CBS2 Classics

By Jeff Capellini
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Anyone who watched television on Jan. 28, 1986, experienced the whole gamut of emotions. Excitement turned into confusion, which gave way to shock and later anguish and sorrow.

Twenty years ago, space shuttle Challenger blew apart into jets of fire and plumes of smoke, a terrifying sight witnessed by the families of the seven astronauts and onlookers who came to watch the historic launch of the first teacher in space.

Click here to see a CBS 2 Classics clip of the doomed 73-second flight of the space shuttle Challenger.

The disaster shattered NASA's spit-shined image and the belief that spaceflight could become as routine as airplane travel. The investigation into the accident's cause revealed a space agency more concerned with schedules and public relations than safety and sound decision-making.

There had been a debate whether there would even be a launch that morning, after a series of weather and technical delays in the preceding days were replaced by an ominous overnight frost that plunged temperatures on Florida's east coast to 36 degrees. Many at NASA felt the ship should stay grounded until the conditions turned more favorable, but eventually the crew was given the green light to commence the nation's 25th shuttle mission.

However, just 73 seconds after liftoff there was an explosion and Challenger disintegrated in a fireball. It was later determined the explosion was caused by a poorly designed seal in the shuttle's solid rocket booster.

Click here to share your memories or stories about the Challenger tragedy.

The seal has since been redesigned and has performed without problems. It will be used on the next-generation vehicle with plans to return astronauts to the moon and later to Mars.

"Don't we all learn as we go?" said Grace Corrigan, who lost her daughter, teacher Christa McAuliffe, in the Challenger accident. "Everybody learns from their mistakes."

Joining McAuliffe on the doomed Challenger flight were commander Dick Scobee, pilot Mike Smith and astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair and Greg Jarvis.

"It was one of those defining moments in your life that you will always remember," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who had flown on the shuttle mission preceding Challenger. "Because in 1986, the space shuttle was the symbol of technological prowess of the United States and all the sudden it's destroyed in front of everybody's eyes."

President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation, telling all Americans to remember the Astronauts as heroes, and as dreamers who got to live a dream.

Click here to see a CBS2 Classics clip of President Reagan delivering an impassioned speech to the nation following the Challenger explosion.

All over the country, the daily hustle and bustle of the American way of life came to a standstill. In New York, afternoon tabloid newspapers blared headlines describing the ship's demise. Workers in offices and students in classrooms huddled around televisions and parishioners flocked to churches and synagogues to pray for the astronauts.

Click here to see a CBS2 Classics story on Bronx second-graders' reactions to the space shuttle explosion.

One group of New Yorkers in particular who took the shuttle explosion extremely hard were the employees at Grumman Aerospace, now known as Northport Grumman, in Bethpage. Grumman was contracted to build the wings on the space shuttle.

Click here to see a CBS2 Classics story on the connection between the space shuttle and Grumman Aerospace.

The Challenger disaster came in an era of tighter budgets, smaller work forces and a constant need for the space agency to justify the shuttle program that followed the heyday of the Apollo moon shots. NASA had hoped sending a teacher into space to give a lesson would win back some public interest and show the routine nature of shuttle flights. Like everyone else, New Yorkers fell in love with McAuliffe.

Click here to see a CBS2 Classics story on Christa McAuliffe's popularity with the media and the American public.

Following the tragedy, NASA grounded the shuttle fleet until Sept. 29, 1988, when Discovery returned to space for a five-day mission. Over the next 14 and a half years, NASA launched 87 successful missions using the remaining four shuttles in the fleet before Columbia, the oldest of the group, burned up during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.

(© 2006 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)