One of the last known photos of the Challenger crew from January 28, 1986, taken shortly before the space shuttle exploded in the sky. 73 seconds into the flight, an O-ring failed in the right solid rocket booster but the shuttle's impact with the ocean was too violent for anyone to survive.
Just moments after this image was captured, SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was snatched into the jaws of the orca pictured here and brutally killed. Her body was then thrashed about over the course of 45 minutes while the horrified crowd helplessly looked on.
The autopsy report said that Brancheau died from drowning and blunt force trauma. Her spinal cord was severed, and she had sustained fractures to her jawbone, ribs, and a cervical vertebra. Her scalp was completely torn off from her head, and her left elbow and left knee had been dislocated.