/sci/ - Science & Math

So the challenger crew might have been conscious when they hit the ocean:

>The crew cabin was made of particularly robust reinforced aluminum and detached in one piece from the rest of the orbiter.[30] At the time of separation, the maximum acceleration is estimated to have been between 12 and 20 g. During vehicle breakup, the cabin detached in one piece and slowly tumbled into a ballistic arc. Within two seconds after breakup the cabin had dropped below 4 g, and was in free fall within 10 seconds. The forces involved at this stage were probably insufficient to cause major injury to the crew.[25]

>At least some of the crew were alive and at least briefly conscious after the breakup, as three of the four recovered Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) on the flight deck were found to have been activated.[25] PEAPs were activated for Smith[31] and two unidentified crewmembers, but not for Scobee.[25] The PEAPs were not intended for in-flight use, and the astronauts never trained with them for an in-flight emergency. The location of Smith's activation switch, on the back side of his seat, indicated that either Resnik or Onizuka likely activated it for him. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply consistent with the expected consumption during the post-breakup trajectory.[31]:245–247

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_Incident#Cause_and_time_of_death