51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Computer-generated image illustrating part of the malfunction which led to the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which broke apart 73 seconds into STS-51-L following its launch from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, 28th January 1986. The first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft in flight, all seven crew members aboard died after 'burn through' at the aft end of the right solid rocket booster (SRB) causing the SRB to break away from its after link to the external tank, pivoted about its forward attachment point and stuck the external tank between the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks, this is believed to have ruptured the tanks leading to the explosion that destroyed the orbiter (OV-099). (Photo by Daily Telegraph/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)