It's been 39 years since the Challenger space shuttle, carrying seven people, took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, exploding in mere minutes.

The NASA astronauts will answer questions about daily life up in orbit, as well as the research conducted in microgravity.

For millions, it was an event that would be seared into their memories for the rest of their lives – on par with the Kennedy assassination and 9/11.

This week marks two decades since the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, where seven crew members killed. Twenty years later, we remember Columbia and a famous photo of one of the most devastating events ...

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the Space ... to keep the shuttle flights on schedule compromised safety, reported Florida Today, a USA TODAY ...