Remembering Challenger

Today in 1986, seven American astronauts gave their lives exploring the last frontier

At 5:00 p.m. EST on January 28, 1986, President Reagan was scheduled to deliver a State of the Union address.

Instead, he delivered a somber speech about an event that happened barely six hours earlier that shook the nation to its core: the loss of seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

On 11:39 AM EST, just 73 seconds after lift-off and about 150 nautical miles above the Earth, a ruptured O-ring in Challenger's right solid rocket booster caused an explosion that tore the shuttle apart, killing Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Michael J. Smith, Francis "Dick" Scobee and Ronald McNair.

Mission STS-51-L was the twenty-fifth flight of the America's space shuttle program. It was Challenger's tenth mission, meant to deploy communication satellites, carry our experiments on observing Halley's Comet and give a series of lessons as part of the Teacher in Space Program.

At the time, the American public had become accustomed to viewing the televised launches. Indeed, nothing since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy had gripped the entire country as did the Challenger disaster.

"We've grown used to wonders in this century," said President Reagan in his televised address from the Oval Office.

"It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers."

On February 1, 2003, another space shuttle disaster occurred when the Columbia disintegrated over Texas upon its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. All seven of its astronauts were killed. In 131 missions, 14 lives have been lost along with the two shuttles that carried them.

Exploration is dangerous. But without it, we might still be living in caves. Or perhaps, still underwater.

"The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave," said Reagan.

"The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them."

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image: NASA