1986 – STS 51-L, Space Shuttle Challenger. Disaster. Astronauts killed: Francis R. S cobee, Micheal Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory B. Jarvis, Ronald E. McNair, and teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe. Biographies here.
STS-51L ended 1 minute13 seconds after launch. An investigation revealed a booster 0-ring was at fault. ” An Accident Rooted in History” was the title of a Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Report, June, 6, 1986 which outlined the path that led to the tragedy. The Report is available from the NASA History Web here. More info at spaceline.org here.
Back Row: Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, Payload Specialists Christa McAuliffe and Gregory B. Jarvis, Mission Specialist Judith A. Resnik,
Front Row: Pilot Michael J. Smith, Commander Francis R. Scobee, Mission Specialist Ronald E. McNair.
Birthdays
1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 31 January 2018)
1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
1611 – Johannes Hevelius polish astronomer who made the first moon atlas. (d. 28 January 1687)
1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)