US commemorates 30th anniversary of Challenger Space Shuttle disaster

Tributes flooded in for the seven astronauts who lost their lives on the Challenger Space Shuttle Thursday as the United States commemorated the 30^th anniversary of the disaster.

ADVERTISEMENT

The shuttle exploded just 73 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all crewmembers of mission STS-51L. The disaster claimed the lives of astronauts Francis “Dick” Scobee,  Michael Smith, Christa McAuliffe,  Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Gregory Jarvis.

Related Image

Expand / Contract

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo the space shuttle Challenger is destroyed by an explosion shortly after it lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

NASA is holding a day of remembrance to commemorate the crews of Challenger, Apollo 1 and Columbia.

Related: Family members of Challenger victims to mark 30 years since shuttle disaster

“Every year at this time we take a moment to reflect as the NASA family on the very broad shoulders on which we stand: the shoulders of those men and women of NASA who gave their lives so that you and I could continue to reach for new heights for the benefit of all humankind,” wrote NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in a statement on NASA’s website.

Astronauts on the International Space Station held a moment’s silence as part of NASA’s Day of Remembrance.

“Today marks the 30^th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident so I would like to just take a moment of silence and recognize the sacrifice of all those crewmembers and how their legacy and lives on in our achievement in space,” said American astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year on the International Space Station.
for more live news please visit http://toplivenews.net/