Forty years ago, the Challenger space shuttle disintegrated just after lift-off. A small team of engineers tried to prevent the tragedy.

The space shuttle Challenger explosion was a defining moment of the 1980s. Whether you were watching on TV or in person, chances are, you remember exactly where you were and how you felt.

In an effort to oust the Soviets in the space race, NASA’s Mariner I spacecraft was prepared to make history as the first spacecraft to complete a flyby survey of Venus. Then, on July 22, 1962, the ...