On this day in history, Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger — scheduled for a routine launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida — exploded after just 73 seconds in flight, killing all seven Americans on board.The cause of the disaster was found to be the failure of the primary and secondary redundant O-ring seals in a joint in the shuttle's right solid rocket booster .
She was a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, chosen from among 10,000 others who applied to be the first private citizen in space, according to Britannica. It was unfortunate timing for young children to watch this particular launch — something President Reagan was worried about when he was deciding how to address Americans later that evening.Americans had been visiting space for decades before that — the first time in 1961, with U.S. Navy test pilot Alan Shepard.
However, with this success, Americans began to fear the government was spending too much on space, according to NASA. The annual State of the Union address for early 1986 had been scheduled to take place on the evening of the Challenger's launch — but given the tragedy, President Reagan chose to delay the address by a week. Reagan began by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the State of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.
One of those days when many Americans remember exactly where they were and what they doing that awful day.