Challenger
 Two booster rockets emerge from the fireball of debris after space shuttle Challenger was destroyed on January 28, 1986, killing its seven-member crew. It was the first loss of American astronauts during a space flight. A presidential commission found that Challenger was doomed by cold weather, a faulty seal in one of its boosters, and poor decisions and processes by NASA management. [Credit: NASA]
Capcom: Challenger, go at throttle up.
Challenger: Roger, go at throttle up. [:10]
A little burst of static accompanied a big burst of fire in the sky near Cape Canaveral 20 years ago today. The space shuttle Challenger had exploded just 73 seconds after launch:
Mission Control: We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded. Flight director confirms that. [:06]
The explosion killed all seven members of Challenger's crew: astronauts Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, and Ron McNair; engineer Gregory Jarvis, and teacher Christa McAuliffe. An investigation revealed problems with the booster design, and with the way NASA made decisions about shuttle safety. The problems resulted in the first loss of American astronauts during a spaceflight.
Hours after the disaster, President Ronald Reagan recalled the crew and its mission:
Reagan: Perhaps we forget that we've only just begun -- we're still pioneers. They -- the members of the Challenger crew -- were pioneers. The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted -- it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them. The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth, to touch the face of God. [:41]
Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2005
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