A Hard Week for Sky Candy

The last week of January has not been kind to NASA.

NASA’s Day of Remembrance is traditionally observed on the fourth Thursday of January each year. This date is chosen because it falls near the anniversaries of the three major U.S. space tragedies: Apollo 1 (January 27, 1967), Challenger (January 28, 1986), and Columbia (February 1, 2003).

Advertisement

The Apollo 1 fire.

As we approach the anniversaries of Apollo 1 being today, and Challengers anniversary tomorrow (with 2026 marking the 40th of Challenger) these tragedies remain stark warnings of what happens when political pressure, rushed schedules, and lobbying override engineering caution and… https://t.co/xPKr2ToOjG

— 9mm Rat (@SovietRat1984) January 28, 2026

The Challenger accident.

#SciOTD 𝟰𝟬𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥

On this day in 1986, a moment