Space Shuttle Shuttle orbiter fleet. Sources: NASA launch manifest, NASA Space Shuttle archive On January 28, 1986, "Challenger" disintegrated 73 seconds after launch due to the failure of the right SRB, killing all seven astronauts on board. The disaster was caused by low-temperature impairment of an O-ring, a mission critical seal used between segments of the SRB casing. Failure of the O-ring allowed hot combustion gases to escape from between the booster sections and burn through the adjacent external tank, causing it to explode. Repeated warnings from design engineers voicing concerns about the lack of evidence of the O-rings' safety when the
Space Shuttle made Space Shuttle thermal protection system tiles available to schools and universities for less than US$25 each. About 7,000 tiles were available on a first-come, first-served basis, limited to one per institution. On April 12, 2011, NASA announced selection of locations for the remaining Shuttle orbiters: In August 2011, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a "Review of NASA's Selection of Display Locations for the Space Shuttle Orbiters"; the review had four main findings: The NASA OIG had three recommendations, saying NASA should: In September 2011, the CEO and two board members of Seattle's Museum of Flight met