The other six crew members were payload specialist Gregory Jarvis, mission specialist Judith A. Resnik, mission commander Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, mission specialist Ronald E. McNair, pilot Mike J. Smith and mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka.
(FILES): This November 1985 file provided by NASA shows the crew of the doomed US space shuttle Challenger. Front row from left are: astronauts Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair, back row from left: Ellison Onizuka, school teacher Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. Twenty years after the US space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff 28 January 1986, killing all seven of its crew members, the shuttle program has yet to overcome doubts about its safety and value. The disaster that unfolded before crowds gathered at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and on live television shocked the country and remains engraved on the national psyche. Fallen crew member Christa McAuliffe, the first non-aviator in space, became a symbol of the Challenger tragedy after having caught the public’s imagination. AFP PHOTO/NASA/FILES (Photo by – / NASA / AFP) (Photo by -/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
NASA says a booster engine broke apart, causing the explosion.
NASA Kennedy Space Center commemorated them with a ceremony Thursday.
It was the first time NASA lost an astronaut during a flight.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere, killing all seven onboard.
