US EditionOn This Day, Jan. 28: Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes Killing 7
- On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, killing all seven crew members aboard.
- Engineers warned about low temperatures, yet mission managers cleared the launch despite a cold-weather failure of the O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster on January 28, 1986.
- At 11:38 a.m. ET Challenger lifted off and for the first minute the flight looked normal, but while traveling at Mach 1.92 near 46,000 feet it was engulfed in an explosive burn after witnesses saw flames on the external tank.
- NASA halted launches for nearly three years and grounded shuttle missions for 32 months, prompting solid rocket booster redesigns and new management policies after the Challenger disaster.
- Christa McAuliffe, chosen from more than 11,000 educators, made the flight uniquely visible to classrooms and schoolchildren across the United States.
85 Articles
85 Articles
NASA’s Challenger space shuttle disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean on January 28, 1986. The mission tragically ended just 73 seconds after collation from the Florida coast. The seven crew members died before the eyes of their family members and millions of international spectators. What happened on January 28, 1986 with the ChallengerThe space shuttle exploded 14 kilometres high due to a technical failure in its engines during the initial asc…
Remembering The Challenger Disaster; George Saunders New Book 'Vigil'; Full Bio: The Schuyler Sisters; Katherine LaNasa Talks Nurse Dana On 'The Pitt'
Loading... Forty years ago today, the Challenger Space Shuttle broke apart in the sky, killing everyone on board. Adam Higginbotham, author of the book Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, discusses how things went so wrong, and the aftermath of the disaster. Plus, listeners share their memory of Challenger. Booker Prize-winning writer George Saunders returns with his first novel since Lincoln in the Bardo. Vigi…
The disaster ended an era of space euphoria.
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