Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed during ascent when a booster rocket failed and the external tank burst into a fireball. The seven members of the STS 51-L mission crew died. For the first anniversary of this tragedy, NASA produced commemorative plaques for the astronauts' families and for the Museum. Each plaque includes a small United States flag that was recovered from the vehicle debris found on the ocean floor. The plaque also bears a mission patch and the names and images of the crewmembers. This plaque is displayed in the Moving Beyond Earth exhibition gallery beside a similar plaque in memory of the STS-107 Columbia crew who perished during a reentry accident in 2003.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type MEMORABILIA-Events Dimensions 2-D - In Frame (H x W x D): 45.7 x 27.9 x 2.5cm (18 x 11 x 1 in.)
 Materials Base: Walnut
Plaque: Aluminum
Flag: Fabric
Patch: Paper
Additional: Plexiglas, felt, adhesive
 Inventory Number A19870113000 Credit Line Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use. You may also like Reflections on Spaceflight and Memory Remembering Challenger 25 Years Later