Source 1:
Lift-off and Explosion Footage
Source 2:
The Crew
(left to right)
- Ellison S. Onizuka: Mission Specialist
- Mike J. Smith: Pilot
- Sharon Christa McAuliffe: Teacher-in-Space payload specialist
- Francis R. (Dick) Scobee: Astronaut, Mission Commander
- Gregory Jarvis: Payload Specialist
- Ronald E. McNair: Pilot, Mission Specialist
- Judith A. Resnik: Astronaut, Mission Specialist
Source 3:
Famous Last Words
It seemed impossible that anyone could have lived through the terrific explosion 10 miles in the sky, and officials said that there was no evidence to indicate that the five men and two women aboard had survived. Based on multiple articles, including this newspaper from 1991, there was an actual tape that was found from the explosion! The tape shows that the crew of the Challenger did not only survive the explosion, they were alive for the entire three minutes until they hit the Atlantic Ocean.
Flaming debris rained down on the into the sea for an hour after the explosion, which occurred just after 11:39 A. M. It kept rescue teams from reaching the area where the craft would have fallen into the sea, about 18 miles offshore. Based on other reports, there was no sign of any of the crew alive in the ocean. Wouldn't it be safe to say that the crew would be visible in the ocean? There have been no reports on that question and there were no found survivors.
Flaming debris rained down on the into the sea for an hour after the explosion, which occurred just after 11:39 A. M. It kept rescue teams from reaching the area where the craft would have fallen into the sea, about 18 miles offshore. Based on other reports, there was no sign of any of the crew alive in the ocean. Wouldn't it be safe to say that the crew would be visible in the ocean? There have been no reports on that question and there were no found survivors.
Source 4:
Our President
The evening of the Challenger explosion completed a day full of tragedy. President Reagan made an official address with some very important points:
"And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them."
We found it important to include this quote from the president because he directly addressed students all over the nation about something personal to them. A teacher passed away in the explosion, making a massive impact across the board of education.
The next quote we found really important to include because it led ideas of improvement and growth. "I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue."
"And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them."
We found it important to include this quote from the president because he directly addressed students all over the nation about something personal to them. A teacher passed away in the explosion, making a massive impact across the board of education.
The next quote we found really important to include because it led ideas of improvement and growth. "I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue."
Source 5:
Lifted Pieces
Pieces of the Challenger are arranged in a hangar after being salvaged from the Atlantic Ocean. Ten years after the Challenger tragedy, two large pieces from the spacecraft washed ashore on a Florida beach. The remaining debris is now stored in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral.
Source 6:
A Major Malfunction
Source 7:
Aftermath
- After the accident, NASA refrained from sending astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of the shuttle’s features. Flights began again in September 1988 with the successful launching of Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, including the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.
Source 8:
A Shocking Surprise
Thirty-six year old Michael Hindes' grandmother passed away, and while looking through old boxes for photographs to display at her memorial, he found another set of photos he never expected. "I knew my
grandfather had worked at NASA and he had seen a lot of the shuttle launches,
so I figure that this was a set of pictures that he took from one of the
shuttle launches," he said. After
continuing through the set of pictures, he soon realized they were of no
ordinary shuttle launch but of one of the most tragic accidents in the history
of manned space travel. "As
I go through them, I'm watching the shuttle go up, and up, and up," he
said. "Then I see that iconic cloud." Hindes
said his heart sank as he realized he had stumbled across a set of photos
documenting the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
"My grandfather's brother had a team that worked on the Crawler, which is the giant machine that slowly moves the shuttle from the shuttle bay out to the launch pad," he said. "On that crew was a gentleman who they became friends with and it was this gentleman who ended up taking these pictures."
Finding the photos was only the beginning, though. Hindes scanned the set of 26 photos and posted them to the so-called front page of the Internet, Reddit.com, under the moniker Americanmustache, and overnight the album reached more than 500,000 views. Hindes said he did not expect the flood of responses and the attention the photos would gather. "My inbox is full of comments and it was kind of overwhelming," he said. "Usually when you post something on Reddit...a lot of time the comments don't have much substance -- they're jokes on the Internet -- but the thing about these comments was the vast, vast majority of them were so heartfelt."
Out of the thousands of responses and stories shared as a result of the photos, Hindes said one correspondence in particular was quite unique: He had received a message from someone claiming to be one of the family members of Christa McAuliffe, the school teacher about the shuttle.
"Basically, they wanted to let me know that knowing that the tragedy that happened is still so engrained in the hearts and minds of people today, that it really meant a lot to this person and their family," he said. "They really wanted to express how moved they were by reading the comments and by knowing that Christa's legacy still lives on." Hindes said the overwhelming response has even had a positive effect on his grandfather.
"My grandfather's brother had a team that worked on the Crawler, which is the giant machine that slowly moves the shuttle from the shuttle bay out to the launch pad," he said. "On that crew was a gentleman who they became friends with and it was this gentleman who ended up taking these pictures."
Finding the photos was only the beginning, though. Hindes scanned the set of 26 photos and posted them to the so-called front page of the Internet, Reddit.com, under the moniker Americanmustache, and overnight the album reached more than 500,000 views. Hindes said he did not expect the flood of responses and the attention the photos would gather. "My inbox is full of comments and it was kind of overwhelming," he said. "Usually when you post something on Reddit...a lot of time the comments don't have much substance -- they're jokes on the Internet -- but the thing about these comments was the vast, vast majority of them were so heartfelt."
Out of the thousands of responses and stories shared as a result of the photos, Hindes said one correspondence in particular was quite unique: He had received a message from someone claiming to be one of the family members of Christa McAuliffe, the school teacher about the shuttle.
"Basically, they wanted to let me know that knowing that the tragedy that happened is still so engrained in the hearts and minds of people today, that it really meant a lot to this person and their family," he said. "They really wanted to express how moved they were by reading the comments and by knowing that Christa's legacy still lives on." Hindes said the overwhelming response has even had a positive effect on his grandfather.
Source 9:
An Editorial
In the days following the accident, editorial cartoon artists around the world turned their attention to Challenger and her crew. The following cartoons appeared in our local newspaper, The Orlando Sentinel on January 29, 1986. They were created by their local editorial artist, Dana Summers.
Source 10:
A Memorial
"In grateful and loving tribute to the brave crew of the United States space shuttle Challenger 28 January 1986"
On June 12, 1986, five months after the disaster, the 99th Congress passed a concurrent resolution stating "the Secretary of the Army should construct and place in Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial marker honoring the seven members of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger." It was decided by family members and NASA to construct the monument over the cremated remains in Section 46.
Family members of the seven Challenger astronauts and approximately 400 people attended the dedication ceremony that next year on the morning of March 21, 1987, including then Vice President and Mrs. George Bush.
On June 12, 1986, five months after the disaster, the 99th Congress passed a concurrent resolution stating "the Secretary of the Army should construct and place in Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial marker honoring the seven members of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger." It was decided by family members and NASA to construct the monument over the cremated remains in Section 46.
Family members of the seven Challenger astronauts and approximately 400 people attended the dedication ceremony that next year on the morning of March 21, 1987, including then Vice President and Mrs. George Bush.
