Name: One Moment That Made the World Stand Still: The Challenger Disaster
Uploaded: 2025-11-17T17:15:55.000Z
Duration: 26 min 59 s
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On January 28, 1986, as the United States and the rest of the world watched on, glued to their television sets for the live broadcast of an unprecedented space shuttle launch, there was excitement and expectation in the air.

This launch was one that had been delayed multiple times.

But now, finally, it was all systems go and all eyes on the crisp blue Florida sky.

Although none of the major networks are broadcasting it live, you can still see it on a relatively new cable channel called cnn.

And yet, all of the good feeling would only ever amount to a desperate, devastating, infamous tragedy.

The Challenger disaster triggered global shock and mourning.

All seven crew members lost their lives amidst one of the darkest moments in 20th century American history.

But how could such a moment come to pass?

What exactly went so terribly wrong to cause such a deadly outcome?

And how did the fate of the Challenger impact space travel?

From then on, how did the Challenger disaster truly unfold?

Today we examine space shuttle Challenger's final mission, the disturbing events leading up to, during and after its catastrophic launch, and

the enduring impact of an unthinkable failure.

Challenger was the second space shuttle orbiter after Columbia to fly as part of NASA's wider space shuttle program, a huge $200 billion, 30 year human spaceflight plan that ultimately ran from 1981 to 2011.

Challenger itself launched for the first time on April 4, 1983.

It ran for 10 flights total between then and mission STS51L, its fatal final launch in late January 1986.

In general, the shuttle program represented a new dawn for spaceflight.

Unlike with previous initiatives such as the Apollo program, which famously took humankind to the moon for the first time, NASA's shuttle system was designed for repeated use.

It was going to be a real routine expressway to space.

And unlike Apollo, the shuttle system was going to be almost entirely reusable.

They had to return this hardware back into space as rapidly as they could.

by some estimates, it was predicted that any one shuttle would be able to launch upwards of 100 times over the course of its operational life.

Unfortunately, we know that Challenger managed only a tenth of that projection.

What transpired to be its final mission, however, was planned to be a particularly historic one.

It carried enormous symbolic weight, cultural significance, and it garnered massive political attention at its core.

STS51L was to carry out several key tasks during the six days in space.

The astronauts are going to release a $100 million satellite and another one called Halley Spartan, that will study the comet.

Challenger was set to deploy the second satellite in NASA's Tracking and Data Relay satellite system, which was designed to make it easier for orbiting spacecraft in general to communicate.

It was also planned for Challenger to ferry into space the Spartan Halley payload, a satellite specifically built to target and monitor Halley's comet.

And in fact, this link to an internationally known cosmic phenomenon was a main driving force behind this particular mission being a focal point for a key NASA initiative during presidency of Ronald Reagan, the Teacher in Space project.

When that shuttle lifts off, all of America will be reminded of the crucial role that teachers in education play in the life of our Nation.

When in 1984 Reagan announced the Teacher in Space project, the idea was a bold Send a teacher into space so that students across the US could witness the possibilities of space travel through the eyes of someone just like them.

In 1985, from more than 11,000 applicants, Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire was chosen.

On July 19, 1985, Vice President Bush makes the big announcement.

The teacher who will be going into space, Christa McAuliffe.

She wasn't an astronaut, a pilot or an engineer.

And she represented the possibility that space wasn't only for highly trained specialists, that it could also be for everyday people.

She was 37, a mother of a 6 year old and a 9 year old a wife.

Alongside McAuliffe, another teacher, Barbara Morgan was selected as her backup.

McAuliffe was scheduled to teach directly from space.

The plan was for her to deliver two 15 minute classes broadcast live to millions of students around the country.

For NASA, this was a sign of ambition, but

also a thinly veiled major push to improve PR that grew a tremendous interest from the public, plus the school systems that were going to show this live on television.

The 1980s had seen a big decline in enthusiasm for space travel compared to previous decades, especially during the Apollo era.

Challenger was meant to reignite the flame to re accelerate public interest in U.S.

It was an attempt to inspire the next generation of America's children.

And in the year leading up to launch, the media attention was rising and rising.

McAuliffe was right at the heart of it all.

But I've also been an adventurer and I've always wanted to try something new.

And certainly as a historian, to have the opportunity to embark on such an adventure I certainly wouldn't be able to say no to.

The full crew of STs, 51L included Francis R. Dick Scobee, the Mission Commander, Michael J.

Smith, the Pilot, Mission Specialist 1, Ellison S.

Onizuka, Mission Specialist 2, and Flight Engineer Judith A.

Resnick, Mission Specialist 3, Ronald E. McNair and Payload Specialist 2.

Gregory B. Jarvis, an engineer representing Hughes Space and Communications.

Christa McAuliffe was officially designated as Payload Specialist 1.

At the time, it was one of the most diverse crews that NASA had ever assembled.

Again, this was a group of supremely talented and dedicated people who it was felt could supercharge the shuttle program.

Because in truth, by the turn of the year into 1986, the program was increasingly under pressure.

NASA had promised routine, almost airline like operations for the shuttle.

We had two pads up and running, so you'd have two vehicles out on the pad and they were going to launch like three days apart.

Launches were originally expected to happen at a rapid pace, with perhaps dozens per year.

But just five years into the shuttle era, this general ambition had proven in hindsight to be over optimistic.

As a result, NASA's leadership reportedly faced growing demands to prove their shuttles were not just experimental crafts, but

truly were reliable, reusable, around the clock vehicles.

Nevertheless, the STS51L Challenger mission had already faced delays.

What the country's space agency has learned in recent weeks as well as the rest of us, is that this is a difficult general time of year to try and launch a space shuttle.

Originally scheduled to launch in July 1985, it had been pushed back multiple times due to a combination of weather and technical issues.

Even in January 86, it had previously been scheduled for launch on the 22nd before eventually taking off on the 28th.

Millions of people, including school children across America, tuned in live to watch.

The Challenger mission was supposed to be a celebration of progress, education, imagination and exploration.

Instead, it turned into a moment that no one would forget, but for terrible, horrible reasons.

Just 73 seconds after leaving the launch pad, there was a huge explosion.

The watching crowds had just witnessed a dream disintegrate.

Challenger's final day did not unfold under stereotypical Florida conditions.

While skies were clear, temperatures were plummeting.

Overnight lows had dipped below freezing.

And something that may have been missed by the eager watching masses was that this launch would be the coldest launch in shuttle history.

This was an epic cold snap across the south.

It had never been that cold on that calendar day in Cape Canaveral.

Ultimately, this was a crucial detail as to how and why the mission ended in disaster.

The cold wasn't just uncomfortable, it was dangerous.

Ice had formed on the ground and on the launch tower against which the doomed shuttle was set, raising concerns among engineers broadly.