In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded upon launch, killing the seven crew members on board. “His face dropped when he saw the photos.” Hindes said his grandfather was overcome. When Hindes’ grandmother died recently in Quincy, Massachusetts, the family decided to organize photos for her memorial, and that’s when they came across the Challenger pictures. Rendle showed the pictures to others, but as time passed, they were shuffled among other photographs and forgotten. Hindes’ grandfather, Bill Rendle, worked as a contractor for NASA years ago, and Hindes says Rendle got to see “just about every launch.” The images were given to Rendle by a friend who also worked for NASA. They were photos of the 1986 Challenger disaster, as it happened. As he flipped through them, he and his family had what he called an “overwhelming moment” of realization. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on Januseconds after blast-off, killing seven astronauts, putting all space flights on hold for 32 months.Michael Hindes was looking through some old boxes of photographs at his grandparents’ house when he came across images of what appeared to be a normal shuttle launch. Pieces of the Space Shuttle Challenger are arranged in a hangar after being salvaged from the Atlantic Ocean where they were scattered, on Januwhen the spacecraft exploded.The Challenger and its seven member crew were lost seventy three seconds after launch when a booster rocket failed. (Front, L-R) Pilot Mike Smith, commander Dick Scobee and mission specialist Ron McNair.

Onizuka, Teacher-in-Space participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis and mission specialist Judy Resnick. (Back, L-R) Mission Specialist Ellison S. UNSPECIFIED LOCATION - NOVEMBER 11: (FILE PHOTO) Space Shuttle Challenger crew members gather for an official portrait Novemin an unspecified location.FL - JANUARY 28: (FILE PHOTO) The Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off Janufrom Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The space shuttle 'Challenger' malfunctions shortly after take-off, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members, 28th January 1986.AFP PHOTO BOB PEARSON (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP via Getty Images) Challenger was 72 seconds into its flight, travelling at nearly 2,000 mph at a height of ten miles, when it was suddenly envelope in a red, orange and white fireball as thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel exploded. The US space shuttle exploded seconds after lift-off, killing it crew of seven. A solid fuel rocket booster disappears behind the contrail of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger 28 January 1986 over Kennedy Space Center as debris from the orbiter begins to fall to earth.

AFP PHOTO NASA (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP via Getty Images)

US space shuttle Challenger lifts off 28 January 1986 from a launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, 72 seconds before its explosion killing it crew of seven.

The seven crew members of the 'Challenger' died on 28th January 1986, when the shuttle broke up shortly after take-off. NASA officials, a military guard of honour and escorts from the Astronaut Office are present for the departure. The remains of the crew of the space shuttle 'Challenger' are moved from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, on board a Military Airlift Command C-141, 29th April 1986.This photo, released by NASA, of the 28 January explosion which destroyed the Space shuttle Challenger and killed all seven crew members 75 seconds after its launch, appears to show a second explosion.McAuliffe and the entire Space Shuttle Challenger crew were lost seventy three seconds after launch when a booster rocket failed. (UNDATED FILE PHOTO) Teacher and space shuttle astronaut, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, is shown in an undated official portrait released by NASA.(B/W ONLY) AFP PHOTO/Bob PEARSON (Photo credit should read BOB PEARSON/AFP via Getty Images) Challenger, carrying seven crew members including teacher Christa McAuliffe, exploded 75 seconds after its launch and killed all crew members. The Space shuttle Challenger lifts off on apparently flawless launch 28 January 1986 over Space Kennedy Center.

Challenger space shuttle pics