SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER

(January 28, 1986 – Cape Canaveral, Florida)

Challenger Flight Crew

The Official Story

SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER
(Space Shuttle Mission)

The Space Shuttle mission, named STS-51-L, was the twenty-fifth flight of the Space Shuttle and the tenth flight of Challenger. The crew was announced on January 27, 1985, and was commanded by Dick Scobee. Michael Smith was assigned as the pilot, and the mission specialists were Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, and Ronald McNair. The two payload specialists were Gregory Jarvis, who was assigned to conduct research for the Hughes Aircraft Company, and Christa McAuliffe, who flew as part of the Teacher in Space Project.

The primary mission of the Challenger crew was to use an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) to deploy a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), named TDRS-B, that would have been part of a constellation to enable constant communication with orbiting spacecraft. The crew also planned to study Halley’s Comet as it passed near the sun, and deploy and retrieve a SPARTAN satellite.

The mission was originally scheduled for July 1985, but was delayed to November and then to January 1986. The mission was scheduled to launch on January 22, but was delayed until January 28.

Source: Wikipedia

Challenger Flight Crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Francis R. “Dick” Scobee Would have been second spaceflight
Pilot	Michael J. Smith Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Ellison S. Onizuka Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Judith A. Resnik Would have been second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3	Ronald E. McNair Would have been second spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1	Gregory B. Jarvis Would have been first spaceflight Hughes Space and Communications
Payload Specialist 2	S. Christa McAuliffe Would have been first spaceflight Teacher in Space Project