NASA

This astronaut gave their life in the pursuit of space exploration.

Memorial

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1980, Captain Smith completed a one-year training and evaluation period in August 1981, qualifying him for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. He served as a commander in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, Deputy Chief of the Aircraft Operations Division, Technical Assistant to the Director of the Flight Operations Directorate, and was also assigned to the Astronaut Office Development and Test Group. Captain Smith was assigned as pilot for STS-51-L and was also scheduled to serve as pilot for Space Shuttle Mission 61-N, planned for launch in the fall of 1986. Tragically, Captain Smith died on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle 

 exploded shortly after launch from Kennedy Space Center. The disaster also claimed the lives of spacecraft commander Mr. F.R. Scobee, three mission specialists—Dr. R.E. McNair, Lt. Col. E.S. Onizuka (U.S. Air Force), and Dr. J.A. Resnik—and two civilian payload specialists, Mr. G.B. Jarvis and Mrs. S.C. McAuliffe. Courtesy of NASA.

STS-51-L (Challenger)

The 25th flight of the Space Shuttle launched to deploy the second TDRS satellite for NASA, conduct "Teacher In Space" lessons, observe Halley's Comet, and carry out biomedical experiments. This was the 10th and final flight of Space Shuttle Challenger and marked the last time civilians (who were not members of the Astronaut Corps) flew on a NASA rocket. Launched in near-freezing conditions after a devastating temperature drop overnight, both O-ring seals between the two Solid Rocket Booster segments failed at the instant of launch. A temporary seal was formed by O-ring debris but was knocked loose when Challenger encountered upper level wind shear greater than she should have been launch into. The broken seal allowed hot gasses to escape the rocket booster and destroy the base of the External Tank. Challenger was ripped apart by aerodynamic forces 73 seconds after launch as the External Tank failed. Contrary to public memory, Challenger did not explode. All seven crewmembers lost their lives in what is still considered the worst spaceflight accident in history. It is the only fatal space accident that was broadcast live on TV. Over her short, three year career, Challenger spent a total of 62 days in space, travelled 41,527,414 km, and carried 60 cremembers.

The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space Shuttle

Michael J. Smith

United States of America

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

STS-41-B (Challenger)

During this flight, Challenger deployed two communications satellites for Western Union and Indonesia, and McCandless became the first person to perform a free-flying, untethered spacewalk. Challenger conducted the first Space Shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center and was the first Shuttle flight to use the new numbering scheme. Since the Shuttle was supposed to launch from both Florida and California, NASA switched to STS-41-B numbering scheme where the first number after "STS-" was the fiscal year of the program the mission was to fly in; the second number was either a "1" for Kennedy or a "2" for Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and the "-letter" was the order the missions for a particular fiscal year and launch site were originally planned in. Thus, STS-41-B was the second planned launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the fourth year of the program.

Ronald E. McNair

STS-41-C (Challenger)

The mission deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (carrying 57 science experiments) and then rendezvoused with, captured, repaired, and re-released the Solar Max satellite, marking the first-ever in-space repair of an already-launched satellite.

Francis R. "Dick" Scobee

STS-41-D (Discovery)

The maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery. A June 26th launch attempt ended at T-6.4 seconds after two of the three Shuttle main engines had started to ignite. The pad abort triggered a hydrogen fire under Discovery, damaging the Space Shuttle. The abort led to major improvements in Shuttle abort safety guidelines and procedures and forced a two month delay to the flight, during which NASA cancelled STS-41-F and transferred its payload to this mission. After launch, the crew deployed three communications satellites for the U.S. (2) and Canada (1) and tested solar array technology. The flight marked the first time a company commercially sponsored an employee to fly on the Space Shuttle to perform one of its experiments.

Judith A. Resnik

STS-51-C (Discovery)

The first classified Department of Defense Space Shuttle mission. Discovery was launched at or near the minimum air temperature the Solid Rocket Boosters were certified for at the time. After launch, it was discovered that a significant anomaly with all the O-ring seals on both Solid Rocket Boosters had occurred. All O-rings were found to be burned. In one place, the hot gasses from the rocket boosters had burned completely through the primary O-ring and nearly burned through the secondary seal -- which would have caused a Challenger-like failure. Morton Thiokol (who built the solid rockets) and NASA upper management both dismissed concerns raised by this finding. The Space Shuttle kept flying.

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