challenger disaster

Mourners left a makeshift memorial outside NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston after the Columbia disaster on Feb. 1, 2003.

National

Twenty years after the Columbia disaster, a NASA official reflects on lessons learned

10:10am February 01, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Seven astronauts died when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentry on Feb. 1, 2003. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy looks back on the tragedy and how it shaped the agency.

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Bob Ebeling with his daughter Kathy (center) and his wife, Darlene.

National

Challenger Engineer Who Warned Of Shuttle Disaster Dies

11:41pm March 21, 2016

by Howard Berkes

Bob Ebeling was one of five booster rocket engineers at a NASA contractor who tried to stop the 1986 launch of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds into its flight. He was 89.

Bob Ebeling, now 89, at his home in Brigham City, Utah.

National

Your Letters Helped Challenger Shuttle Engineer Shed 30 Years Of Guilt

6:57pm February 25, 2016

by Howard Berkes

After NPR reported Bob Ebeling's story on the anniversary of the Challenger explosion, hundreds of people responded. Ebeling, now 89, says those letters "helped bring my worrisome mind to ease."

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