In reaction, the ice inspection team was sent to the launch pad at 1.35am January 28, and returned to the Launch Control Center at 3am. After a meeting to consider the teams report, the space shuttle program manager decided to continue the countdown. Another ice inspection was scheduled at launch minus three hours.
The crew of mission 51L consisted of Francis "Dick" Scobee, Captain Michael John Smith, Lt Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe. Before their last flight the crew was briefed on the weather, but as in earlier weather briefings they were not informed of any concerns about the effects of low temperature on the Shuttle System (Smith 265).
"After twenty-four successful flights of the space shuttle, it was not "news" anymore. Shuttle launches became routine, (Lieurance 33)" until now. Finally at 4:30pm an announcement was made. Associate Administrator for Space Flight at the Kennedy Space Center Jesse Moore said:.
"It is with deep, heartfelt sorrow that I address you here this afternoon. At 11:30am this morning, the space program experienced a national tragedy with the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger approximately a minute and a half after launch from here at the Kennedy Space Center. I regret that I have to report that based on very preliminary search of the ocean where Challenger impacted this morning; these searches have not revealed any evidence that the crew of Challenger survived.".
Moore went on to explain what he could about the accident. However, at the time, neither he nor anyone else knew the cause of the fireball and explosion (Lieurance 84).
Families of the crew were whisked off the roof and from the VIP bleachers. They were led into elevators and put into buses.
The last recorded words from any of Challenger's crew were those of pilot Mike Smith. "Uh oh," he said (Lieurance 15).
President Ronald Reagan, seeking to ensure a thorough investigation of the Challenger accident, formed a Presidential Commission on February 3, 1986.