The Challenger DisasterThe 25th flight, on Challenger, ended less than two minutes after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, when a
fireball interrupted the craft's ascent track. This disaster killed the entire crew: commander Francis Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; mission
specialists Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, and Ronald McNair; and payload specialists Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher chosen for the flight in a nationwide competition.NASA suspended Shuttle operations pending the results of a presidential investigatory
commission headed by former secretary of state William P. Rogers. Former astronaut Neil Armstrong was vice-chairman. Other members included astronaut Sally Ride and Nobelist Richard Feynman. In its June 1986 report the commission placed immediate blame on a faulty O-ring seal between segments on one of the solid-fuel booster rockets. Partly as a result of cold weather and buffeting by winds during launch, the seal allowed flames to attack the main liquid-fuel tank and a linking strut. The booster's upper end then swung into the main tank, and the whole assembly burned almost explosively. (The Shuttle broke into segments, including the intact crew compartment, that fell into the ocean and were later partly recovered.) The commission criticized NASA's procedures, and NASA underwent management changes and staff reductions. President Ronald Reagan authorized a Challenger replacement but also ordered the agency to cease launching commercial satellites, thus ending hopes for its eventual financial independence. In 1991, NASA reluctantly agreed to further cutbacks on Shuttle use in favor of more numerous rocket launches of simpler satellites.fireball interrupted the craft's ascent track. This disaster killed the entire crew: commander Francis Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; mission specialists Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, and Ronald McNair; and payload specialists Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher chosen for the flight in a nationwide competition.NASA suspended Shuttle operations pending the results of a presidential investigatory commission headed by former secretary of state William P. Rogers. Former astronaut Neil Armstrong was vice-chairman. Other members included astronaut Sally Ride and Nobelist Richard Feynman. In its June 1986 report the commission placed immediate blame on a faulty O-ring seal between segments on one of the solid-fuel booster rockets. Partly as a result of cold weather and buffeting by winds during launch, the seal allowed flames to attack the main liquid-fuel tank and a linking strut. The booster's upper end then swung into the main tank, and the whole assembly burned almost explosively. (The Shuttle broke into segments, including the intact crew compartment, that fell into the ocean and were later partly recovered.) The commission criticized NASA's procedures, and NASA underwent management changes and staff reductions. President Ronald Reagan authorized a Challenger replacement but also ordered the agency to cease launching commercial satellites, thus ending hopes for its eventual financial independence. In 1991, NASA reluctantly agreed to further cutbacks on Shuttle use in favor of more numerous rocket launches of simpler satellites.