I. Introduction
A. Hook
It is said that when you experience certain events in history, you always remember where you were and what you were doing. As I talked to my parents and grandparents, there were certain events they remembered clearly…the day President Kennedy was assassinated, the 911 attacks, and when the Challenger exploded.
B. Connection
For my mom, it was sitting in her 3rd grade class watching as the space shuttle Challenger launched into space, and exploded in air on live television.
C. Thesis Statement
The space shuttle Challenger tragedy occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter, Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.
II. Body
A. Event Summary
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The Challenger mission got lots of national attention because it was the first flight of a new program called TISP, the Teacher in Space Program. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher from New Hampshire who won a national contest and was scheduled to be the first teacher in space.
3. Besides McAuliffe, the Challenger crew included mission commander Francis R. Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; mission specialists Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik; and payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis. Mrs. McAuliffe was also listed as a payload specialist.
4. The Challenger mission faced one problem after another. It was originally set to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 2. Because of bad weather and technical problems, the date kept getting set back until they finally decided to launch it on January 27.
5. That launch was delayed to the next day, due to problems with the exterior access hatch. The date was eventually set for January 28.
6. The morning of January 28 was unusually cold and ice had accumulated on the launching pad. Engineers warned that there were dangers with launching with the low temperatures, but they decided to launch it anyway. The Challenger lifted off at 11:38 Eastern Standard
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President Reagan appointed a commission to study what went wrong and to fix problems for future missions.
3. The Challenger disaster is used frequently as a case study in many subjects such as engineering safety, the ethics of whistle-blowing, communications, and group decision-making
B. Closing
The space shuttle Challenger explosion is one of those events that people will remember where they were and what they were doing the moment it happened. It was an event that stunned and angered the country because it could have been prevented if NASA had listened to the engineers who warned them of the dangers.
Chow, Denise. "Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster FAQ: What Went Wrong." Space.com. 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
History.com Staff. "Challenger Disaster." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Lewis, S.R. "CHALLENGER EXPLOSION." CHALLENGER EXPLOSION. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Tate, Karl. "The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: What Happened? (Infographic)." Space.com. 28 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Traci Watson. "25 Years Later: How the Challenger Disaster Brought NASA down to Earth - USATODAY.com." USATODAY.COM. 30 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Apr.