The Challenger disaster

Yesterday was the 27th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. On January 28th, 1986 the space shuttle was launched. 72 seconds after launching the shuttle blew up.

Apparently, NASA knew that there were a few things wrong with the shuttle. But there were a few things wrong with the shuttle the last time they launched and everything went fine. Well, it really didn't go fine this time. A part of the right rocket booster known as the O-ring didn't work correctly as they launched. This is because it was so cold. It was barely 8 degrees. It leaked hot gasses. When the flames shot out of the rocket they also shot out where the O-ring was supposed to be. The flames burned a hole in the shuttle's external fuel tank. This caused the right rocket booster to break off. When it broke off the shuttle had an even bigger hole in the external fuel tank. The fuel mixed with the flames which caused a huge fire which caused the shuttle to tear apart.

One of the passengers on the shuttle was a teacher. Her name was Christa McAuliffe. Many teachers had volunteered to go on the shuttle but she was the one who got to do it. She was so brave to do this. I mean, she knew she was risking her life and she knew it was dangerous but she did it anyway. 

Why did NASA bring a teacher onto the shuttle anyway? They brought a teacher with them for many different reasons: One was to show the world that flying into space can be a daily experience that people could have even if they aren't trained astronauts. Another reason NASA brought a teacher with them was to show off their high-tech machinery so people would support them. The biggest reason they brought a teacher with them was to inspire kids and to show them that it is fun to be an astronaut. It might get them more interested in space by having a teacher teach lessons from space. 

The launch of the shuttle was such a big thing to schools that teachers brought in TVs to watch it launch live. Millions of people were watching. They were all expecting to have good memories from this. But instead we gained fears and sadness. It's devastating. 

Here is my drawing of the shuttle:














Here is the LIVE video of the take off: