Archive Digger

24 years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff. For many people, that image was seared into their minds, as many children across the nation were watching - the shuttle held the first civilian passenger in NASA’s history, a teacher named Christa McAuliffe.

I went archive diving this morning and found a few stories that tell us about the people who were on board the shuttle and lost their lives:

This one, from the Orlando Sentinel, tells of all the firsts besides McAuliffe among the crew.

This one, from the Los Angeles times, has biographies of all the crew members.

This one, from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, tells the tale of McAuliffe’s parents as they watched the liftoff, then explosion that killed their daughter.