Today, NASA and those surrounding the space program mark 25 years since the space shuttle Challenger disaster. On Jan. 28, 1986, at 11:38 a.m., Challenger blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center.

Linda Preston, 61, also retired as a teacher, choked up as the names of the Challenger dead were read during the memorial service. The former space shuttle pilot reciting the names of all 24 ...