The Challenger crew plunged to their deaths 30 years ago.

Thirty years ago, a nation watched in horror as The Challenger space shuttle exploded just 14km above the launch pad from which it had just taken off.

The failed US mission on January 28, 1986, was an unmitigated disaster and all seven people on board – six astronauts and one teacher – died.

But the true circumstances of their death, which were publicly made out to be instantaneous, came to light over the following years.

The shuttle’s cabin remained relatively intact after the fuel tank exploded and continued careering upwards for another five kilometres before plunging almost 20 kilometres into the Atlantic Ocean, Gawker reports.

And, disturbingly, the crew was most likely conscious during the two and a half minutes before the moment of impact.

Gawker reports that more than two years after the tragedy, a Miami Herald Tropic magazine revealed the efforts NASA went to in covering up the truth of the disaster.

The author, Dennis E. Powell, wrote that crew compartment experienced an uncomfortable jolt but didn’t immediately lose pressure after the shuttle broke apart.

“This probably accounted for the “uh oh” that was the last word heard on the flight deck tape recorder that would be recovered from the ocean floor two months later,” he wrote.

“The lights went out. The intercom went dead. After a few breaths, the seven astronauts stopped getting oxygen into their helmets.

“Even if the compartment was gradually losing pressure, those on the flight deck would certainly have remained conscious long enough to catch a glimpse of the green-brown Atlantic rushing toward them. If it lost its pressurization very slowly or remained intact until it hit the water, they were conscious and cognizant all the way down.”

The article stated sources claimed NASA interfered with the recovery and investigation efforts in an attempt to bury any evidence that might go against their story of the crew’s instant death.

A member of the commission that investigated the disaster said he believed the organisation was concealing facts because they had failed to put in place safety measures for a disastrous but survivable incident.

There was nothing to brace the cabin’s fall or to allow those on board to escape it. The crew had no option but to go down with the machinery.

“If it had landed softly, they could have swam home,” said one investigator.

The commissioner said NASA “couldn’t face the fact that they had to put these guys in a situation where they did not have adequate equipment to survive”.

NASA’s story of the seven brave souls meeting a tragic but instantaneous end is the one that largely won out.

Now, 30 years on, it still remains far more palatable than the alternative.

*Feature image of The Challenger crew via Flickr.