This Day in History:, Challenger Disaster.
January 28, 1986.
73 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