40 years ago, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster changed Central Floridians’ lives

Their eyes were watching. Some knew something was wrong. Others were slow to realize. Soon everyone came to grief. Forty years ago Space Shuttle Challenger climbed into the clear amid blue skies over Cape Canaveral. The nation’s youth watched on TVs across the nation and from school playgrounds across Central Florida. Christa McAuliffe was to be the first teacher in space. But the streak of ...