Description
STS-51-Lwas the disastrous 25th mission of the United StatesSpace Shuttle program, the program to carry out routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo; as well as the final flight ofSpace ShuttleChallenger.Planned as the firstTeacher in Space Projectin addition to observing Halley’s Comet for six days, the mission never achieved orbit; astructural failureduring its ascent phase 73 seconds after launch fromKennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39on January 28, 1986, killed all seven crew members—CommanderDick Scobee, PilotMichael J. Smith, Mission SpecialistsEllison S. Onizuka,Judith A. ResnikandRonald E. McNair, and Payload SpecialistsGregory JarvisandChrista McAuliffe—and destroyed the orbiter.Immediately after the disaster, NASA convened theRogers Commissionto determine the cause of the explosion. The failure of anO-ringseal on the starboardSolid Rocket Booster (SRB)was determined to have caused the shuttle to break-up in flight. Space Shuttle flights were suspended for 32 months while the hazards with the shuttle were addressed. The Space Shuttle program resumed withSTS-26, launched two years after the accident.
