Case Study-Video and News: The Challenger Disaster

On January 25, 1986, the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded just 74 seconds into its televised launch into the sky above Cape Canaveral. On board the Challenger, in addition to the standard crew of six, was Concord, New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAullife, as part of the teacher in space program. The objectives of the mission were to begin an experiment designed to monitor Halley's Comet, as well as prepare and deploy the satellite Spartan into its orbit. Because McAullife was to be the first 'average' American in space, the launch of the Challenger attracted an unusually high amount of interest in a nation that had come to take space exploration for granted. As was standard procedure, all the television networks had cameras at the launch and the event was broadcast live to the nation. The explosion that took place 74 seconds later was as spectacular as it was horrific. Snow-white plumes of smoke raced from the space shuttle in different directions across the dark blue sky immediately after a blinding flash of light illuminated the sky like lightning. For those who did not see the event live, the video footage was shown repeatedly on the news, and the visual image of the Challenger's destruction lived on as one of the most traumatic and spectacular visual images ever preserved.

To see ABC's video footage of the disaster, click here.