Space Shuttle Challenger with its right solid rocket booster (SRB) on fire just before its destruction. Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lift-off from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, USA on 28 January 1986. The explosion occurred as a result of a failure of one of the O-rings in a seal on one of the booster rockets. A subsequent leakage of fuel triggered the explosion that killed all seven crew members onboard.