Photos: Remembering the space shuttle Challenger disaster

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PHOTOS: Remembering the space shuttle Challenger disaster

The space shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds after liftoff from Florida's Cape Canaveral on Jan. 28, 1986, shocking the nation. Seven crew members died, including the first teacher on a space mission, Christa McAuliffe.

US space shuttle Challenger lifts off 28 January 1986 from a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, 72 seconds before its explosion killing it crew of seven. Challenger was 72 seconds into its flight, travelling at nearly 2,000 mph at a height of ten miles, when it was suddenly envelope in a red, orange and white fireball as thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel exploded. AFP PHOTO NASA (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Space Shuttle Challenger crew members in 1985 portrait (Back, L-R) Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher-in-Space participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis and mission specialist Judy Resnick. (Front, L-R) Pilot Mike Smith, commander Dick Scobee and mission specialist Ron McNair. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 13: Christa McAuliffe (right) and Barbara Morgan, teacher in space primary and backup crew members for Shuttle Mission STS-51L. This mission ended in failure when the Challenger orbiter exploded 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Picture taken 28 January 1986 showing the solid fuel rocket booster of the space shuttle Challenger starting to explode over Kennedy Space Center. The US space shuttle exploded seconds after lift-off, killing it crew of seven. Challenger was 72 seconds into its flight, travelling at nearly 2,000 mph at a height of ten miles, when it was suddenly envelope in a red, orange and white fireball as thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel exploded. AFP PHOTO BOB PEARSON (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP/Getty Images)

The space shuttle 'Challenger' malfunctions shortly after take-off, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members, 28th January 1986. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

A solid fuel rocket booster disappears behind the contrail of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger 28 January 1986 over Kennedy Space Center as debris from the orbiter begins to fall to earth. The US space shuttle exploded seconds after lift-off, killing it crew of seven. Challenger was 72 seconds into its flight, travelling at nearly 2,000 mph at a height of ten miles, when it was suddenly envelope in a red, orange and white fireball as thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel exploded. AFP PHOTO BOB PEARSON (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP/Getty Images)

The remains of the crew of the space shuttle 'Challenger' are moved from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, on board a Military Airlift Command C-141, 29th April 1986. NASA officials, a military guard of honour and escorts from the Astronaut Office are present for the departure. The seven crew members of the 'Challenger' died on 28th January 1986, when the shuttle broke up shortly after take-off. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

(RM) SPACE24_KSO_1_24_09112 - Cadets lay a single rose each at the memorial of Ellison S. Onizuka as the Arnold Air Society from the 105th Air Force ROTC Detachment holds its annual commemoration honoring the astronauts lost in the Challenger explosion in 1986. The ceremony began with a color guard at Regent Center on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder. The cadets then laid roses at the memorial site of CU graduate Ellison S. Onizuka and the Challenger Memorial. Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post (Photo By Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

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US space shuttle Challenger lifts off 28 January 1986 from a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, 72 seconds before its explosion killing it crew of seven. Challenger was 72 seconds into its flight, travelling at nearly 2,000 mph at a height of ten miles, when it was suddenly envelope in a red, orange and white fireball as thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel exploded. AFP PHOTO NASA (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP/Getty Images)

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