"Without risk, there's no discovery, there's no new knowledge, there's no bold adventure. The greatest risk is to take no risk."--June Scobee Rodgers Jan. 28, 2006
The night before the launch I was worried. Something told me this flight would not go. With the pictures of icicles hanging off Challenger and temperatures below freezing I was worried that the flight should not go. In the morning before take off I prayed. I turned on the radio to listen to the launch. The launch on the radio was only 60 seconds of live feed on CBS, and then went back to local news. I ran to the TV to turn on the launch on one of the Networks. Yes, it was still going up and still ok at that point. But 12 seconds later I saw the explosion. I felt so weak I had to sit down. I could not believe what had just happened. Challenger was gone; one of the solid rockets was still climbing. The big white cloud in the middle still there. Still no Challenger rising. I rushed to call my sister. Yes, she had seen it on TV too. Unenviable. On the west coast it was a little bit after 6 am. I was starting Ventura College that day spring semester. I was new to the campus and got lost. I eventually found my classroom and my teacher Mr. Pauley understood. We all confused that day.
Later that day I went to my Mom and Dads house for lunch. Mom was teaching Kindergarten at the time. Mom was a bit shaken up too. We all were. The nation was in mourning for our first teacher in space and her crew. We were all looking forward to Crista's lessons. Mom was excited about it, using Crista's journey into space to enrich her students. She had a traveling science cart and would go to some of the classrooms at her school to teach science.
I too was inspired and wrote many letters to the editors. Space exploration was too important to just give up because it was too risky. All the Astronauts and test pilots knew the risks. We can't just sit us humans. We must explore and reach out, Ad Astra--To the Stars! Space exploration is our own baby, even though the USSR beat us with the first manned mission. We caught up, and over took. NASA was our crowning achievement. We had it all and in 72 seconds with full throttle up Challenger reached the heavens, never looking back.
The most remembered speech that night was from President Ronald Reagan. It was to be the Presidents state of the Union speech, but canceled due to the tragedy. Instead, it was a consoling speech to a hurting nation.
....The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored 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 their journey and waved good-bye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
The Challenger families have done well these 20 years. They have not let their loved ones memories fade. Space exploration is still going on. Our nation’s youth are still inspirited to explore the unknown realms of space. Thanks to the Challenger crew.
Amen. God bless the families and crew.
NASA Remberance page here.
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