Bob Karman's Challenger Explosion Video Surfaces after 25 Years

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Amateur Video Online for the First Time

Rare video footage of the Challenger disaster was shot by registered nurse Bob Karman at Orlando airport, roughly 50 miles from the Cape Canaveral, as he was returning from a family vacation at Disney World. 

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In 1986, it was very rare for a family to own a video camera, and the Rogers Commission, which investigated the Challenger disaster, was unaware of any existing amateur video footage. Besides Bob Karman's footage, only one other amateur video of the Challenger explosion is thought to exist: that shot by Jack Moss.

The video has been digitized from its original VHS format. His wife, now deceased; and young daughter Kim, who now works at New Scientist, can be seen in the beginning of the video. You can hear Bob Karman and others marveling at the Challenger blastoff: they clearly don't know what's happening as the space shuttle explodes 73 seconds after blastoff.