NASA remembers 30th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster on Thursday

Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher and payload specialist on the Challenger, died along with her six fellow astronauts during the high-profile disaster.

Aside from the Discovery Center’s name, Concord does not do much to observe McAuliffe out of respect for her family, which remained in the area after the shuttle disaster.

Most remember the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Front to back are Commander Francis Scobee, Mission Spl. Only a quarter century earlier, space had been beyond humanity’s grasp, but by the morning of that day’s launch at Kennedy Space Center, most TV stations didn’t even cover shuttle liftoff live.

On 28 January 1986, classrooms and offices around the country ground to a halt as the nation watched the eagerly anticipated take-off.

According to National Geographic, “Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes” relies on “contemporary audio and rarely seen footage rather than voice-over narration to tell the story of the doomed shuttle mission”.

“We wanted to find the flawless school to donate a mission; which they’ll come in and experience being an astronaut for the day, at the Challenger Center, in honor of the Challenger crew”, said Director of the Challenger Learning Center at WJU, Jackie Shia. The wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.

Those old enough to remember know exactly where they were when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into Mission 51-L.

On Monday, Jan. 25, the National Geographic Channel will premiere a powerful new hour-long documentary, “Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes“.

Recordings of local New Hampshire radio reporters who followed Christa during the year that she prepared for the launch, and their eyewitness accounts as they stood in the grandstands watching the tragedy unfold.

Although each year there are many news stories on the Challenger anniversary, this 30th anniversary provides an opportunity to bring to light what led to the tragedy so that the knowledge will help prevent it from ever happening again.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will observe the day with a candle-lighting ceremony for center employees, as well as a public event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Marshall’s official visitor center, at 10 a.m. CST.

The three NASA tragedies occurred just a few days apart on the calendar, over the span of 36 years.