Challenger disaster 1986
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.
In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world’s first reusable manned spacecraft, the Enterprise. Five years later, space flights of the shuttle began when Columbia
traveled into space on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket
boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered
into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle
fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the
atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite
equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. The
Challenger disaster was the first major shuttle accident.
In the aftermath of the disaster, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger
and to develop future corrective measures. The presidential commission
was headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, and included
former astronaut Neil Armstrong
and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. The investigation determined that
the disaster was caused by the failure of an “O-ring” seal in one of the
two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected
because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of
events that resulted in the massive loss. As a result, NASA did not send
astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number
of features of the space shuttle.
In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery.
Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important
missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space
Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.
On February 1, 2003, a second space-shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry of the Earth’s atmosphere. All aboard were killed. Despite fears that the problems that downed Columbia had not been satisfactorily addressed, space-shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, when Discovery was again put into orbit.
(More Events on This Day in History)
-
American Revolution
- 1777 British plan to isolate New England
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Automotive
- 2009 “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” debuts
-
Civil War
- 1828 Thomas Hindman born
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Cold War
- 1964 Soviets shoot down U.S. jet
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Crime
- 1958 Killer couple strikes the heartland
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Disaster
- 1986 Challenger lost after liftoff
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General Interest
- 1917 U.S. ends search for Pancho Villa
- 1997 Afrikaner police admit to killing Stephen Biko
-
Hollywood
- 2006 Clint Eastwood honored by Directors Guild of America
-
Literary
- 1873 Colette is born
-
Music
- 1985 American recording artists gather to record “We Are the World”
-
Old West
- 1855 First train crosses the Panamanian isthmus
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Presidential
- 1916 Wilson nominates Brandeis to the Supreme Court
-
Sports
- 1959 Vince Lombardi hired as Packers coach
-
Vietnam War
- 1973 Cease-fire goes into effect
- 1975 Ford asks for additional aid
-
World War I
- 1915 Germans sink American merchant ship
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World War II
- 1945 Burma Road is reopened
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