. * We are destroying art by destroying the beautiful in life. -- Kakuzo Okakura
yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) (01/26/91)
Personally, I'm rather skeptical -- considering that this is the same illustrious journal which regularly publishes stories about vampire babies and statues of Elvis on Mars. If this transcript had been published in the New York Times or the Washington Post, I might believe it -- after all, if you were going to leak this stuff, would you choose a supermarket tabloid? -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Brian Yamauchi University of Rochester yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu Computer Science Department _______________________________________________________________________________
clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) (01/26/91)
In article <1991Jan25.162510.9542@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, pjs@euclid (Peter Scott) writes: >In article <73191734@bfmny0.BFM.COM>, tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >> In article <9947@orca.wv.tek.com> bill@flutter.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >> >So, what does it say? >> >> --- WARNING --- >> >> This may make you very sad. I sure was. > >You were right; so was I. What makes it even more saddening is >not knowing whether or not this is true. What happened is a tragedy, whether or not the WWN got the story right (I wouldn't bet on them having gotten it right). It's not necessary to know exactly what went on in the crew cabin to feel very sad about that. > But I think we both know that if they survived the >break-up, this is the kind of thing that would have happened. The medical report done by Joe Kerwin makes it clear that the disintegration of the Challenger was eminently survivable, and that, judging from three of the four air packs examined, at least some of the crew survived until impact. I believe he concluded they probably lost consciousness during the crew cabin's ascent and he does not speculate as to whether any of them regained consciousness during the descent. I don't presume to know what would have happened in the crew cabin if the crew remained conscious. The important things to know about the failure are why it occurred, how can a recurrence be prevented, and what to do if it reoccurs. >Not speaking for NASA. | Peter Scott, NASA/JPL/Caltech > | (pjs@euclid.jpl.nasa.gov) Probably the most apt use of a disclaimer I have ever seen. -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {world,uunet,harvard}!ksr!clj