Challenger's

Challenger's legacy is more complex than what Reagan hoped for.

25 years later: How the Challenger disaster brought NASA down to earth 2011

First, she will take part in NASA's public memorial service Friday morning at Kennedy Space Center, some 10 miles from Challenger's grave.

Challenger: 25 Years Later, A Still Painful Wound AP 2011

Read Reagan's speech and see images of the Challenger's launch.

Readers' Moving Memories Of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster The Huffington Post 2011

NASA held a memorial at the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida to honor the Challenger's seven crew members, including schoolteacher and citien Christa McAuliffe, who perished in the space shuttle's explosion, as well as the "fallen explorers" on board the Apollo 1 and Columbia.

Readers' Moving Memories Of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster The Huffington Post 2011

NASA held a memorial at the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida to honor the Challenger's seven crew members, including schoolteacher and citien Christa McAuliffe, who perished in the space shuttle's explosion, as well as the "fallen explorers" on board the Apollo 1 and Columbia.

Readers' Moving Memories Of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster The Huffington Post 2011

Since then, the shuttle has lifted off 132 times, returning safely to Earth on all but two missions: Challenger's launch on Jan. 28, 1986, and Columbia's return flight on Feb. 1, 2003.

U.S. human spaceflight and the road ahead 2011

Endeavour – Challenger's replacement – will follow in April.

Challenger: 25 Years Later, A Still Painful Wound AP 2011

McAuliffe rounded out Challenger's crew as the other payload specialist.

Jim Noles: Twenty-Five Years Ago, We Lost More Than a Space Shuttle Jim Noles 2011

Read Reagan's speech and see images of the Challenger's launch.

Readers' Moving Memories Of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster The Huffington Post 2011

Afterward, President Reagan told a shocked and grieving nation that the legacy of the accident would not be curtailed ambition for the space program, but accomplishments that would have made Challenger's crew proud.

25 years later: How the Challenger disaster brought NASA down to earth 2011