On January 28, 1986, America suffered a terrible loss. The Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off on a tragically doomed mission at 11:38 AM. 73 seconds later, disaster struck.

A simple failure in an O-ring during launch was to blame for the catastrophic failure; which killed all crew members: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. Challenger was 46,000 feet in the air, and as the launch was being televised, the disaster was captured live on TV. Many tuned in because of the Teacher in Space program, featuring Christa McAuliffe.

To commemorate the tragedy, a wreath was laid at Arlington National Cemetery by Charles Bolden (NASA Administrator) and deputy administrator Lori Garver on Thursday morning.