BBC Archive: The Challenger shuttle disaster remembered

On 28 January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after taking off, killing all seven of its crew.

School teacher Christa McAuliffe was due to be the first civilian to go to space on the mission.

A commission later found that the explosion had been caused by a leak through a faulty seal or O-ring in one of the solid rocket boosters.

There were no further manned space flights until September 1988.