NASA Space Shuttle: The Challenger Exploded 30 Years Ago On Live TV [VIDEO]
On Jan. 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, then exactly 73 seconds later, it exploded, and with it, the lives of all seven astronauts on board. It was one of the defining moments of the 1980s and arguably the first historic tragedy to take place on live television as thousands have watched the disaster, more so, because of the presence of Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher and regular citizen to fly into space.
It wasn’t until President Ronald Reagan formed the Rogers Commission to investigate the accident, coupled with the work of the physicist Richard Feynman, that we learned exactly why the Shuttle exploded. After interviewing various NASA engineers to find out the problem, Feynman famously demonstrated on TV (also seen on the video below), using a glass of ice water, that an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster failed on that fateful cold morning. That let pressurized burning gas escape and breach the external fuel tank, and led to the explosion of the spacecraft.
Watch the tragic, yet mesmerizing Challenger on the video below.
