How did they figure out how the challenger blew up?

Question

They said it was an o ring failure, how did they figure it out when everything was blown to bits

In: 54

Answer 1

Fire leaves trails from burning, especially when accelerants (such as fuel) are present. Then, of course, there is a pattern in how things move outward from the source of the failure. Beyond those two patterns, I’d bet rocket scientists have mathematical equations (through physics) and the way debris was scattered as to how high and how far the failure reached that could possibly point to the most likely source. (This part is mere conjecture though)