Editing Space Shuttle Challenger (section)

=== Final mission and destruction ===
[[File:Challenger explosion.jpg|thumb|''Challenger'' breaks apart after launch in 1986, killing all crew on board, including [[Christa McAuliffe]], a teacher with the NASA [[Teacher in Space Project]]]]
{{Main|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}}

[[STS-51-L]] was the orbiter's tenth and final flight, initially planned to launch on January 26, 1986 (after several technical and paperwork delays). The mission attracted huge media attention, as one of the crew was a civilian schoolteacher, [[Christa McAuliffe]], who was assigned to carry out live lessons from the orbiter (as part of NASA's [[Teacher in Space Project]]). Other members would deploy the [[TDRS-B]] satellite and conduct comet observations.

''Challenger'' blasted off at 11:38 am EST on January 28, 1986. Just over a minute into the flight, a faulty booster joint opened up, leading to a flame that melted securing struts which resulted in a catastrophic structural failure and explosion of the [[External Tank]]. The resulting pressure waves and aerodynamic forces destroyed the orbiter, resulting in the loss of all of the crew.

''Challenger'' was the first Space Shuttle to be [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|destroyed]] in a mission disaster.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ware | first=Doug G. | title = Engineer who warned of 1986 Challenger disaster still racked with guilt, three decades on | date=January 28, 2016 | publisher=[[United Press International]] | url = http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2016/01/28/Engineer-who-warned-of-1986-Challenger-disaster-still-racked-with-guilt-three-decades-on/4891454032643/ | access-date=January 28, 2016}}</ref> The collected debris of the vessel is currently buried in decommissioned [[missile launch facility|missile silos]] at [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 31|Launch Complex 31]], [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]]. A section of the fuselage recovered from Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' can also be found at the "Forever Remembered" memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Debris from the orbiter sometimes washes up on the Florida coast.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9612/17/challenger.debris/index.html|title=Shuttle Challenger debris washes up on shore|access-date=November 7, 2007|publisher=[[CNN]]|year=1996}}</ref> This is collected and transported to the silos for storage. Because of its early loss, ''Challenger'' was the only Space Shuttle that never wore the NASA [[NASA insignia|"meatball" logo]], and was never modified with the MEDS "glass cockpit". The tail was never fitted with a drag chute, which was fitted to the remaining orbiters in 1992. ''Challenger'' and sister ship ''Columbia'' are the only two shuttles that never visited the Mir Space Station or the International Space Station. In September 2020 [[Netflix]] released ''[[Challenger: The Final Flight]]'', a four-part miniseries created by Steven Leckart and Glen Zipper documenting the tragedy firsthand.