The Tragic Challenger Explosion

The Tragic Challenger Explosion

The Tragic Challenger Explosion Space Travel. It is a sense of national pride for many Americans. If you ask anyone who was alive at the time, they could probably tell you exactly where they were when they heard that Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon. But all of the success in our space programs is overshadowed by tragedy. On January 28, 1986, one of the worst disasters in our space program's history occurred. Many people were watching at the moment because it was the highly televised space mission where, for the first time, a civilian was a member of the crew that was to be shot into space.

This civilian was the winner of the "Teacher in Space" contest, Christa

McAuliffe. The disaster: the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

(Compton's 1) Many people thought that disaster couldn't strike because a civilian was on board. But as the whole nation found out, nobody is immortal.

By examining this further, we will look at the lives of the seven who died in this dumbfounding calamity, take a look at exactly what went wrong during this fateful mission, and the outcome from this sorrowful occurrence. First, who exactly were those astronauts that died on the Challenger? Sharon Christa

Corrigan McAuliffe, born in 1948, was the famous winner of the teacher-in-space program, was a high school teacher at Concord, N. H., a wife, and a mother of two children. She touched the lives of all those she knew and taught. As a school official in Concord said after her death, "To us, she seemed average.

But she turned out to be remarkable. She handled success so beautifully." She also wanted everyone to learn more, including herself. Demonstrating her aspirations after entering the space program, she is quoted saying, "What are we doing here? We're reaching for the stars." Also, after reflecting on her position, she said in August 1995, "I touch the future, I teach (Gray 32)."

Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, born in 1948, was a tremendous enthusiast for aviation and the space program. At 18 years old, he enlisted in the Air Force. While working as a mechanic in the service, he put himself through night school, eventually earning a degree in aerospace engineering that helped him become an officer and a pilot. He loved flying. Scobee once observed, :You know, it's a real crime to be paid...

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...ture on Hold." Time 10 February 1986: 38-41.

This article told about the setbacks to the space program that the explosion would cause. It mainly told about the Hubble space telescope. This is a secondary source.

Zoglin, Richard. "Covering the Awful Unexpected." Time 10 February 1986:

42-45.

This article went to the media's perspective of covering the accident.

It told about how the three major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) spend their time covering the disaster. This is a secondary source.

Murphy, Jamie. "It Was Not the First Time." Time 10 February 1986:

45.

This article told about previous disasters in the space programs of the

United States and Russia. This is a secondary source. Dumoulin, Jim. "51-L"

[Online] Available http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/mission-51-l.html, October

5, 1996.

This article from NASA also contributed a lot to my report. It is the official report about the Challenger explosion. This is a primary source.