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Challenger Remembered
By Greg Clark
Staff Writer
posted: 01:06 pm ET
28 January 2000
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challenger_audio At 11:38 a.m. EST on January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from the launch pad 39B at Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center. The launch was the first from the brand new pad. The launch site was closer to the public viewing areas than other liftoff sites, and many in attendance said the proximity made it one of the loudest and most stunning launches they had witnessed. The 25th space shuttle launch received widespread attention because of the presence of Sharon Christa McAuliffe, who was to have been the first teacher in space. The New Hampshire high school teacher was chosen from a field of more than 11,000 applicants for the space educator position. She was to have given lectures from orbit to students across the country. About one minute, 13 seconds after launch, as students across the country watched on through live television feeds, the shuttle tragically exploded, killing all seven crew members. In addition to McAuliffe were commander Dick Scobee, pilot Mike Smith, mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik and Ron McNair, as well as payload specialist Greg Jarvis, an employee of Hughes Aircraft Systems. 
A solid-fuel rocket booster, seen at the right, continues alone after the explosion of Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. This photo was taken by a 70-millimeter tracking camera at a photographic station south of launch pad 39B at 11:39:16.795 a.m. EST To hear Mission Control transmissions of the countdown, launch and announcement of the chilling disaster, choose . AIFF or .WAV format (1.8 MB). The audio runs four minutes, beginning from 30 seconds before liftoff, and continuing through confirmation of the explosion.Viewers on the ground were initially alarmed by the puff of smoke, which was seen well before the solid rocket boosters were scheduled to separate from the space shuttle. More than a minute passed before Mission Control announced that Challenger had exploded. An investigation traced the cause of the accident to problems with faulty O-rings on the spacecraft's solid-fuel rocket boosters.
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