"January 28, 1986" | 60 Minutes Archive

On January 28, 1986, NASA's Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was part of NASA's Teacher in Space program. The catastrophic disaster occurred despite engineers' warnings about potential O-ring failures in cold weather conditions that had been communicated to NASA officials but were ultimately overruled in the decision to proceed with the launch. The Challenger mission, designated STS-51-L, was particularly significant as it carried McAuliffe, a social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, who was selected from among 11,000 applicants to become the first teacher in space. Her presence aboard the shuttle had generated considerable public interest and excitement, with millions of schoolchildren across the nation tuned in to watch the historic launch. The mission was also notable for being the first shuttle launch to be broadcast live in its entirety, as the event coincided with the State of the Union address, leading to dual coverage by major networks. In the years following the disaster, investigations revealed that engineers at Morton Thiokol, the company that manufactured the shuttle's solid rocket boosters, had expressed serious concerns about the O-rings' performance in the unusually cold temperatures that morning of the launch. During a teleconference the night before, several engineers pleaded with NASA officials to postpone the launch, citing data that showed the O-rings could fail at temperatures below 53 degrees Fahrenheit. Their warnings were ultimately dismissed, and the launch proceeded as scheduled. Ten years after the tragedy, these engineers broke their silence in an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, revealing how they had fought to prevent the disaster but were overruled by management pressures.