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The Challenger Explosion It was a cold day in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 28, 1986. The launch of the space shuttle Challenger was to be made that day, one that would go down in history. It did, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The space shuttle Challenger launched that day at 11:38 a.m., and everything seemed to be going smoothly. That is, until seventy-three seconds after launch, 1,977 miles per hour, ten miles up, and eight miles …

…flights were postponed for more than thirty-two months. Launches resumed only when models for the space shuttle had been redesigned. All across the country, business stopped and flags flew at half-mast. Wall Street trading was stopped when bells rang to mark the beginning of a minute of silence. The Olympic torch was relit in Los Angeles. And in Washington, the bells of the National Cathedral tolled, as did bells in churches all over the nation.