30 years ago, the space shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986. NASA space shuttle orbiter Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The last flight of space shuttle Challenger
On January 28, 1986 NASA space shuttle orbiter Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members
Photo {{sliderIndex+1}} from 15
The space shuttle Challenger seen inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, April 10, 1985
© AP Photo/Phil Sandlin Crew of the space shuttle Challenger mission 51L. All seven members of the crew were killed when the shuttle exploded during launch on Jan. 28, 1986. From front left: astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, and Ronald E. McNair. Rear left are: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik
© AP Photo The space shuttle Challenger in Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral
© AP Photo/Paul Kizzle Space teacher Christa McAuliffe in her helmet, in the white room preparing to climb aboard the space shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986
© AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky A puff of smoke is visible from the right hand solid rocket booster just seconds after the boosters fired, launching the Challenger and its crew of seven, Jan. 28, 1986
© AP Photo/NASA Liftoff of the space shuttle
© NASA Unusual flame jutting from the side of a solid rocket booster on the space shuttle Challenger during its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral
© NASA Space shuttle Challenger exploding shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, Jan. 28, 1986. All seven crew members died in the explosion. The shuttle had no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable
© AP Photo/Bruce Weaver Spectators at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, witnessing the explosion of the Challenger
© AP Photo/File The family of Christa McAuliffe, who was scheduled to become the first teacher in space, realizing the horror after the space shuttle orbiter Challenger blew apart after liftoff. The sister of Christa, Betsy, left, and parents Grace and Ed Corrigan
© AP Photo/Jim Cole In the Mission Control Center in a few minutes after the announcement of a state of emergency. м which was blamed on faulty o-rings in the shuttle's booster rockets.
© NASA US President Ronald Reagan surrounded by members of his senior staff watching a TV replay of the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle
© AP Photo/Craig Fujii Members of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident walking past the solid rocket boosters and the external tank of a shuttle
© AP Photo/Pool The vertical stabilizer or tail section of the space shuttle Challenger
© AP Photo/Bruce Weaver Shrine set up in memory of Christa McAuliffe at St. John's Church in Concord, New Hampshire, January 30, 1986, following a memorial service. The Challenger's crew was honored with burials at Arlington National Cemetery
© AP Photo/David Tenenbaum