Good day, family and friends,
Twenty-five years ago today, 28 January 1986, I was awakened by my clock radio at 11:00 am CST as I was every Tuesday so I could get ready to work the closing shift at the restaurant where I was assistant manager. As the radio clicked on, the first words I heard were, "...repeat, the shuttle Challenger exploded minutes ago on lift-off..." I catapulted myself out of bed, scrabbled through my bedroom door and into my living room, and stabbed at the power button on my television. As the picture came on, I sat on the floor in shock as my eyes were assaulted by the replay of the Challenger exploding 73 seconds after leaving the launch pad. I was devastated. The lives of seven of my heroes...heroes I held dear in my heart...had met a fiery end before my eyes.
This may seem dramatic, but you must understand; I grew up in a generation steeped in the Space Race. America's manned presence in space was born just two months before I was. We grew up knowing the names of the Mercury 7...following the exploits of America's astronauts through the Gemini and Apollo programs...planning activities around launch and splash-down schedules so we could watch on our black & white television. We mourned as a nation in January 1967 when three of our Astronauts were lost in a fire during a pressure test of Apollo 1. Four days after my birthday in 1969, We were clustered around TVs everywhere with family and friends as we watched the launch of Apollo XI. Four days later, on 20 July 1969, we were clustered around the TV again at 2:00 pm (Houston time) to watch the Lunar module land on the surface of our Moon...seeing Walter Cronkite and Robert Heinlein rendered speechless with joy upon hearing, "The Eagle has landed!" Just eight months after Apollo XI's return to Earth, we sat on pins and needles as we lived through the drama that was the aborted Apollo XIII mission.
And we knew out Astronauts; especially living in Houston where most of them lived when not in space. We knew they weren't gods, but we often viewed them a demi-gods...the all-to-human offspring of the gods. They were larger than life, but had human faults. Yet, because of what they did...because they knowingly put their lives on the line for the advance of the space program...we overlooked their faults and appreciated them for their bravery and their deeds.
Unfortunately, after the successful mission of Apollo XIV, most Americans became jaded and complacent about the space program. Two of the three television networks at the time actually dropped live coverage of the launch of Apollo XVII due to "lack of viewer interest." Space travel had become commonplace to Americans. We forgot the anguish we felt from Apollo 1 and Apollo XIII. Even though I'd once had a conversation with a shuttle Astronaut who actually said that every Astronaut who goes up in the shuttle knows there is a 50/50 chance it will blow up on launch "like a firecracker with a short fuse", it still didn't enter my consciousness that something could happen to our Astronauts. 28 January 1986 taught us how wrong we all were.
We now know what led to this tragedy. Our complacency led to the scientists and engineers at NASA losing their 'pull' within the agency to the bureaucrats and politicians. Because of this, an engineering decision was made, not by engineers, but instead by a politically-appointed director who was given a politically-motivated soft-pedaling of the dangers of the low temperature by a Morton-Thiokol 'government liaison', and who made a launch decision based on not wanting NASA to "...look bad by postponing the launch again." Because of this, Dick Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Greg Jarvis lost their lives.
Today, I encourage everyone to take four minutes and view President Regan's address to the nation after this tragedy (see below). I exhort each and every one of you to pause for a moment at some time today and say a prayer, light a candle, chant a mantra, or just remember these seven brave souls who lost their lives. Remember every brave soul who lost their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and advancement of the human race.
God bless you all...
© James P. Rice 2011
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