Challenger disaster: 40 years ago today

A photo of the Challenger crew, taken on January 9, 1986, during training at the Kennedy Space Center. From left to right: Christa McAuliffe (teacher in space) with astronauts Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik, Dick Scobee (mission commander), Ronald McNair, Mike Smith (pilot), and Ellison Onizuka. Image via NASA.

January 28, 1986

On this date 40 years ago, we lost the seven crew members of the Space Shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) when the shuttle suffered a catastrophic structural failure just 73 seconds after launch.