In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, the space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. A whole generation _ including McAuliffe's own students _ has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Now the former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver, File) |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Twenty-five years ago, seven astronauts died aboard space shuttle Challenger when it exploded shortly after liftoff.
NASA officials will gather at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Friday morning to mark the somber anniversary. Special guests include the widow of Challenger's commander, June Scobee Rodgers.
She'll be the featured speaker at the outdoor ceremony. Her husband, Dick Scobee, died along with his six crewmates on Jan. 28, 1986. Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was among the dead.
Rodgers was instrumental in establishing the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.
The ceremony will take place at the Space Mirror Memorial, a granite monument bearing the names of all 24 astronauts who have died in the line of duty.
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