A NASA space shuttle that was used on nine successful flights from 4 April 1983 until 30 October 1985. On its tenth launch on 28 January 1986, a booster rocket failed and the vehicle broke up, killing the seven members of the crew. Challenger began as a high-fidelity structural test article (STA-099) that was converted into a shuttle in 1979, the second shuttle constructed and then known as OV-99. On 18 June 1983 it carried the first US woman into space, Sally Ride, and on 30 August 1983 the first African American, Guion Bluford.

Space shuttle Challenger viewed from the research module SPAS (shuttle pallet satellite) during STS-7. It was on this mission that Sally Ride became the first US woman to fly in space.

Credit: NASA

Other Challenger flights included the first in-orbit satellite repair in April 1984, the first seven-person crew in October 1984 and the first eight-person crew in October 1985. Challenger was named after the British naval research vessel HMS Challenger that sailed the world in the 1870s.

Smoke and clouds of vaporized propellant engulf the Challenger orbiter during the disastrous flight of 28 January 1986. Fragments from the break-up leave trails in the air while the orbiter's solid rocket booster has detached and continues to fly out of control.

Credit: NASA

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/table-of-contents.html Report of the independent commission that reviewed the circumstances surrounding the Challenger disaster for US president Ronald Reagan.