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Tuesday 78 20% 64
Wednesday 83 10% 60
Thursday 69 20% 60
Remembering Space Shuttle Crews Lost:
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Friday 77 30% 63
Saturday 81 20% 67
WIKD Puts on a Show for JAMuary
Challenger Columbia
Ryan Hurilla Guest Reporter
What’s Inside
On Jan. 28, twenty eight years ago, the space shuttle Challenger was prepared for takeoff at Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B for STS-51-L. After an extremely brisk 18 degree Fahrenheit low the night before, there were concerns voiced by the solid rocket booster’s (SRB) manufacturer, Rockwell International, that the temperatures of the boosters were far below the designed operation temperatures. Therefore, Rockwell informed NASA that it would not support the launch. NASA officials, however, felt that
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Trey Henderson/The Avion
Rockwell’s fears were exaggerated, so they decided to go ahead with the launch anyway. This would prove to be a fatal mistake. At 11:38 am EST, the shuttle and the attached SRBs were ignited, and the explosive bolts holding the vehicle on the pad were fired. There was a large puff of gray-black smoke emitted from the right SRB within a second of the booster firing indicating a problem; however, over the next 58 seconds the rocket operated nominally with no visible abnormalities apparent. At 58 seconds after launch, a burn-through plume was seen emerging from the aft field joint of the right SRB.
This burn-through plume superheated a portion of the shuttle’s external fuel tank, which led to structural failure of the liquid hydrogen tank, followed shortly after by the liquid oxygen tank. When this occurred at 73 seconds after launch, the liquid hydrogen and oxygen ignited in a massive explosion destroying the shuttle and killing all seven crew members onboard. This disaster became one of the most significant events of the 1980s, as billions of people around the world saw the accident on television and could empathize with any one of the crewmembers killed. Continued on A6/7 >>
Icon A5: World’s First Fully Spin Resistant Aircraft
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Matt Michlowitz/The Avion
Matt Michlowitz/The Avion Newspaper
Chip Isackson Athletics Liaison On Friday night the UC, which typically hosts hungry college students eating fried chicken tenders, hosted two groups of young musicians. Your campus radio station, the WIKD 102.5, and Touch-N-Go Productions teamed up to make this extraordinary event happen. Jamuary featured two independent bands WIKD arranged to perform, and Touch-N-Go provided a stage crew and setup assistance to facilitate this great event. The opener, Fake Problems, is from Ft Myers, Florida. The second band, Hey Ocean, is from Vancouver, Canada. They both combined to put on a fun show. Despite a sparse crowd, those who came out had a very good time listening and dancing to the live music. While Fake Problems seems to be more of an unknown band, Hey
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Ocean has had success playing on the well known ‘Warped Tour’ last year. As an attendee, I liked their style of music a lot. I have no doubt that these two groups have a good shot at becoming more well-known headliners. Free food was provided, as well as prizes and WIKD giveaways such as t-shirts, bikes, stickers, a TV, and a PS4 were all raffled out to lucky attendees. Overall I think that the WIKD did a phenomenal job on booking good bands and creating an enjoyable event. I highly encourage all student to come to their future concerts. Despite the fact that the bands may not be as well known, you will be pleasantly surprised by great music and a good time. Also, I am eagerly looking forward to the WIKD and TNG partnership later this semester at the TNG Big Show, which is always a spectacular event.