The
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was the first fatal accident to an
American spacecraft in flight. On January 28, 1986, the
Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into the flight of
STS-51-L, the 25th mission of
NASA's
Space Shuttle program. All seven crew members aboard were killed. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14
km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of
Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39
amEST. This official portrait of the
STS-51-L crew was taken on November 15, 1985. In the back row, from left to right, are
Ellison Onizuka,
Christa McAuliffe,
Gregory Jarvis, and
Judith Resnik. In the front row, from left to right, are
Michael J. Smith,
Dick Scobee, and
Ronald McNair.
Photograph credit: NASA
