On Jan. 28, 1986, it’s estimated that almost 1 in 5 Americans were gathered in front of their televisions ready to watch a historic national event. A high school teacher was to be the first civilian to fly into space. NASA wanted an ordinary person, an educator, who could communicate with students while in space. Christa […]
On Jan. 28, 1986, it’s estimated that almost 1 in 5 Americans were gathered in front of their televisions ready to watch a historic national event.
A high school teacher was to be the first civilian to fly into space. NASA wanted an ordinary person, an educator, who could communicate with students while in space.
Christa McAuliffe, a social studies teacher in New Hampshire, was selected from more than 11,000 applicants.
Seventy-three seconds after liftoff, with millions of Americans watching on live television, the Challenger exploded, bringing an end to the lives of all seven crew members, including McAuliffe.
WJXT commemorates the disaster by airing an hour-long documentary, Challenger: A Rush to Launch, Tuesday night at 8.
WJXT is an independent station in Jacksonville owned by Graham Media Group.
WJXT spent months researching into little known revelations from that historic day. Challenger: A Rush to Launch aims to answer questions from 30 years ago that still remain on everyone’s mind.
Viewers will hear the minute-by-minute developments the night prior to launch where engineers warned of a potential disaster.
A special section at www.News4JAX.com/challenger launched on Friday, where users can watch the program, hear what it was like to cover the story, plus additional uncut interviews and original documents from the Challenger disaster.
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