25 years ago, on January 28, 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed during launch, costing the lives of astronauts Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Sharon Christa McAuliffe and Gregory Jarvis. Their brief flight (STS-51-L) was the 25th shuttle launch.

By the time, shuttle flights had become routine and were hardly covered in the news. I was exiting the subway station Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria when I heard the shocking news on a radio, which a storekeeper had sitting on the counter.

Reinhard Kargl

Journalist and media professional currently based in Los Angeles, California. Focusing on science and technology.