| 51-L [Flight # 25] | 28 January 1986 | Challenger [10] |
Crew:
Francis R. Scobee, Commander
Michael J. Smith, Pilot
Judith A. Resnik, Mission Specialist 1
Ellison S. Onizuka, Mission Specialist 2
Ronald E. McNair, Mission Specialist 3
Gregory B. Jarvis, Payload Specialist 1
Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist 2
Launch:
Pad: 39-B [1]
Date: 28 January 1986
Time: 16:38:00 UTC
Orbit:
Altitude: 46,000 feet (150 nm planned)
Inclination: 28.5 degrees (planned)
Orbits: 0
Duration: 1 minute, 13 seconds
Distance: 18 miles
Landing:
None (Kennedy Space Center landing was planned)
An explosion 73 seconds after liftoff claimed both crew and vehicle. Cause of the explosion was determined to be an O-ring failure in the right solid rocket booster. Cold weather was a contributing factor.
| Challenger explosion |
|
(credit - NASA) |
| Audio from Mission Control |
|
(credit - NASA) |
"Challenger, go with throttle-up" - A memorial page
Christa McAuliffe was a school teacher, and was to do live telecasts from space. She had been selected as the prime candidate for NASA's Teacher in Space Project. Her backup was Barbara R. Morgan, a teacher from Idaho.
Credit - NASA
(click to enlarge)
Back row (l to r)
Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik
Front row (l to r)
Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair
Archived NASA mission page for 51-L
Page last modified: 08 April 2024 16:03:42.
