McAuliffe rembered 20 years after Challenger explosion

Funny how time flies - its 20 years ago on Saturday. I remember when I was 7 years old in Canada, I watched the Challenger launch live on TV. It was the first time I had seen a live launch too, actually. Looking back on it now, especially when the report was declassified and I had a good look at it, it kind of made me sad when I looked at the launch again, realising that, perhaps, they were alive until they hit the ocean. If only they had parachutes and an escape plan...


The Challenger explosion left an indelible impression on Renee Sotile, who, like so many starry-eyed students in 1986, had been captivated by a teacher who was part of the ill-fated crew heading to space.

What stuck with Sotile, then a teenager in Rochester, New York, wasn't Christa McAuliffe's very public death in a corkscrew-shaped column of smoke. that told a live television audience that she and the six other astronauts had been killed.

Rest of the article here .

Seanie.

As it happens Seanie, I'm running a training session next week that uses the elements of the investigation and 'what went wrong' to illustrate Health and Safety at Work. I've completed a good bit of research.

The abiding quotes are one from a Morton Thiokol (solid booster rocket supplier) Manager, while watching the launch live - he said 'we just missed a bullet' - then the main tank exploded.

The second was the end of Reagan's speech - it was probably written for him but it was very sombre, fitting and to the point:

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'

Thanks for the link.

Dave

The saddest thing about Challenger is that the lessons learned were quickly forgotten - the same cultural problems within NASA led directly to the loss of Columbia 17 years later, as highlighted by the CAIB.

Mike Mullane, an astronaut contempory of most of the 51-L crew (he was one of the 1978 shuttle intake) has written a very good article in USA Today about Challenger and NASA's broken safety culture:

www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials...hallenger-edit_x.htm

Can't believe it's 20 years already - and that 51-L is not regarded by the IAF as a spaceflight (it didn't pass 100 miles in altitude).

I think history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v2appf.htm is probably the best thing to read about the disaster.

The last line in particular:

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

I think history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v2appf.htm is probably the best thing to read about the disaster.

The last line in particular:

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

A great quote form a great man ... pitty the leason was not learned.

Seanie,

Are you sure the report was declassified? I remember reading that the report is "sealed" for 50 years (or something similar). Perhaps I am thinking about parts of the report including the issue if they were still alive when the explosion occurred and the cabin was in free-fall.

I also remember the fateful day in January when the catastrophe occurred. It is scarry how we recall with very accurate recollection our precise location, reactions etc when something this catastrophic happens!

Anthony.