The Coldest Days of the Year in Cape Canaveral, Florida: January 28th, 1986

January 28, 1986, marks the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion. A day that will go down in history as a horrible tragedy for both NASA and America. Seven lives were lost that day, including the life of a high school teacher from New Hampshire. Former President Ronald Reagan was tasked with explaining this tragic event to the US people. Because of this, Reagan postponed the State of the Union Address and spoke about the Challenger Explosion instead. In his address to the nation about the explosion of the space shuttle, Challenger, President Ronald Reagan effectively commemorates the loss of the Challenger crew while also celebrating the crew’s achievements and encouraging further space travel by establishing pathos through his show of empathy, employing strong positive connotation, and alluding to the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake.

On January 28, 1986, the United States eagerly watched as the Challenger Space Shuttle launched from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. On board were seven crew members to include a teacher from New Hampshire. Within 73 seconds after liftoff the Challenger exploded, and it was followed by President Ronald Reagan's public national Challenger address. On this specific day, President Reagan had arranged to deliver the State of Union Address, but instead he spoke to the nation about the tragedy that just unfolded in front of millions of Americans eyes. President Reagan's Challenger speech offers encouragement and solace to all who was impacted and watched, he also commended the bravery of the seven heroic crew members while reassuring future space exploration.

Rockwell, the shuttle’s primary contractor, did not support the launch due to the possibility of ice leaving the structure and damaging the thermal shield tiles during takeoff. Their concerns were relayed to NASA, but in such a way that NASA chose to proceed with the launch [2]. Though this was eventually determined to be a non-issue in the Challenger launch, the true nature of the problems that can occur when an object strikes the shuttle during takeoff would not be learned until 2003, when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry due to damage of a heat shield tile that occurred during takeoff [2]--[3].

On January 28, 1986, a day that was supposed to be filled with excitement and exploration, suddenly turned into a day filled with tragedy and sadness. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to carry a seven member crew into orbit with one unique member along for this particular mission. Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher to go into space as a member of the Teacher in Space Project. Due to this occasion, the media coverage and the number of viewers of this mission was extensive, particularly in schools across the nation. The Challenger lifted off shortly after 11:30 A.M., but tragically only seventy three seconds after takeoff it exploded sending debris and the seven crew members back to earth and into the Atlantic

On the morning of January 28th, 1986, Americans watched in shock and horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded only 74 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members on board including a high school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Thousands, including families of the crew and schoolchildren

On January 28, 1986, as millions of Americans watched on live television and in person, the Challenger space shuttle exploded and broke up over the Atlantic Ocean just moments after its launch. This space mission was significant for several reason, among them was that it would be the first time where the space shuttle would carry a civilian into outer space. Also, there was a frenzy of interest for Americans as the U.S. and Russians were locked in a space race for space exploration supremacy. Instead. President Ronald Reagan was left with the unenviable duty of consoling a nation that had just witnessed the most significant disaster in American history.

"Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.” Ronald Reagan described the five astronauts and two payload specialists who died in the Challenger explosion, about six hours after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its launch. Ronald Reagan’s Address to the Nation would be broadcasted on television and radio nationwide. In this speech, Reagan tells us that this is a day to remember and mourn the loss of the brave challenger crew. Reagan argues that we are pioneers on space travel, and while this is a tragic loss, we must continue to expand our knowledge of space and keep exploring the “Final Frontier.”

On the morning of Janurary 28th 1986, the world witnessed in shock and horror what was known as the Challenger disaster as the space shuttle exploded only 73 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members onboard including one teacher Christa McAuliffe. Approximately 17 percent of Americans watched the live broadcast of this launch, many of them schoolchildren including those from McAuliffe’s school. From this grave moment emerged an exigency that demands immediate action by the president. Later on that same day, President Ronald Reagan delivered his Challenger address to the nation.

One of the worst Groupthink decisions ever was the decision to launch the Space shuttle Challenger. "On the morning of January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

On the morning of January 28, 1986, a tragedy struck the United States when the Space

Each of the four orbiters in the armada - Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis - were flown. Be that as it may, 1 minute, 13 seconds after liftoff - amid the 25th dispatch - on Jan. 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle blasted. The orbiter Challenger was obliterated and its team of seven murdered. The mishap had an extensive effect on the Space Shuttle program. Launchings were suspended for over 2 years, while proposals of a Presidential Commission which researched the mishap were executed, alongside changes called for by NASA

The Apollo 11 mission was a huge accomplishment, not only for the United States, but for the entire future of space exploration. The mission impacted the world as we know it, and opened up a whole new realm for us to explore. Apollo 11 was a massive undertaking many thought would never succeed, but now it could be considered the most memorable space experience of all time. Because of its magnitude, many writers wrote about the mission. The writers of that time wrote about the chance for disaster, the jaw dropping launch, the first steps on the moon, and the controversy that surrounded the first mission to the moon.

On 1st of February, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia exploded when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere after finished a 16 days mission in space. All seven astronauts were dead because of this incident. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had stopped the space shuttle program for more than two years to investigate this tragedy. In the 16 days period, the astronauts did approximately 80 experiments on different categories, for example, life science and material science [1]. An investigation later has found out that the disaster was caused by a problem on the day that took off on 16th of January.

cracked O-ring in the solid fuel rocket due to cold weather. Flames within the rocket

One of the greatest tragedies in history occurred on January 8, 1986. Shortly after it was launched, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing seven astronauts, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire schoolteacher chosen to be the first teacher in space (“Challenger Disaster, n.d.). The explosion was caused by a failure of the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters. The O-rings were unable to seat properly, causing the leaking of hot combustion gases, which burnt through the external fuel tank. The malfunction was not any one person’s or organization’s fault; it was caused by many factors including the decision to launch despite the cold weather, the poor communication between management levels of the National Aeronautics and