(CNN) – It’s been 34 years since the space shuttle Challenger exploded after takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Tuesday marks the somber anniversary of that day, Jan. 28, 1986, when Challenger lifted off and exploded 73 seconds into flight.
FILE – This photo provided by NASA shows the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger mission 51L. All seven members of the crew were killed when the shuttle exploded during launch on Jan. 28, 1986. Front row from left are Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, and Ronald E. McNair. Front row from left are Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. (NASA via AP) 
FILE – In this Sept. 13, 1985 file photo, Christa McAuliffe tries out the commander’s seat on the flight deck of a shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Thirty-two years after the Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes. (AP Photo) 
FILE – In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, four crew members of the space shuttle Challenger walk from their quarters at Kennedy Space Center in Floirda, en route to the launch pad. From foreground are pilot Mike Smith, school teacher Christa McAuliffe, mission specialist Ellison Onizuka and payload specialist Gregory Jarvis. Thirty-two years after the Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) 
FILE – In this Jan. 28, 1986 picture, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. shortly before it exploded with a crew of seven aboard. (AP Photo/Thom Baur) 
FILE – In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo, the Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, in Fla. All seven crew members died in the explosion, which was blamed on faulty o-rings in the shuttle’s booster rockets. Bob Ebeling had spent three decades filled with guilt over not stopping the explosion of Challenger, but found relief in the weeks before his death Monday, March 21, 2016, at age 89. NPR reports Ebeling had been a booster rocket engineer at a NASA contractor during the launch. He tried to convince them to postpone it, saying the cold temperatures could cause the shuttle to explode. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver, File) 
FILE – In this Jan. 28, 1986 file picture, spectators at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. react after they witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. (AP Photo/File) 
FILE – In this series of Jan. 28, 1986 photos, the space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. A family from Michigan watches the explosion from Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP) 
FILE – This Jan. 28, 1986 file picture shows U.S. President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office of the White House after a televised address to the nation about the space shuttle Challenger explosion. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
All seven crew members were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.
The explosion was a result of a rocket booster failure which ignited the fuel tank.