By Adam King
By the 1980s, NASA had taken over 31 manned space missions, and with the new reusable shuttle design, that number was expected to increase drastically. Accidents including these shuttles were practically unheard of, with the last major incident occurring in 1970 when the service module oxygen tank on Apollo 13 ruptured while in space, though all the crew returned safely to Earth. With all the advancements in technology and safety, it was believed that anything beyond a minor incident was impossible. But one cold morning on January 28th, 1986, proved those beliefs wrong, and changed space travel forever.
In its three years of operation, Challenger flew the first American women, African American, Dutchman, and Canadian into space, and in 1984, it was decided that Challenger would set another first, and take the first non-astronaut, a teacher, into space, in a mission slated for 1986.
The Challenger shuttle was built in 1978, originally as a test article not intended for space flight, however, in 1979 NASA decided to make Challenger the second rocket in the space shuttle program. It had its first flight in 1983 and quickly became the workhorse of NASA. Talk about the weather that January day and that the launch had already been postponed.
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