This Day in History - Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes

History.com ^ | 1/28/20 | History.com editors

[Buttons12]

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. There were no survivors.

[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Cocaine Mitch would do well to begin today’s session with a moment of silence.

[ealgeone]

I remember where I was when this happened.

[Alberta's Child]

It's interesting to note some obvious similarities between the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

Both of them came at a time when NASA was more concerned about the "diversity" of their crews than the safety of the missions they were undertaking.

[Roccus]

I was a field tech with NYTel in Southern Manhattan back then and would usually join my foreman somewhere to watch the shuttle launches. That morning I had a customer that needed my attention and had to beg off our meet-up. Spent the whole day without contact with the world and after I was done took the subway home. I had a book to read so I didn’t bother getting a newspaper.
When I arrived at my apartment, I turned on the TV and was surprised to see the shuttle lifting off. “There must have been a delay”, I thought and figured I was lucky to have turned on the TV when I did. I sat down and watched and saw the explosion and the smoking debris arcing in the sky. At first I thought it was the boosters separating ....but then it sank in. I also started to realize that there was no commentary, no audio coming over the TV. After a time an announcer came on and bit by bit I learned what had happened that morning. Not sure how long I sat there, just stunned.

[Roccus]

Both of them came at a time when NASA was more concerned about the "diversity" of their crews than the safety of the missions they were undertaking.

Diversity had nothing to do with the Challenger disaster. That was caused by administrators making technical decisions.

[Alberta's Child]

Diversity had nothing to do with the Challenger disaster. That was caused by administrators making technical decisions.

And they made those decisions for PR reasons -- which was what the whole shuttle program had become by that point: a PR stunt.

After the Challenger disaster, the shuttle program was shut down for almost three years. When it was resumed in late 1988, NASA ditched most of the civilian research and prioritized the backlog of military payloads for the first several missions.

Notice something in common among all these flight crews?

Mission STS-26 (September-October 1988)

Mission STS-27 (December 1988)

Mission STS-29 (March 1989)

Mission STS-28 (August 1989)

[Roccus]

CORRECTION:

At that time I was working for ATTIS, not NYTel....everything was still in chaos after the break-up of the Bell System.

[Roccus]

True, but it does NOT negate my #26

[Alberta's Child]

Right. It just reinforces my point: When the crap hit the fan, NASA put a bunch of white men into orbit.

[BuffaloJack]

43 years ago today, we had the Blizzard of ‘77 in Buffalo, NY.
My car was buried under 31 feet of snow for 3 weeks.

[Magic Fingers]

I was living in a marina just across the lake from the Johnson Space Center. Many NASA engineers and other NASA employees also lived there. The extreme gloom in that complex only began lifting after a community pool party later that summer.

[SubVet72]

This happened at the same day and time of my grandfathers funeral. Learned of it when we arrived a the cemetery from two of my neighbors.
My grandfather was 98 and we were celebrating his life. The shuttle explosion was a national tragedy!

[oldvirginian]

I was in Odessa, TX.
Had just dropped a load at a warehouse there and needed to sit 30 hours to let my log book catch up to me.
Heard about it on the radio and went inside the truck stop to check out the tv coverage.
Sad day.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

I’ll never forget that day. Greg Jarvis was a payload specialist from Hughes Aircraft Company (who was on board).
I, along with 600 other HAC employees, applied for that position.
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2011/01/28/looking-back-greg-jarvis-dream-remembered/

[ops33]

Was stationed in Berlin watching the events unfold on AFN television.