Challenger launched on its final journey atop its Shuttle Carrier Atmosphere (SCA), flying low over Houston and JSC as its astronauts slept during its flight. When they awoke up, MCC played “Cadets on Parade” and the Air Force Song before playing MCC songs from its archives to commemorate their accomplishments in service to America.
Challenger disintegrated just 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members – including New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe – including herself. The catastrophic disaster forever altered the space shuttle program in various ways.
It was a space shuttle
Challenger successfully launched two NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellites into orbit during its nine-day mission. Additionally, it deployed Spartan Halley spacecraft two days later so as to observe Halley’s Comet as it approached close to Earth. Challenger’s crew included Story Musgrave who became the first woman ever to fly on all five Space Shuttle orbiters.
After landing at Edwards AFB, the crew members boarded a plane for their return flight back to KSC. Weitz and Bobko conducted postflight inspection of their spacecraft before retrieving Columbia for processing.
At 1:30 pm EST on April 4, 1983, Challenger launched successfully into space after a smooth countdown and launched on its STS-6 mission. For the initial minute or so, everything seemed to be running smoothly, with callouts between crew members and ground controllers at Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center (MCC), Ascent Flight Director Jay H. Greene overseeing vehicle systems while Capcom Richard O. Covey relayed communications between crew and MCC ground control staff; an initial countdown took about 15 minutes and launch took off at around 1:30 p.m. EST; all appeared normal after that initial minute or so!
It was a test vehicle
Challenger was built at Rockwell International’s Palmdale plant and officially unveiled to the public on June 30, 1982; thereafter it departed Rockwell via Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to Edwards AFB, California for nine missions during its 10-year life span. As well as fulfilling these roles, Challenger served as an important test vehicle for first and second-generation space shuttles. It also acted as an engineering testbed. Originally intended as a test vehicle for these vessels. It had to undergo intense refurbishment after its rollout to Edwards AFB on California air base on June 30, 1982 before departing Rockwell facilities via SCA carrier aircraft before departing for Edwards AFB California for 9 missions totalling 11 years of construction before entering service en route on its original aircraft carrier aircraft on June 30, 1982 for flight en route.
STS 51-L was scheduled for launch on January 22, 1986 and included Christa McAuliffe from Concord, New Hampshire who was selected as one of NASA’s Teacher in Space program participants and conducted lessons live from orbiter before deploying TDRS-B satellite.
The Challenger explosion altered NASA’s national space program significantly. It led to a shift away from using shuttles for high-priority national security satellite launches and other activities, and toward using more reusable rockets instead. Furthermore, this accident forced NASA to postpone plans of flying civilians such as teachers or journalists into space.
It was a spacecraft
Challenger, originally STA-099 (Structural Test Article), served as NASA’s inaugural test vehicle for their Space Shuttle program. Once upgraded to an orbiter version, Challenger carried Christa McAuliffe into space as the inaugural female Space Shuttle astronaut – making history along the way! Additionally, several cultural milestones were achieved through Challenger including becoming Sally Ride’s maiden voyage and Kathryn Sullivan being part of her inaugural Spacelab mission mission.
On June 30th 1982, Rockwell International’s Palmdale plant in California launched Challenger on its maiden transcontinental flight aboard the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to Kennedy Space Center. Challenger was then towed into KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility where workers prepared it for its inaugural STS-6 flight in January 1983. From then until 1984 it served as a workhorse in its fleet flying three missions each year while serving as the prototype of today’s reusable spacecraft used on all shuttle flights.
It was a disaster
On January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff of the space shuttle Challenger, an explosion occurred that claimed seven astronauts’ lives, including Christa McAuliffe from New Hampshire who was set to become the first civilian ever in space. Investigators later determined that rubber O-ring seals that sealed sections of its solid rocket booster had become porous due to cold temperatures, allowing debris from parts of it to break free and cause its explosion; commission findings also included evidence against NASA managers for disregarding warnings from Morton Thiokol engineers about these problems from Morton Thiokol engineers about it being an issue.
NASA was devastated by this disaster, losing not only Challenger but also billions in equipment that was no longer usable. Additionally, safety measures were put into effect such as astronauts wearing pressurized suits during launch and reentry and another orbiter, Endeavour was built following this accident despite Challenger’s problems prior to its demise in 1988 by Shuttle Enterprise which proved far more capable.