however, at 72 seconds after liftoff, the fire that had burned through the fuel tank also burned through the connecting metal, leaving the right booster hanging only by the forward (top) attaching point. "challenger" suddenly went off its intended path, which may have been felt by the crew. half a second later, smith said the last words picked up by the recorder designed to record all interactions in the crew area of the shuttle during flight: "uh oh..."". smith may have been responding to the shuttle's computer telling him that the engines were moving quickly to compensate for the now loose booster in a useless attempt to get the shuttle back on the planned path. the right booster, free to swing about its remaining connection, turned outwards and hit the top of the fuel tank just as the hydrogen tank broke. the burning liquid fuel pushed the hydrogen tank into the now-broken upper oxygen tank, destroying both. the two liquid fuel parts combined and exploded in one go, swallowing "challenger" in a huge explosion. the boosters, being made of thick steel, survived this, and though the explosion itself didn't destroy "challenger" directly, it pushed the shuttle into the wrong angle for its flight path through the air, which caused enormous amounts of drag that ripped "challenger" apart.