This Day in History:
Challenger Disaster January 28, 1986 Seventy-three seconds after
its 11:38 a.m. launch, NASA's
space shuttle exploded, killing
all seven crew members. Among the crew was Christa McAuliffe,
a 37-year-old high school social
studies teacher from New Hampshire. McAuliffe had won a
competition that earned
her a place on the Challenger. Millions witnessed
the tragedy on live television. In the aftermath, President Ronald Reagan
appointed a special commission to
determine what went wrong with Challenger. The investigation determined
the disaster was caused by
the failure of an “O-ring” seal
due to cold weather. It would be two
years before NASA sent
astronauts into space again.