In Memoriam - Challenger Shuttle Crew

25 years ago today @ 10:39 a.m. CST that the unthinkable happenned. As the result of an O-ring failure Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.

CAPCOM Richard Covey telling Challenger that they were "go at throttle up", & Commander Dick Scobee's response, "Roger, go at throttle up," followed by this are indellibly etched on my mind.

I knew the shuttle was due to be launched this day after several delays. But like everyone else, I had come to take the launches for granted, like a plane taking off for its flight. Yes, 3 men died in the Apollo 1(Apollo/Saturn-204) fire, but that was during a pre-launch test on the launch pad. & the Apollo XIII explosion had a happy ending. So, like everyone else, I pretty much thought this would be another routine launch. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way.

Plenty was said back then about the mistakes made that could have avoided this disaster. & I don't think that things have been completely learned even now. They never do. What we need to do is remember them as the brave explorers they were. Space exploration still isn't as routine as travel arround the Earth has become. It probably won't be in our lifetimes. & even now, we can't eliminate all the dangers of travel on Earth. Nor will we be able to when space flight truly is routine. The best way to honor their memory is to continue to encourage the private sector to step in as has always been the case in the past & encourage them to take the lead.

STS-51-L crew:

(front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair;

(back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik.

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God'" - President Ronald Reagan quoting from the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.