Christa McAuliffe a result. On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe boarded "Challenger" with the other six crew members of STS-51-L. Just 73 seconds into its flight at an altitude of 48,000 feet, the shuttle broke apart, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members. According to NASA, it was in part because of the excitement over her presence on the shuttle that the accident had such a significant effect on the nation. Many schoolchildren were viewing the launch live, and media coverage of the accident was extensive. The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle "Challenger" Accident—also known as the Rogers Commission—was formed
Christa Wolf protagonist dies of leukemia. This work demonstrates the dangers and consequences that happen to an individual when they internalize society's contradictions. In "Accident", the narrator's brother is undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor a few days after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster had occurred. In 2004 she edited and published her correspondence with her UK-based near namesake Charlotte Wolff over the years 1983–1986 (Wolf, Christa and Wolff, Charlotte (2004) "Ja, unsere Kreise berühren sich: Briefe", Luchterhand Munich). Wolf died 1 December 2011 in Berlin, where she had lived with her husband, . She was buried on 13 December 2011 in