EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Challenger breaks apart after launch in 1986, killing all crew on board, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher with the NASA Teacher in Space Project.

Detailed explanation-2: -The cause of the disaster was the failure of the primary and secondary redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle’s right solid rocket booster (SRB). The record-low temperatures of the launch had stiffened the rubber O-rings, reducing their ability to seal the joints.

Detailed explanation-3: -28, 1986, in-flight, off Cape Canaveral, Fla.), American teacher who was chosen to be the first private citizen in space. The death of McAuliffe and her fellow crew members in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster was deeply felt by the nation and had a strong effect on the U.S. space program.

Detailed explanation-4: -Between 1981 and 1985 a fleet of four orbiters-Columbia (the first to fly in space), Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis-was put into service. On January 28, 1986, Challenger, carrying seven astronauts, exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all aboard including a private citizen, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

Detailed explanation-5: -It’s been exactly 20 years since the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth, killing all seven astronauts on board: commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, David Brown and payload specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel.