Challenger at 40: How a Tragedy Reshaped Spaceflight’s Culture and Ethics

On Jan. 28, 1986, the world stood still. Seventy-three seconds after liftoff, Space Shuttle Challenger was lost, along with its seven-member crew: Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe. The tragedy unfolded live on television, imprinting itself on a generation and forever changing the trajectory of human spaceflight.

Forty years later, we remember them not only for how they died, but, far more importantly...