How Nasa Has Made Space Travel Safer Since Challenger
Seventy-three seconds into its January 28, 1986, flight out of Cape Canaveral, the Challenger violently broke apart, resulting in the deaths of all seven astronauts aboard. It was the first fatal accident involving an in-flight American spacecraft. An investigation discovered that the accident was a result of failures within the shuttle’s O-rings. These tiny gaskets were designed to seal together portions of the Challenger’s two large solid rocket boosters....