Although newspapers and articles can be reliable, the news and television are the most reliable sources. On January 28, 1986, a disaster struck America. An American shuttle, called the Challenger exploded into thin air. On board of the ship were seven adults, including a teacher as a special guest. The members included Sharon Christa McAuliffe (the teacher), Gregory Jarvis (payload specialist), and the astronauts Judith A. Resnik, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, Mike J. Smith, and Ellison S. Onizuka. Each crew member tragically died in the accident. Sharon Chrita McAuliffe was chosen from eleven thousand applicants to aboard the Challenger. From 1984 to 1985 McAuliffe trained with NASA to be able to be approved to join the shuttle. Gregory B. Jarvis was a payload specialist who had formally worked for Hughes Aircraft Corp.'s Space and Communications Group in Los Angeles, California. Judith A. Resnik was a mission specialist and was chosen as a NASA astronaut in January 1978. Francis R. (Dick) Scobee was the spacecraft commander of the shuttle. Scobee was the pilot of another shuttle …show more content…
As the shuttle was getting ready for take off at the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, Americans (including many children in schools) watched live on television. As soon as the shuttle took for take off it only stayed in the air seventy three seconds until shattering. To deal with the crisis President Ronald Reagan took it into his own hands to send a message out to America. He mentions to the school children that, "...tragedy is sometimes part of the process of expanding our horizons" (This Day in History: Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion Kills Seven). He then speaks of the Challenger crew and how they pulled us into the future. Eventually the problem that caused the accident was revealed and it is described in the article Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster FAQ: What Went Wrong. The author of this article, Denise Chow writes of the undependable O-ring that failed. Chow describes how, "...an O-ring, on the shuttle's right solid rocket booster had failed at liftoff, allowing pressurized hot gas to escape from inside the booster" (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster FAQ: What Went Wrong). This led to the breakage between the rocket booster and the external tank which led to the explosion. The first article, This Day in History: Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion