It was the 25th time a U.S.
Space Transportation System would take off
from Cape Canaveral. This was no ordinary
flight, however. Christa McAuliffe was America’s first teacher to fly in space. With her training complete, and school children anticipating her trip, there was a sense of excitement throughout the country on the evening of January 27, 1986.
People were so used to the flights, most folks no longer watched shuttle liftoffs. This flight was different, though. Everyone - including school children - would be watching because Christa McAuliffe was going into space.
But the shuttle’s launch mechanism had a fatal design flaw. As a result, Challenger and her
seven-member crew - including America’s first teacher in space -
were blown out of the sky (click on the top left button to activate the video) 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986.