Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger knows it was a national tragedy. But dig a little deeper, and it's even more heartbreaking.

The Challenger shuttle disaster happened in 1986 when, after only 73 seconds into its flight, the spacecraft exploded. All ...

(This practice mostly ceased after the Challenger shuttle explosion of 1986, after which the military shifted to expendable rockets.) NASA focussed on reducing space costs, while the Soviet Union ...

Figure 5.1: Two views of the space shuttle system the orbiter, the expendable external fuel tank, and two recoverable solid rocket boosters. Reprinted from Rogers Commission, 1986. To provide for the ...