Space Shuttle Challenger Failed Booster Joint Cutaway

thingiverse

This is a cutaway of the Solid Rocket Motor joint that failed on the Space Shuttle Challenger. I created this as a visual aid for use years ago in engineering school (most engineering schools do a case study on the Challenger Disaster). This will help you get an A on your presentation and help others visualize how the joint failed. This is the original design for the joint, at the time of failure, featuring two O-ring seals in the same plane. Approximately 5" wide, by 10.5" tall when assembled. Once printed, simply go to an autopart store such as Advance Auto or Autozone, and ask to see their vacuum hoses, find one that fits the slots with the top section and pin installed, cut them a little long so they stick out from each side to help illustrate the O-rings, and you are done. For even better visualization, print each component in different colors or paint them separately. Have included .stl files for printing and .sldprt files for editing/enhancing.