What does the sentence "as it happened" mean in this context? A classic example of a rule-based error occurred in 1986 with the disastrous decision to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger, even when the engineers warned against it. The decision was taken, against technical advice, because the management team concerned were applying rules which focused on building up public interest and attention. The fact that the Shuttle was about to carry the first civilian into space was an important part of that. Putting off the launch, they felt, would be bad PR, and might have adverse consequences on funding. As it happened, however, ignoring the engineers' warnings was even worse. It meant that the Shuttle exploded, killing everyone on board. What does the sentence "as it happened" mean in this context? Please help me! Thanks!