NASA's space shuttle Challenger completed 10 missions before it broke apart during a launch in 1986, killing seven astronauts.

Through the tragedy, the lives and legacy of the crew have endured, and 40 years later, Christa McAuliffe is still changing lives.

The Akron native was among seven astronauts lost in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Decades later, her achievements and hometown ties still resonate.

Forty years ago, Americans were shocked when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after it launched on a chilly day in Florida.

A generation of schoolchildren in New Hampshire grew up believing that our capacity to do the extraordinary knew no limits. And we have Christa McAuliffe to thank. How New Hampshire school kids were shaped by the Challenger Union Leader News Editor Dave Pierce was a seventh grader at Hood Junior High School in Derry when the Challenger shuttle exploded.