Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenge Disaster

"Twenty years ago this month, the U.S. space program suffered what was--at the time--the worst loss in its history. On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, barely one minute after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida. All seven crew members were killed, including a New Hampshire schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe, the first "citizen observer" to fly in space. The mission's tragic outcome prompted debate over the safety of the shuttle program, whose flights were suspended for more than two and a half years while the cause of the catastrophe was investigated and improvements were made. A seal on one of the shuttle's rockets had leaked gases that triggered the explosion; unusually cold weather on launch day had caused the seal's failure, according to the presidential commission that investigated the crash."
Picture and text from:
"Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Remembered (Research Feature)." Facts On File World News Digest @ FACTS.com. Jan. 2006. Facts On File News Services. 19 Jan. 2006 .
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