# Challenger's Legacy: How Tragedy Made Space Safer
Published: January 28, 2026
Duration: 1:57
# This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.
Good evening, stargazers! Today we're celebrating one of the most jaw-dropping moments in modern astronomy—on January 28th, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger met a catastrophic end just 73 seconds after liftoff, taking seven brave souls with it.
Now, I know that sounds heavy, and it absolutely was—but here's the thing about this tragedy: it fundamentally changed how we do space exploration. The Challenger disaster became a watershed moment that forced NASA and the entire aerospace industry to completely reimagine safety protocols, engineering reviews, and the very culture of how we appr...
Good evening, stargazers! Today we're celebrating one of the most jaw-dropping moments in modern astronomy—on January 28th, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger met a catastrophic end just 73 seconds after liftoff, taking seven brave souls with it.
Now, I know that sounds heavy, and it absolutely was—but here's the thing about this tragedy: it fundamentally changed how we do space exploration. The Challenger disaster became a watershed moment that forced NASA and the entire aerospace industry to completely reimagine safety protocols, engineering reviews, and the very culture of how we appr...