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Gregory Bruce Jarvis was an American engineer and astronaut who died during the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, where he was serving as payload specialist for Hughes Aircraft.

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Sharon Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who died during the destruction of Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a payload specialist.

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Ronald Erwin McNair was an American NASA astronaut and physicist. He died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, in which he was serving as one of three mission specialists in a crew of seven.

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Ellison Shoji Onizuka was an American astronaut, engineer, and USAF test pilot from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. He was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese origin to reach space.

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Judith Arlene Resnik was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the launch of mission STS-51-L. Resnik was the second American woman in space and the fourth woman in space worldwide, logging 145 hours in orbit. She was the first Jewish woman of any nationality in space. The IEEE Judith Resnik Award for space engineering is named in her honor.

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Francis (Dick) Scobee was an American pilot, engineer and astronaut. He was killed while he was commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, which suffered catastrophic booster failure during launch of the STS-51-L mission.

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Michael John Smith, was an American engineer and astronaut. He served as the pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission, when it broke up 73 seconds into the flight, and at an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.6 km), killing all 7 crew members. Smith's voice was the last one heard on the Challenger voice recorder. He is a Master of Science who held a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.