NASA Challenger space shuttle disaster remembered on 30th anniversary

Thirty years afterthe space shuttle Challenger exploded during liftoff, a newgeneration of spaceships continues to build on changes madeafter NASA's fatal accident.

Challenger blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center inFlorida on the frigid morning of Jan. 28, 1986. The flightlasted just 73 seconds after a rubber seal in one of theshuttle's twin booster rockets failed, triggering an explosion and killing all seven peopleon board.

Families of the Challenger astronauts who died 30 years ago gathered with NASA today to mark the space shuttle accident's 30th anniversary.

The disaster exposed shuttle design shortcomings andoperational problems in the U.S. space program. But it also
helped seed a commercial space transportation industry that isnow developing passenger spaceships.

Accident investigators also found that pressure to maintaina busy flight schedule contributed to Challenger's demise. Atthe time, NASA's four-ship shuttle fleet, flying several times amonth, was the nation's sole space transportation system.

After the accident, then-president Ronald Reagan bannedcommercial satellites from the shuttles and bolstered military
efforts to develop alternative launchers.

The policy shift laid the groundwork for today's commercialspace transportation industry, which generated global revenuesof $5.9 billion USin 2014, according to a report last year by theSatellite Industry Association.

Accidents remain inevitable as the field matures, said MikeLeinbach, a former NASA shuttle launch director.

"Spaceflight is like any other big engineering system," hesaid, noting that cruise ships and aircraft became safer after
accidents. "You get smart by successes. You get smart byfailures. ... It's an evolution."

Six astronauts and a high school teacher flying aboardChallenger had no chance of escaping due to a spacecraft designdecision, which is not being repeated on the passengerspaceships now under development.

These will launch on top of rockets, not alongside them, andhave separate systems to fly crews to safety if a booster
falters.

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The Challenger accident also exposed NASA managementproblems. For example, the night before launch, engineers warnedthat freezing temperatures might be a problem for the shuttlebooster rockets, but their concerns were quashed.

"I just hope that the new entrants into the market learnfrom the mistakes of the past," Leinbach said. "I see that
happening."

So far, the only fatality in the emerging industry occurredin October 2014 when a pilot died testing an experimental
passenger spaceship for Virgin Galactic, founded by Britishbillionaire Richard Branson.

Investigators cited safety shortfalls and pilot inadequatetraining as key factors behind the accident.

Families of theChallenger astronautsestablished the Challenger Center for Space Science Education just three months after the shuttle disintegrated in the Florida sky.

Today, there are more than 40 Challenger Learning Centers focusing on science, technology, engineering and math, mostly in the U.S., but including one in Canada. More are being built.

"They're not just a field trip for kids. They're actually lessons learned," said June Scobee Rodgers,the widow of Challenger commander Dick ScobeeRodgers, an educator who lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "That's why they've lasted."

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