Crew photograph of the space shuttle Challenger,taken prior to the launch of the ill-fated mission 51-L. Launch date was fixed for the 27th January 1986,but was postponed due to unfavourable cross winds. The launch took place the following day,28th January at 11. 38 am. Seventy three seconds into lift off the shuttle exploded killing all seven crew members. Crew members are (left to right,front row) Michael Smith,pilot; Francis R. Scobee,commander; Ronald McNair,mission specialist. Back row: Ellison Onizuka,mission specialist; Christa McAuliffe,teacher; Gregory Jarvis,payload specialist; Judith Resnik,mission specialist |