(CNN) - Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle explosion. It was a moment of collective grief on Jan. 28, 1986, when the space shuttle exploded during a live broadcast.

It was the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida — a moment that would soon become the nation’s worst tragedy ...

Bob Ebeling was anxious and angry as he drove to work on the morning of Jan. 28, 1986. He kept thinking about the space shuttle Challenger, cradled on a Florida launchpad 2,000 miles away. Ebeling ...

Five astronauts and two payload specialists make up the STS 51-L crew, scheduled to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in January of 1986. Crewmembers are (left to right, front row) astronauts ...

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing the seven crew members on board The space shuttle disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of ...

It's been 40 years since seven people lost their lives when the Challenger space shuttle exploded minutes after launching from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The disaster claimed the lives of Christa ...