BRIAN THOMAS

At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle
Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and
Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first
ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a
37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New
Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place
among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She
underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning
January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the
Challenger‘s launch countdown was repeatedly delayed
because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on
January 28, the shuttle lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground,
including Christa’s family, stared in disbelief as the
shuttle broke up in a forking plume of smoke and fire.

Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on
live television. There were no survivors.

spectators at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral,
Fla. react after they witnessed the explosion of the space
shuttle Challenger.

This photo provided by NASA shows the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger mission 51L. Front row from left are
Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, and Ronald E. McNair. Front row from left are Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. (NASA/AP)
 

Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.

Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., who
reimagined the potential of human achievement before a
worldwide audience when he walked on the moon, was
born on this day in history, Jan. 20, 1930.

"The sky is not the limit … There are footprints on the
Moon!" the explorer enthused in his 2016 book, "No
Dream Is Too High: Life Lessons From a Man Who Walked
on the Moon."

The Apollo 11 mission was the first in human history to land
men on earth’s satellite, fulfilling a dream as old as humanity
itself. 

This photo of Buzz Aldrin was taken by Neil Armstrong
during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969.

Ronnie Walter Cunningham (March 16, 1932 – January 3, 2023)

Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first
successful crewed space mission in NASA’s Apollo program,
died Tuesday in Houston. He was a lunar module pilot on the 
1968 Apollo 7 mission. NASA confirmed Cunningham’s death
on Twitter.

Apollo 7 crewmates Donn Eisele (at left), Wally Schirra
(center) and Walt Cunningham.  (NASA)

During Apollo 8‘s 10 lunar orbits, television images were sent
back home and spectacular photos were taken of the Earth
and the moon from the spacecraft. In addition to being the
First human beings to view firsthand their home world in its
entirety, the three astronauts were also the first to see the far
side of the moon. On Christmas morning, Apollo 8 left its lunar
orbit and began its journey back to Earth, landing safely in the
Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968.