OTD…Aug. 18 and STS-68 abort

Today in 1986…Space shuttle Challenger and her seven astronaut crew were lost during launch.

Shuttle Endeavour launched for the 25th and final time on this date in 2011.

The first crew to inhabit Skylab — Conrad, Weitz and Kerwin — launched today in 1973 for a 28-day mission that successfully made critical repairs, brought the station into operation and conducted solar astronomy, Earth resources and medical experiments.