FL H9051

Space shuttle Challenger was the second shuttle in NASA's fleet and completed nine successful missions between April 4, 1983, and October 30, 1985.

On January 28, 1986, during its tenth launch from Kennedy Space Center, an O-ring seal became brittle in cold temperatures and failed, causing the right-hand solid rocket booster to separate and the shuttle to disintegrate 73 seconds into flight at 11:39 a.m.

The disaster killed seven crew members: Commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Ronald E. McNair, Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, and Teacher-in-Space Payload Specialist Sharon Crista McAuliffe.

Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, was scheduled to become the first teacher in space and conduct experiments to encourage students to pursue science and mathematics careers.

The House of Representatives honors the Challenger crew for their courage and bravery on the 30th anniversary of the disaster on January 28, 2016.