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Challenger 7

On January 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger was destroyed by a technical malfunction approximately 72 seconds after lift-off. The explosion took the lives of all seven crew members: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe. This was the worst National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) disaster since Apollo 1.

Mission Commander Francis R. (Dick) Scobee was born on May 19, 1939. Scobee received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona in 1965. He obtained a commission in the Air Force in 1965 and, after receiving his wings in 1966, completed a number of assignments. In August 1979 he completed a one-year training and evaluation period that made him eligible for assignment as a pilot on future space shuttle flights. He first flew as the pilot of the Discovery mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 6, 1984. With the completion of this flight he had logged a total of 168 hours in space. His next assignment was flight mission 51-L aboard the Challenger in 1986.

Pilot Michael J. Smith was born on April 30, 1945. He received a bachelor of science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1967 and a master of science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1968. He completed Navy aviation jet training at Kingsville, Texas, receiving his aviator wings in May 1969. In May 1980 he completed the one-year training and evaluation period. The Challenger mission was to be the first voyage into space for Captain Smith.

Mission specialist Judith A. Resnik was born on April 5, 1949. She received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1970 and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977. She was a senior systems engineer in product development with Xerox Corporation before her selection by NASA in 1978. She completed the one-year training and evaluation period in August 1979. Resnik first flew as a mission specialist aboard Discovery, which launched from Florida on August 30, 1984. With the completion of that flight she had logged 144 hours and 57 minutes in space. The Challenger mission was to be her second spaceflight.

Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka was born on June 24, 1946. In 1969 he received a bachelor of science degree. Later that year Onizuka earned a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado. Onizuka began active duty with the U.S. Air Force in January 1970 after receiving a commission at the University of Colorado. He joined NASA in 1978 and completed the one-year training and evaluation period in August 1979. He first flew as a mission specialist aboard Discovery, the first space shuttle Department of Defense mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on January 24, 1985, logging 74 hours in space. Challenger was to be his return to space.

Ronald E. McNair, the third mission specialist, was born on October 21, 1950. McNair earned a bachelor of science in physics from North Carolina A&T State University in 1971 and a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. After his graduation from MIT in 1976, he became a staff physicist with Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. He qualified as a mission specialist astronaut in August 1979 and flew as a mission specialist aboard Challenger(Mission 41-B) on February 3, 1984. With the completion of that flight he had logged 191 hours in space. His flight on Challenger was to mark his return to space.

Born on August 24, 1944, Gregory B. Jarvis was a payload specialist. He received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1967. Additionally, he earned a master's degree in electrical engineering and completed the course work for a master's in management science at Northeastern University in Boston and West Coast University in Los Angeles, respectively. He was selected as a payload specialist candidate in July 1984. The Challenger mission was to be his first spaceflight.

Sharon Christa McAuliffe, born on September 2, 1948, was the second payload specialist. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Framingham State College and a master's degree in education from Bowie State College in Maryland in 1970 and 1978, respectively. She taught various classes for grades nine through twelve in Maryland and New Hampshire. As the primary candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Program, she was to make her first spaceflight aboard Challenger.