Challenger Disaster…..
January 28, 1986…..
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after lift-off, killing the crew of seven, including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. McAuliffe and Judith A. Resnik were the first U.S. women astronauts to die on a space mission. NASA managers had known since 1977 that the design of the solid rocket boosters contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the o-rings and also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching in low temperatures. The main concern was that the o-rings would lose their elasticity in cold temperatures and not be able to form a seal. It was unusually cold that day with morning temperatures at 30 °F (−1 °C). The o-rings failed to seal causing the catastrophic explosion of the shuttle.