A Quarter Century Ago

Twenty-five years ago this morning, space shuttle Challenger exploded in a cold, blue Florida sky, killing all seven crewmembers. They were the first American astronauts to die on an actual mission, though others had been lost during training. Given the nature of spaceflight, and the missions astronauts had undertaken, that was an extraordinary safety record.

After Challenger, and a three year hiatus in manned spaceflight, NASA put the shuttle program back together to fly the most spectacular, ambitious missions of the program. Always, however, Challenger was in the background, reminding everyone involved that spaceflight is incredibly dangerous. That memory helped lead to fourteen years worth of successful, safe missions.