The Lingering Guilt and Lessons Learned from the Challenger Disaster

Published January 26, 2026 at 3:53 PM MST

Challenger launches at the start of the 25th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The shuttle would explode 73 seconds after this photo was taken.

Forty years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. According to NPR's Howard Berkes, the lessons learned from the disaster are as critical as ever.

Berkes was an investigative reporter for NPR living in Utah in 1986 when he received a tip that engineers working for a local aerospace firm had inside knowledge about what caused the shuttle disaster. As he came to learn, NASA chose to proceed with its launch plan despite the engineers’ persistent and dire warnings. Unfortunately, their concerns were dismissed, and seven people lost their lives. The tragic results of that decision haunted one engineer to his dying days. Berkes joins us to recount what he uncovered in his investigation, and to discuss the ramifications of that fateful day.

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Howard Berkes spent 38 years as an NPR reporter and correspondent, earning more than 40 national journalism awards. His new radio documentary "Challenger at 40: Lessons from a tragedy" appears on NPR's Up First podcast.