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PRESENTS — The Challenger Legacy episode artwork

Jan 28, 2026 5 min

PRESENTS — The Challenger Legacy

from Big Ideas Hosted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Forty years ago this January, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated on its way into orbit. All seven astronauts on board were killed. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Fiona Pepper investigate how the Challenger disaster unfolded – and what that has meant for space exploration from 1986 to now. In the days after the tragedy, the world wanted answers. What really caused the shuttle to explode? And should the launch have been stopped altogether? The Challenger Legacy is a five-part series from Science Friction and is out now.

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PRESENTS — The Challenger Legacy

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This episode was published on January 28, 2026.

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