I must say, I hadn't heard any of those myths. My main knowledge of that disaster comes from Richard Feynman's account of his time on the official investigation committee for the disaster. They pretty much nailed the cause of the disaster at the time.
What is more important, BORING. Except #3 who the fuck cares? Now #3 is interesting for a line of thought: Myth #3: The crew died instantly The flight, and the astronauts’ lives, did not end at that point, 73 seconds after launch. After Challenger was torn apart, the pieces continued upward from their own momentum, reaching a peak altitude of 65,000 ft before arching back down into the water. The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive until then. What's less clear is whether they were conscious. If the cabin depressurized (as seems likely), the crew would have had difficulty breathing. In the words of the final report by fellow astronauts, the crew “possibly but not certainly lost consciousness”, ------------------------ They were most likely unconscious, so I don't think they suffered a lot.
Here's a couple of examples of at least two of the points (mostly relating to when the crew died, and the claims regarding explosions). http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-51L.html http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/challenger.asp They both describe it as an explosion, and state that it was the explosion at 73 seconds that claimed the lives of the crew.
