Challenger

14 Stories

Search for WWII Plane Turns Up Chunk of Challenger Shuttle

20-foot remnant found by documentary crew off coast of Florida

(Newser) - It's been more than 35 years since the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members—but a documentary team has just unearthed a big chunk of debris from the doomed spacecraft. In a Thursday release , NASA confirmed the discovery, made in the Atlantic Ocean...

Engineer Who Tried to Stop Challenger Launch Dies

Allan McDonald warned that O-rings could fail

(Newser) - Allan McDonald, the engineer who refused to approve the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, has gone to his grave with a clean conscience. McDonald. the engineer in charge of the booster-rocket program at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol, risked his career by resisting pressure from NASA and his bosses to...

The Challenger Disaster: The Day in Pictures

Looking back on the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle's explosion

(Newser) - Thirty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing all seven people onboard—including high-school teacher Christa McAuliffe. The 25th flight for NASA's space shuttle program was to have studied Halley's Comet and deployed two satellites, Discovery News reports; McAuliffe was to have taught science lessons...

A Poem Helped Reagan Explain Challenger Disaster

Challenger exploded 30 years ago Thursday

(Newser) - Thursday is the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, and there's plenty of interesting coverage of the tragedy that killed all seven aboard, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. Some highlights:
  • The Washington Post looks back on how Ronald Reagan scrapped plans to deliver his State of
...

Challenger Wreckage Hidden From View Is Finally Shown

NASA puts debris and astronauts' personal artifacts on display

(Newser) - The remnants of two tragic space shuttle disasters are finally seeing the light of day. Hidden away for decades, Columbia and Challenger debris is on display at a new NASA exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the AP reports. Among the remnants are a large body...

Boots, Beads: NASA Honors Its Fallen Astronauts

Exhibit offers touching tribute to those on board Challenger, Columbia

(Newser) - The 14 display cases at Kennedy Space Center contain intensely personal mementoes and items representing the astronauts who perished in the Challenger and Columbia accidents. They are part of NASA's new "Forever Remembered" exhibit, which includes the first public display of pieces from each lost space shuttle. NASA'...

'Big Bird' Almost Went Up in Challenger Shuttle

'It made my scalp crawl to think I was supposed to be on that'

(Newser) - Big Bird was almost a passenger on the doomed Challenger space shuttle in 1986. Caroll Spinney, who has played the Sesame Street character for 46 years, has a new documentary—I Am Big Bird—and he discussed the dark tidbit while discussing the film with Today . NASA thought that if...

American Apparel Posts Challenger Pic as ... Fireworks

Clothing company says sorry, blames foreign person

(Newser) - American Apparel posted a photo of the Challenger disaster as an image of fireworks, and then blamed ... a foreign employee for screwing up. So ousted CEO Dov Charney is the company's PR disaster? Well, the company duly apologized yesterday for posting a photo of the 1986 explosion, which killed...

Beyonce Samples Challenger Disaster in New Song
 Beyonce Samples 
 Challenger Disaster 
 in New Song 
bad ideas dept.
Dec 30, 2013 10:02 AM CST

Beyonce Samples Challenger Disaster in New Song

Astronauts not amused

(Newser) - The Challenger space shuttle exploded after liftoff in 1986, killing all seven crew members on board ... and for some reason Beyonce thought it was appropriate to sample audio from the disaster on a song from her new album . Then-NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt is heard at the beginning of...

Sally Ride, 1st US Woman in Space, Dead at Age 61

Ride went into space on the Challenger nearly 30 years ago

(Newser) - Sally Ride, America's first woman space traveler, died today after fighting pancreatic cancer for 17 months, the New York Times reports. She was 61. Ride made history by flying on Challenger shuttles in 1983 and 1984, and being America's youngest person in orbit. She was also the only...

Home Video Emerges of Challenger Disaster

Jeffrey Ault's super 8 footage sat untouched for decades

(Newser) - Florida resident Jeffrey Ault was thrilled to shoot home video of the Challenger launch in 1986. The NASA nut had built an Apollo-era Saturn V rocket in elementary school, and as a high school student he routinely wrote the space agency for mission reports. But his exhilaration turned to shock...

NASA Marks 25th Anniversary of Challenger Disaster

Agency pays tribute to fallen astronauts

(Newser) - NASA officials will gather at Kennedy Space Center today to mark the 25th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of space travel. The space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after take-off on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The widow of Challenger commander...

Astronauts Will Skip Shuttle Fix
Astronauts Will Skip Shuttle Fix
Aug 17, 2007 2:57 AM CDT

Astronauts Will Skip Shuttle Fix

NASA decides gash won't be a hazard during re-entry

(Newser) - NASA has decided against a risky spacewalk repair job on the gouged heat shield of the space shuttle Endeavour, AP reports. Engineers concluded that a gash in the tiled underside of the spacecraft will not be a hazard during re-entry. Attempting a repair could risk causing more damage and could...

First Teacher Rockets to Space
First Teacher Rockets to Space
Aug 9, 2007 4:42 AM CDT

First Teacher Rockets to Space

Endeavour launches without a hitch 21 years after McAuliffe tragedy

(Newser) - Former schoolteacher Barbara Morgan safely reached space last night when the shuttle Endeavour rocketed through a problem-free launch. Ten minutes after its evening blastoff, the shuttle was orbiting 140 miles above the Earth in preparation for docking with the International Space Station tomorrow. Morgan is the first astronaut teacher since...

14 Stories