10 Most Important Events In History Caught On Film
4. Destruction Of The Challenger - 28 January 1986
When: 28 January 1986
Where: Cape Canaveral, Florida
What: One of the ways NASA managed to make so many strides in the Space Race and beyond had to do with the slow pace at which everything progressed. Not only did this help NASA and its engineers innovate and improve, but it also ensured the safety of everyone involved.
After a fire killed the crew of Apollo 1, things slowed down, and it wasn't until ten missions later that it was even feasible to go to the Moon. Fast-forward almost two decades, and NASA had a reusable space shuttle program, which had grown almost routine.
By January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger had already undertaken nine missions, and nobody could have foreseen what happened that morning. Only 73 seconds into the Challenger's ascent into space, a massive explosion tore the vehicle apart, leaving most of the remaining debris to disintegrate over the Atlantic Ocean.
Like all other shuttle missions, it was heavily covered by the media. There are a multitude of videos documenting the destruction of the Challenger, which was an especially heartbreaking catastrophe due to the presence of a civilian school teacher on board. It has been estimated that 17% of the American people witnessed the explosion, either live or on television.