Warnings, Warnings Everywhere

[0] T -minus 15 seconds.

[1] This is Hidden Brain.

[2] I'm Shankar Vedantam.

[3] T -minus 10, 9 -8.

[4] On January 28, 1986, the Challenger spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

[5] One, and lift -off, lift -off of the 25th space shuttle mission, and it has cleared the tower.

[6] Seconds after lift -off into a clear blue sky, something went wrong.

[7] It was much more than a malfunction.

[8] It was a disaster.

[9] As millions of people watched in horror, trails of smoke and debris flew off in different directions.

[10] We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded.

[11] What appears to be a major catastrophe in America's space program, Challenger, only seconds after leaving the launch pad, according to NASA, has exploded in mid -air.

[12] After the explosion, NASA officials were hauled to capital.

[13] Hill and put to questioning.

[14] Who finally made that decision to go?

[15] What was the chain?

[16] How did that link?

[17] What happened then specifically?

[18] Members of Congress asked the tough questions.

[19] How could this have happened?

[20] Who's to blame?

[21] Were they warning signs that were ignored?

[22] These are the kinds of questions we have when any catastrophe occurs, whether a spacecraft has exploded or a city has been attacked by terrorists.

[23] In all these cases, we want to know who screwed up.

[24] Your government failed you.

[25] Those entrusted with protecting you failed you.

[26] And I failed you.

[27] We asked, who knew what, when?

[28] The State Department had received repeated warnings that the situation was getting worse.

[29] And we try to figure out how...

[30] How do we make sure that this kind of breach...

[31] That such an accident...