NASA marks Challenger shuttle disaster’s 25th anniversary

January 28th, 2011 - 8:24 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Washington DC, Jan 28 (THAINDIAN NEWS) NASA has marked the 25th anniversary of the Challenger Shuttle disaster.

The space agency launched a day of remembrance for those who perished after the disaster. In the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, all the crew members onboard the Challenger were killed after the shuttle exploded quickly after it was launched.

The explosion happened just 73 seconds after the shuttle was launched at the international space station. The shuttle exploded at about 14,000 meters into the sky and all the crew members died.

NASA marked the anniversary with a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The wreath was laid in memory of all those that perished in the disaster.

There were seven crew members onboard the Challenger when the disaster struck. All the crew members that perished that day were astronauts. The launch and the disaster were broadcast live on TV on that fateful day. NASA had made those arrangements to increase the interest of especially children in the agency’s work. As it turned out, it was not such a good idea.

A witness who watched the tragedy on television told Yahoo that, “I was in 6th grade. It was a special event for our small school, since we rarely got to watch TV in class, made even more so with the fact that there was a teacher going up into space for the first time. All 40 little faces were glued to the screen in excited anticipation. And then we all watched as the explosion ripped through the shuttle…”

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Sci-Tech |

Subscribe