NASA's space shuttle Challenger exploded 34 years ago today, killing its 7-person crew. Photos reveal Challenger's legacy.
NASA unveiled Challenger to the public in 1982.
Challenger was named after the British HMS Challenger ship, which led the Challenger Expedition: a groundbreaking marine research trip from 1872 to 1876.
Challenger's first mission, called STS-6, launched on April 6, 1983.
After that first flight, Challenger flew 85% of all space-shuttle missions during its lifetime.
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the Challenger in 1983.
Guy Bluford became the first African-American astronaut in space when he flew on Challenger's STS-8 mission in August 1983.
Astronaut Bruce McCandless became the first person to fly unconnected to a spacecraft during a Challenger mission called STS-41B.
The crew members who died when Challenger exploded in 1986 were part of the STS-51L mission.
From left to right in the photo above: teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe, astronauts Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnik, mission commander Dick Scobee, astronaut Ronald McNair, pilot Mike Smith, and astronaut Ellison Onizuka.
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after it took off for its 10th mission.
The remains of Challenger were collected and memorialized in a retired Minuteman missile silo at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in 1986.
On the 20th anniversary of the Challenger explosion, June Scobee Rodgers — the widow of Dick Scobee — placed this wreath was placed at the memorial.
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