MASON CITY,IA-Seventy three seconds, that how long the space shuttle was in the air before one of the worst disasters in NASA's history. It's an image that many still vividly remember.On January 28th, 1986 the Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members.
Carolyn Miller says, "I just had a sinking feeling in my heart that the lives were lost so suddenly and it was to be a happy event."
Barbara Brcaa says, "I remember them saying that and you just felt this feeling of sinking in your heart."
Jack Koci says, “I thought oh my God you know this couldn't happen and it was just really scary to see something like that happen."
Koci watched what quickly turned into an unbelievable image.
The explosion was up until that time, the worst disaster in the U.S. space program.
After takeoff a ball of fire appeared at the base of the fuel tank.
Koci says, "all you see is smoke and debris falling all over the place."
For some folks in the area the incident hit all too close to home.
Onboard the craft was the first citizen observer Christa Mcauliffe.
She was a teacher.
As the wife of an educator Carolyn Miller says all she could think about was her husband.
Miller says, "it was a big impact for me. Because it was a school teacher and that was the first time on there and I thought well what if my husband had been chosen to do that."
To this day the Challenger disaster strikes a chord with many.
Those of us who witnessed it can't forget the startling images.
The rest of us grew up learning about the fatal in flight accident.
Koci says, "it was really a pretty good size impact on my life to be honest. When you see that, it just gives a person a weird feeling."
An investigation later revealed a rubber "O-ring" seal on one of Challenger's solid rocket boosters had failed because of unusually low temperatures.
This caused a leak of highly explosive gases, which ultimately led to the explosion.
But even with the cause of the disaster known, many are still wondering how something like that could ever happen.
It was three years before a space shuttle returned to flight.
NASA wouldn't experience another disaster until the loss of space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
