What is Space Shuttle Challenger disaster?
{{Refimprove|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox event | title = Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster | image = Challenger Photo Montage.jpg | alt = A montage of several stages of the shuttle's preparation, flight, and explosion | caption = Photo montage of the {{OV|99}} disaster | date = {{start date and age|1986|01|28}} | time = 11:39:13 [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] (16:39:13 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]) | place = [[Atlantic Ocean]], off the coast of [[Florida]] | reported deaths = {{plain list|1= * {{nowrap|[[Dick Scobee|Francis R. Scobee]]}}, Commander * {{nowrap|[[Michael J. Smith (astronaut)|Michael J. Smith]]}}, Pilot * {{nowrap|[[Ronald McNair]]}}, Mission specialist * {{nowrap|[[Ellison Onizuka]]}}, Mission specialist * {{nowrap|[[Judith Resnik]]}}, Mission specialist * {{nowrap|[[Gregory Jarvis]]}}, Payload specialist * {{nowrap|[[Christa McAuliffe]]}}, Payload specialist, teacher }} |inquiries = [[Rogers Commission Report|Rogers Commission]] |outcome = ''Challenger'' is destroyed and all crew members die. Remaining space shuttles did not fly for almost three years. A new shuttle, ''Endeavour'', is built as a replacement for ''Challenger''. }} [[Image:Sts33-e204.jpg|thumb|''Challenger'' begins to break apart]] The '''Space Shuttle Challenger disaster''' occurred on January 28, 1986, when the [[NASA]]'s {{OV|99}} exploded after 73 seconds of flight. All seven crew members were killed. It was the 25th flight of a [[Space Shuttle]]. The cause of the [[explosion]] was a part called an [[O-ring]] that broke in the right [[solid rocket booster]]. During the flight, hot [[gas]]es escaped from the O-ring and made it break apart. Shuttles stopped flying for two and a half years. == Background == The mission of the flight that ended in disaster was named STS-51-L. It was the tenth mission for ''[[Space_Shuttle_Challenger|Challenger]]''. STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite]]s. It was also going to carry out the f