January 28, 1986 was a day people will never forget as many of us watched the tragic event unfold live on television. An event so historic that it was shown live throughout schools in our nation leading to such an impactful moment in many of our lives as the Challenger space shuttle exploded resulting in a disaster that killed seven people just 73 seconds after launch.
An O-ring failure blamed on cold weather doomed the shuttle before it even left the launch pad.
Just a few seconds into the mission, a flame was seen breaking through the solid rocket booster that would ultimately lead to the catastrophic explosion that claimed the lives of astronauts Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnick and teacher Christa McAuliffe. Their names were added to the Space Memorial Mirror at the NASA Kennedy Space Center.
The incident resulted in a 32-month suspension of NASA’s shuttle program and the creation of the Rogers Commission, a group created by Ronald Reagan to examine what went wrong.
“We will never forget them… as they… ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God'”
Today in 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger exploded at 11:39 am just 73 sec after launch, killing the STS-51L crew. We honor their memory. #NASARemembers 💐 https://t.co/cvsPbIO2tc pic.twitter.com/JB2TVHihEo
— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) January 28, 2024