Does not ever happen again.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4. And I failed you.VEDANTAM: We ask who knew what, when?(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)ADAM GOLDMAN: The State Department had received repeated warnings that the situation was getting worse.VEDANTAM: And we try to figure out how.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING MONTAGE)UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: How do we make sure.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: That this kind of breach.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: That such an accident.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. In all these cases, we want to know - who screwed up?(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)RICHARD CLARKE: Your government failed you. As millions of people watched in horror, trails of smoke and debris flew off in different directions.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)NESBITT: We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: What appears to be a major catastrophe in America's space program, Challenger, only seconds after leaving the launchpad, according to NASA, has exploded in midair.(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)VEDANTAM: After the explosion, NASA officials were hauled to Capitol Hill and put to questioning.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Who finally made that decision to go? What was the chain? How did that link? What happened then specifically?VEDANTAM: Members of Congress asked the tough questions - how could this have happened? Who's to blame? Were there warning signs that were ignored? These are the kinds of questions we have when any catastrophe occurs, whether a spacecraft has exploded or a city's been attacked by terrorists. Obviously, a major malfunction.VEDANTAM: It was much more than a malfunction it was a disaster. Liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission, and it has cleared the tower.VEDANTAM: Seconds after liftoff into into a clear blue sky, something went wrong.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)STEVE NESBITT: Flight controller's here looking very carefully at the situation. I'm Shankar Vedantam.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)HARRIS: T-minus 10, nine, eight, seven.VEDANTAM: On January 28, 1986, the Challenger spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)HARRIS. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)HUGH HARRIS: T-minus 15 seconds.SHANKAR VEDANTAM, HOST: This is HIDDEN BRAIN.

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Hide and shriek hack