Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
Unverified
Date
January 28, 1986
Type
World
Author
hjwilson1975
Location
Cape Canaveral,
Florida,
United States
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Categories
Science & Technology
Natural Disasters
Births & Deaths
Event Details
On January 28, 1986, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST.
The Crew: The mission, designated STS-51-L, included five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists. Among them was Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.
- Francis R. Scobee (Commander)
- Michael J. Smith (Pilot)
- Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist)
- Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist)
- Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist)
- Gregory Jarvis (Payload Specialist)
- Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist)
The disaster was attributed to the failure of an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster due to unusually cold temperatures at launch.