Twenty-eight years ago, today, NASA experienced its first in-flight disaster, and up to this day, it is still the worst thing to ever happen to the space agency. On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger, launched with seven crew aboard, and within a minute and thirteen seconds, the shuttle exploded, killing every single crew member, including a teacher.  

The event that happened has forever been marked in history as one of NASA's greatest failures. Furthermore, the story of the Challenger tragedy was retold countless times to remind people of the dangers of spaceflight and what could happen if certain precautions are not taken. Luckily enough, the Challenger disaster did not stop NASA from venturing into space, even though 11 years after the Challenger accident, 7 astronauts died in an explosion after being on their way home from a mission.  

As with every disaster, good things tend to come from it, and it is this very reason why NASA's space related technology is so advanced today. Lessons have been learnt, which goes a far way into creating better rockets with better safety measures.  

After disaster struck on January 28, 1986, several videos surfaced showcasing what had happened. Some videos highlighted what appears to be the crew cabin falling from the sky, suggesting that the 7 members onboard did not die during the explosion, but on impact when the cabin made contact with the water below.  

These days, the crew cabin is equipped with a parachute just in case of another disaster. Instead of hoping for the best while falling at a speed of over 100 miles per second to the ground, astronauts can now simply release the parachutes to lessen the impact on the ground. This is one of the safety measures that came away from the Challenger disaster.   

What caused the explosion?  

Some experts believed it was caused by a faulty O-ring. Strangely enough, this problem was known by Morton Thiokol, a contractor, and Marshall Space Flight Center. Furthermore, it is said that Thiokol engineers attempted to talk NASA out of allowing the flight to continue, but as it happens, the space agency did not budge, and that lack of concern for lives onboard led to the disaster we are remembering today.  

If the launch had gone ahead sucessfully as planned, Christa McAuliffe would have become the first teacher in space from the Teacher In Space Project. Due to her being onboard, media coverage was extensive and led to over 17 percent of Americans witnessing the disaster, live. In addition, 85 percent of Americans who did not know of the accident, heard about it within an hour after the disaster.  

The crew members we should remember today:  

Francis R. Scobee: Commander  

Michael J. Smith: Pilot  

Ronald McNair: Mission Specialist  

Ellison Onizuka: Mission Specialist  

Judith Resnik: Mission Specialist  

Greg Jarvis: Payload Specialist  

Christa McAuliffe: Payload Specialist

Never forget.