Challenger Explosion

The space shuttle was conposed of a crew of seven. They were Ellisons Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik, Mike Simth, Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair. This crew included the first civilian to join a NASA crew in space. She was a teacher, Christa McAuliffe.

The space shuttle Challenger explosion was caused by the leaking of the right solid rocket booster field joint. The flight lasted 76 seconds. There was nothing to indicate anything was amiss. The fire erupted and burned through the external tank. Then seconds after the tank ignited, the orbiter ripped apart.

Later that day NASA divers located the torn crew compartment. Somehow the bodies of the astronauts were still strapped into their seats. Even though the orbiter ripped open, it was not enough to have killed the crew. Crash investigators discovered that three of the crew had used air during the two mintues and 45 seconds while the crew compartment fell toward the sea. The crew compartment hit the water with so much force that not one surived the impact. The crew of the space shuttle Challenger was flown back to Kennedy Space Center.

All 14 missions scheduled after Challenger's mission were cancelled, pending the investigation into the causes of the crash.

Pictured above the crew of fatal Challenger accident.

Shown above is the explosion of the Challenger.