SANDY KOZEL

Before and after shuttle explosion (first visible signs of
danger on left, just after explosion on right).

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.

The Final Crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

President Ronald Reagan addressing the nation from the
White House on the day of the space shuttle Challenger explosion.

On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society was
incorporated in Washington, D.C., for “the increase and
diffusion of geographical knowledge.

The 33 men who originally met and formed the National
Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers,
explorers, teachers, lawyers, military officers and financiers.

All shared an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge,
as well as an opinion that in a time of discovery, invention,
change and mass communication, Americans were becoming
more curious about the world around them.

On January 27, 1965, the Shelby GT 350, a version of a Ford
Mustang sports car developed by the American auto racer
and car designer Carroll Shelby,was launched.

Carroll Hall Shelby
(January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012)

The Apollo 1 crew, from left, Edward H. White II, Virgil I.
"Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee.

A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral,
Florida, killed all three astronauts of Apollo 1 on this day in 1967. 
     
An investigation indicated that a faulty electrical wire inside the
Apollo 1 command module was the probable cause of the fire.

The astronauts, the first Americans to die in a spacecraft, had been participating in a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch scheduled for
the following month.

The entrance to the tribute to the three astronauts who died
in the fire.

The three-part hatch that was in place on the Apollo 1
spacecraft is shown in the tribute.This is the first time
any part of the Apollo 1 spacecraft has been displayed
publicly.