40 years ago: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after launch
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. The most serious accident in manned spaceflight to date shocked the USA and the whole world.
Last launch of the Challenger on January 28, 1986
(Image: NASA)
January 28, 1986, is a clear, cold day in Florida. As with previous Space Shuttle launches, a large crowd of spectators has gathered around the launch site at Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida. But instead of witnessing another launch of the reusable spacecraft, they become witnesses to the greatest disaster in spaceflight to date.
Initially, everything went as usual with mission STS-51L: the engines ignited, a large white cloud of water vapor spread, and the Space Shuttle lifted off at 11:38 AM local time (5:38 PM our time). At 1600 kilometers per hour, the Shuttle ascended towards space, leaving a white trail of water vapor behind it.
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However, about 73 seconds after launch -- the sonorous voice of a NASA official was just announcing the current altitude and speed of the spacecraft -- the white cloud thickened and suddenly formed a white “Y” against the blue January sky.
A little less than a minute later, the announcer stated that the flight controllers were reviewing the situation very carefully. A “major malfunction,” obviously a major malfunction, had occurred.
Worst accident
The “major malfunction” was the worst accident in manned spaceflight to date. Seven people died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia: the five NASA astronauts, Francis Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, and Ronald McNair. Also on board were Gregory Jarvis, a former Air Force officer and employee of the former US defense and aerospace company Hughes Aircraft, and teacher Christa McAuliffe. She was the first civilian on board a Space Shuttle and was to be the first representative of the “Teacher in Space Project” to fly into space. Then-US President Ronald Reagan had initiated the program two years earlier. McAuliffe was supposed to teach from space. The goal was to spark students' interest in technology in general and spaceflight in particular.
Instead, January 28, 1986, brought a shock that abruptly halted US space plans. Never before had so many people died during the flight of a spacecraft. To date, NASA had mourned three deaths: the crew of an Apollo command module died in a fire during a ground launch simulation in 1967. The worst accident, the explosion on board Apollo 13 in 1970, ended fortunately. The three astronauts returned to Earth largely unharmed -- except for a kidney infection. In 1983 and 1984, Space Shuttle launch aborts prevented a catastrophe.
The Soviet competition was not spared from accidents either: three cosmonauts suffocated in their capsule on their return from orbit to Earth. Another died because the parachute of his capsule did not open.
Search for the astronauts
The shock in the US was profound. A search for the crew's remains and debris was immediately launched. A difficult task: the debris had spread over an area of approximately 26,000 square kilometers in the Atlantic Ocean.
Twelve ships were assigned to the search. After six weeks, the search teams found the cockpit at a depth of over 30 meters. The shocking discovery: the astronauts had presumably survived the Shuttle's breakup and died on impact.
Despite all efforts, less than half of the debris was found. Ten years later, two parts of the left wing washed ashore. In 2022, divers searching for a plane wreck for a documentary for the History Channel found a debris piece about 4.5 meters by 4.5 meters on the seabed off Florida. The US space agency NASA confirmed that it was part of the Challenger.
