At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.
Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. There were no survivors.
READ MORE: 5 Things You May Not Know About the Challenger Shuttle
In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world’s first reusable manned spacecraft, the Enterprise. Five years later, space flights of the shuttle began when Columbia traveled into space on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. The Challenger disaster was the first major shuttle accident.
In the aftermath of the disaster, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. The presidential commission was headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, and included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. The investigation determined that the disaster was caused by the failure of an “O-ring” seal in one of the two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of events that resulted in the massive loss. As a result, NASA did not send astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of features of the space shuttle.
In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.
On February 1, 2003, a second space-shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry of the Earth’s atmosphere. All aboard were killed. Despite fears that the problems that downed Columbia had not been satisfactorily addressed, space-shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, when Discovery was again put into orbit.
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Go Google this “accident ” and you will see 5 of them never died .It was all another lie just so NASA budget would not be cut.You will also find from day one NASA has been run by Nazis (1958 ) and Freemasons .All know liars .
We never landed on the moon . Nothing gets through the Firmament and the moon is a light .They have scammed the American taxpayers out of hundreds of billions of dollars through the years.Go Google and look at what stars really look like.We have been lied to about everything.
Did a test on the google algorithm today..
Searched for
“moon hoax” on youtube and couldn’t get a single alternative view on first page.
undaunted I went to google main page and searched for
“we never went to the moon” and got this…
somewhat moar success! at least I got a hit…yeah I know my first mistake was using google for the search..
what I found most interesting was the “suggested” kindly queued for me to what after I got done being naughty and watching that unfold that “conspiracy”.
I recall exactly where I was on that day, working at the Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, PA, specifically on the P3-Orion Sub hunter. We all took a break to watch the launch on the tube, and then kinda winced as the accident unfolded.
To me, it was one of those days when everyone made eye contact, and acknowledged each other as we passed by.
It’s a shame that we only come together after witnessing something tragic, like some switch goes off in the heard, only to be forgotten the next day.
I just love the video switcheroo 1.5 seconds before the Challenger explodes. Tough to believe for anyone with a room temperature or higher iq…
wuh?
so CNN knew beforehand that that Shuttle was going to blow up. Finding that hard to believe when they can;t even get the “fake news” right most days right now..
A day after the anniversary of the Apollo 1 “accident?” Hmmmmm.