Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 40 years on
(28 Jan 2026) NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 1. Various of shuttle lift-off 2. Various of Challenger explosion WTN ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 3. Various of people watching NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 4. Wide of explosion WTN ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 5. People watching NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 6. Various of explosion WTN ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 7. Various of people watching NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Houston, Texas - December 10, 1985 ++4:3++ 8. Various of group photo of crew of Challenger mission at Johnson Space Flight Centre ASSOCIATED PRESS Leicester, UK - 28 January 2026 ++VIDEO CALL++ 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ed Kellond-Turner, Education Manager, National Space Centre, UK: "Now inside those boosters there was something called an 'o-ring', which is basically sort of like a rubber seal. And it was found that due to it being so cold on the day of this launch that those rubber o-rings sort of seized up so they weren't actually providing a good enough seal. So hot gas escaped when the booster was actually fired and started melting through the strut that connected the booster to the main tank. After that strut failed the booster basically pivoted and collided with the main tank causing that explosion." NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Cape Canaveral, Florida - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 10. Various of NASA control room WHITE HOUSE POOL ARCHIVE: Washington, D.C. - 28 January 1986 ++4:3++ 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ronald Reagan, U.S. President: "Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Location not given - 1986 ++4:3++ 12. Various of Ronald Reagan comforting relatives of Challenger crew NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Location not given - 1986 ++4:3++ 13. Various of Challenger Accident Commission 14. SOUNDBITE (English) William Rogers, Chairman of the Challenger Accident Commission: ++PART OVERLAID++ "You'll remember that I did say at one point that we thought the decision-making process may be flawed. I believe I'm speaking for the whole commission when I say that we think it is flawed." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Arlington, Virginia - 28 January 2001 ++4:3++ 15. Mid of memorial 16. Challenger commander's grave ASSOCIATED PRESS Leicester, UK - 28 January 2026 ++VIDEO CALL++ 17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ed Kellond-Turner, Education Manager, National Space Centre, UK: "So this o-ring fault, the fact that it could freeze-up and not provide a good enough seal was a concern for engineers for about two years prior to the Challenger disaster. So this was a well-known fault that could have happened. And there were also some things in place to perhaps upgrade the boosters, but that had not come into play yet. So, this was known fault. It was also suggested that it was too cold to launch Challenger on the day that it was launched, 40 years ago. But it was decided well we can't wait until you know April until warmer weather we're going to launch now and that led to the explosion." NASA - MUST COURTESY ARCHIVE: Various locations - 1983 ++4:3++ 18. Various of Shuttle Challenger's maiden voyage, take off and space walks ASSOCIATED PRESS Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
