Historical Background
In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reveled the world's first reusable manned spacecraft, soon later called the space shuttle. This first known space shuttle was called The Columbia and all missions were successful.
The Challenger was NASA's second space shuttle and embarked on it's maiden voyage on April 4, 1983. Before in massive explosion in 1986, it had gone on nine space mission without any issue. That morning, the Challenger was set to carry seven passengers into space.
The Challenger was NASA's second space shuttle and embarked on it's maiden voyage on April 4, 1983. Before in massive explosion in 1986, it had gone on nine space mission without any issue. That morning, the Challenger was set to carry seven passengers into space.
The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission was initially delayed for six days due to weather and technical problems. The morning of January 28 was unusually cold, and engineers warned their superiors that certain components—particularly the rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters—were vulnerable to failure at low temperatures. However, these warnings went unheeded, and at 11:39 a.m. Challenger lifted off. Seventy-three seconds later, families of the crew stared in disbelief as the shuttle exploded in smoke and fire. Millions more watched the tragedy unfold on live television. Within instants, the spacecraft broke apart and plunged into the ocean, killing its entire crew, traumatizing the nation and throwing NASA’s shuttle program into turmoil.