28 years ago today, the 25th space shuttle launch in NASA history took off and lived in history forever.
Via CSM:
Tuesday, Jan. 28 marks the 28th anniversary of the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger and loss of the crew. It also was the worst day of my life as I watched from my seat in Launch Control at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
While it is always more fun to look back and celebrate the great successes in our lives, it is important to remember the lessons that the failures provide.
Fortunately, the nation had strong leaders who understood the space program’s value to the nation. They immediately swung into action. President Ronald Reagan canceled the State of the Union address, scheduled for that night, in order to address the entire country about Challenger. Within a few hours, Vice President George H.W. Bush flew to KSC to comfort the families of the shuttle crew and reassure the workforce that they would find and fix the problems and the space program would continue. Even as they spoke, hundreds of space workers, with the help of other government agencies, were hard at work.
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