Remembering Challenger

January 28, 1986

73 seconds after takeoff the space shuttle broke apart, with hundreds of people watching on the ground and millions watching from home.  The televised event was on delay, and all major networks cut away, so many viewing from home did not see the explosion - but NASA had arranged a satellite broadcast into many schools...

Challenger continued moving upwards after the fuel tank collapsed, but without the boosters, aerodynamic forces began to pull the orbiter apart.  The crew cabin reached 65,000 feet before falling, and it is believed the crew died from oxygen deficiency with the loss of cabin pressure.

Pieces hit the water 2 minutes and 40 seconds after the initial break.

(left to right, front row first)

Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onikuza, Sharon (Christa) McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnick.

McAuliffe was a high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire who won a competition to join the crew.

President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission which included Neil Armstrong and Chuck Yeager.  Their investigation determined that an O-ring failure in one of the two solid-fuel rockets caused a chain reaction leading to the tragic loss.

It was two years before NASA launched another space shuttle.

(Discovery, 1988)

History