The Columbia disaster contributed to the end of the Space Shuttle program and NASA's reliance on commercial partners such as SpaceX and Boeing to transport astronauts and cargo.

The Columbia disaster exposed fatal flaws in NASA's shuttle program

On Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The tragedy revealed long-ignored safety warnings, leading NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and overhaul its safety culture.

The Challenger disaster grounded the space shuttle fleet for nearly three years, exposed deep flaws in NASA's leadership, and prompted significant changes to the agency's safety oversight and decision-making culture.

Major milestones of the Space Shuttle program's 135 missions included the launches of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the first American woman and African-American astronauts in space.

View a timeline of NASA's Space Shuttle program, which saw five reusable orbiters take a total of 355 astronauts across a combined distance of almost six trips to the sun.

Although it drew inspiration from spaceplane concepts of the 1920s, the Space Shuttle program began to take shape after the Space Race, as the US sought to establish a space station and a reusable transportation system for astronauts and satellites.

Space tourism opportunities have been explored since the end of the Apollo era

In the 1970s, Rockwell International, a NASA contractor, and others investigated manufacturing passenger modules that could fit into the Space Shuttle's payload bay. NASA also opened spaceflights to nongovernment professionals, but many such programs were ended after the Challenger disaster, which killed the first Teacher in Space participant.

The Challenger disaster ended NASA's plan to fly ordinary Americans in space

The explosion of the Challenger halted NASA's civilian spaceflight ambitions for decades, including plans to send teachers, journalists, artists, and other nonastronauts into orbit—an effort aimed at building public support that quietly disappeared after the 1986 disaster.

During the Space Shuttle program, NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft—two specially modified Boeing 747s—transported space shuttles between landing sites and launch facilities.

The Challenger disaster delayed the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

The 1986 explosion of the space shuttle shortly after liftoff killed seven crew members and grounded NASA's space fleet. Scientists used the downtime to refine ground control software and upgrade telescope instrument sensitivity, but maintaining the telescope's clean room storage cost NASA approximately $6M per month.

Explore the interior and exterior of the Atlantis and Endeavour space shuttles, including their flight decks, cargo bays, and other compartments.

In honor of scientific exploration, all five launched space shuttles were named after ships that traveled the oceans, but a campaign from 'Star Trek' fans led to the shuttle prototype being named Enterprise.

View a 3D visualization of how space shuttles were built and launched into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

NASA has partnered with several private companies to promote commercial space stations

The retirement of the International Space Station in 2030 has led NASA to refocus its efforts on continuing microgravity research through private partnerships, including the support of multiple commercial space stations' design and development.

Space trash forced astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter

An inactive Russian satellite broke up into nearly 200 pieces, prompting astronauts on the space station to take shelter in a docked spacecraft and a capsule that could be used to escape in case of emergency.

Take a 360-degree tour of Discovery with Kathryn Sullivan and Charles Bolden, who flew together on the space shuttle during its deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope. (VR device-compatible)

NASA and SpaceX combine public support and funding with private enterprise

Rather than competitors, SpaceX and NASA are mutually beneficial collaborators. Without NASA contracts, SpaceX may have run out of funding, and without the low-cost tech of SpaceX, NASA may have been left without a US-based launch system.

Explore what Challenger was supposed to do on its mission

STS-51L's planned seven-day mission included deploying satellites, studying Comet Halley, conducting fluid dynamics experiments, and broadcasting live lessons from orbit—routine scientific and educational tasks that were never carried out after the shuttle was lost shortly after launch.

When retired, the International Space Station will undergo a controlled de-orbit

With plans to transition low-Earth orbit operations to private entities, the ISS is expected to be retired by 2030, using a SpaceX de-orbit vehicle. Although reentry will burn up most hardware, NASA intends for any surviving debris to fall into an uninhabited ocean area.

In 2021 US dollars, space shuttles cost $65,400 per kilogram, making them the most expensive spacecraft for payloads greater than 20,000 kilograms.

Watch the Challenger disaster unfold in real time

On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after liftoff. This live CNN broadcast captures the tragedy as it happened—second by second—showing the shock and confusion of one of NASA's darkest moments.

View a schematic of the space shuttle orbiter, including the layout of the flight deck and mid-deck for astronauts, the cargo bay for payloads, and various support systems, such as avionics equipment and the fuel system.

Watch the Challenger disaster, which killed all seven astronauts aboard, unfold live.

A SpaceX spacecraft's battery debris survived reentry and crashed into a Florida home

Although NASA expected the debris to disintegrate after it was jettisoned from the International Space Station in 2024, the flight support component survived reentry. No injuries were reported from the incident.

NASA was founded in response to early Soviet space achievements

Although starting behind in the Space Race in 1958, NASA became a global leader in humanity's exploration of space with the Apollo program, which placed astronauts on the moon. Since then, it has been responsible for the construction of multiple telescopes, the International Space Station, and development of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon before eventually reaching Mars.

The Challenger disaster led NASA to create an independent safety office

In response to the Challenger accident, NASA established the Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance—now known as the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance—to strengthen oversight, elevate safety concerns, and mitigate managerial pressure on technical decisions.

Most elements of the International Space Station were installed over two decades

Space shuttles delivered storage carriers, docking compartments, airlocks, solar arrays, and labs, which were assembled in low Earth orbit. The station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm, alongside maneuvering spacewalkers, has assisted with this assembly since its installation in 2001.

The unloading and maneuvering of the space shuttle's payload were accomplished by the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System—a robotic arm designed and constructed in Canada, which led to it being colloquially known as the Canadarm.

Listen to the five-part podcast series that reconstructs how Challenger failed

The "American Scandal" podcast devotes a five-part series to Challenger, tracing the engineering warnings, internal pressure to launch, the moment of the explosion, and the long aftermath that reshaped NASA's safety culture.

See how SpaceX has impacted costs throughout spaceflight history.

Overcoming industry skeptics, SpaceX provides low-cost, high-publicity spaceflights

From recovering and reusing rocket components to launching a mannequin and Tesla into orbit to the tune of David Bowie's "Starman," Elon Musk drove public interest and government contracts to his company as he transformed space launches into spectacles.

SpaceX was built to achieve Elon Musk's vision of making humans an interplanetary species.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon was the first crewed spacecraft piloted by touchscreen

In May 2020, NASA astronauts flying SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station used touchscreen controls instead of traditional switches and dials, a significant shift for astronauts and how they pilot and interact with spacecraft. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Watch the lessons Christa McAuliffe was supposed to teach aboard Challenger

After the Challenger disaster prevented McAuliffe from teaching in orbit, educators-turned-astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold filmed her planned science demonstrations aboard the International Space Station during the 2017-18 school year.

Only 34% of Americans supported the Apollo program in 1967

After a fire killed three astronauts on the launchpad of Apollo 1, the public became ambivalent about funding the multibillion-dollar program until the successful moon landing in 1969. The landers alone cost $388M, while each spacesuit cost $100,000.

The space race ended with a handshake in orbit in 1975

On July 17, 1975, American and Soviet astronauts docked their spacecraft during the Apollo–Soyuz mission, symbolically ending the space race and marking the first joint spaceflight between Cold War rivals.

Evidence suggests some of the Challenger's crew may have been alive after the explosion

Recovery of the intact crew cabin and later analysis of flight data led investigators to conclude the astronauts likely survived the initial breakup and remained alive during the roughly two-minute descent before the cabin struck the ocean.

Elon Musk founded SpaceX after being unable to purchase affordable rockets abroad

Watch a supercut of the various iterations of SpaceX's Starship rocket

The first version, called Starhopper, was named with the vision of developing rocket stages that could safely land after use, enabling reusability to cut costs. The endeavor was an enormous engineering challenge that required years of testing.

About 2.5 million American students watched the Challenger disaster live

Because of the publicity of the Teacher in Space program, millions of students viewed Challenger's liftoff in school classrooms—turning the explosion into a shared national traumatic experience marked by shock, silence, and grief.

Explore a timeline of the International Space Station National Lab

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan called for establishing a human presence in space, which began with NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev on November 2, 2000. Humans have continuously occupied the ISS every day since.

How reusable rocket boosters work

Reusable rockets drastically reduce the costs of space travel, saving agencies and companies millions of dollars by preserving expensive, complex boosters and their engines. The advancement required engineers to develop systems that restarted a booster in mid-flight to slow it down before landing.

The Teacher in Space program was launched in 1984 to highlight spaceflight in US classrooms

Announced by President Ronald Reagan, the program drew more than 11,000 teacher applicants nationwide. Christa McAuliffe was selected to fly on STS-51L, with plans to teach live lessons from orbit before the Challenger disaster ended the mission.

How SpaceX Made Space Affordable

SpaceX has cut launch costs by over 95%—from $54,000 per kilogram to around $2,000—reshaping how we access space.

Visitors of the International Space Station are trained in English and Russian

Different space agencies develop different modules of the ISS, meaning their controls, documentation, and instrumentation are not always written in English. Because the first modules were delivered using US and Russian spacecraft, astronauts have been historically trained in both languages.

Learn about the missions of the Artemis program, which aims to return humanity to the moon and develop the technology for future human space exploration.

The Russian Federal Space Agency enabled the first space tourism journey

NASA refused to take Dennis Tito, who had no formal training as an astronaut, up to the International Space Station. Instead, the American engineer and entrepreneur traveled aboard the Soyuz TM-32 mission and described the initial experience of microgravity after engine shut-off as the "most spectacular" part of the flight.

Faulty wiring and flammable materials caused a fire in the Apollo 1 command module

During a launch rehearsal test on Jan. 27, 1967, the fire took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The tragedy led to improvements to CM construction and the development of a single-piece hatch for escapes.

The Space Launch System: NASA's most powerful rocket ever

The Space Launch System is intended to be the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA. Possible missions include returning to the moon and perhaps even reaching Mars. This speculative and mostly silent video uses animation to explore the inner workings of the SLS, showing it launching and in space flight.

President Reagan postponed the State of the Union after Challenger

In his Oval Office address delivered the night of the disaster, President Ronald Reagan spoke directly to the nation about the loss of Challenger and its crew, postponing that evening's scheduled State of the Union to address the tragedy.

View 60 years of NASA space exploration

Established in 1958—a year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has taken humanity into outer space and helped reveal the nature of the universe. Historic moments include the Apollo 11 mission putting humanity on the Moon and construction of the International Space Station.