NASA's Day of Remembrance honors fallen astronauts
The day before her launch from Kennedy Space Center aboard the space shuttle Challenger 30 years ago today, Christa McAuliffe, NASA's Teacher in Space, took time in crew quarters to write college recommendations for some of her New Hampshire students.
"At a time when many people would think only of the impending launch, Christa was taking care of a teacher's business," recalled Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe's backup for the mission, during a ceremony at the KSC Visitor Complex.
On the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, Morgan shared stories about her crewmates during NASA's annual Day of Remembrance ceremony, which honors the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews and seven more men killed in aircraft accidents.
Challenger showed space flight not routine
"It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since we lost Challenger and her crew," said KSC Director Bob Cabana, a four-time shuttle flier who began training to become an astronaut months before the Challenger explosion 73 seconds after launch, caused by a failure in the right solid rocket booster. "Those of us who are old enough to remember can probably tell you exactly where we were and what we were doing."
Cabana remembered later seeing the wreckage of Challenger's crew cabin laid out at KSC as the accident's cause was investigated.
"It’s no way to bring an orbiter home," he said. "Nor would this be the last time that we would have to do this."
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Seven more astronauts were lost when the shuttle Columbia broke apart during its reentry from space on Feb. 1, 2003. Hot gasses penetrated a hole in the orbiter's left wing caused by a chunk of foam from the shuttle's external fuel tank that struck the wing during liftoff.
NASA's first astronaut disaster struck 49 years ago, when fire swept through the Apollo 1 crew capsule during a practice countdown at Launch Complex 34, killing Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday hosted a memorial to mark the anniversary.
Lessons learned from the three tragedies are "even more important today as we embark on a new era of human spaceflight," Cabana said.
Commercial rockets and spacecraft are being prepared to fly crews to the International Space Station, while NASA prepares the giant Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule to return explorers around the moon.
More than a dozen family members representing each of the lost crews attended today's ceremony, held beneath the retired space shuttle Atlantis due to poor weather. They included June Scobee Rodgers and Evelyn Husband-Thompson, the widows of Challenger and Columbia mission commanders Dick Scobee and Rick Husband, respectively.
The crowd also included more than 20 men and women identified as finalists for NASA's Teacher in Space competition, which drew more than 11,000 applicants.
Morgan, a retired astronaut and educator who flew a shuttle mission in 2007, discussed what she had learned from each of her Challenger friends, who together with their families showed that "courage is contagious."
She remembered Scobee as poetic thinker and loving person, so modest that he might still be embarrassed to receive praise. Pilot Mike Smith helped Morgan learn to fly a T-38 jet, instilling a confidence that "set me free."
Among the mission specialists, Judith Resnik "was always on top of every situation," full of concentration at work and fun outside of it. Ellison Onizuka encouraged the teachers to train alongside him and maintained a sense of humor, impersonating Godzilla while preparing for a practice spacewalk in Johnson Space Center's giant swimming pool. Ron McNair showed Morgan the power of faith and caring for others, and treated student experiments he was to perform on the mission with as much respect as any others.
Payload specialist Gregory Jarvis, who had been bumped from several prior flights, showed how to keep pursuing a goal despite setbacks.
"The Challenger crew were wonderful, wonderful people, wonderful human beings, and they were very much like all of you here today," said Morgan.
Former shuttle astronaut Jon McBride read the names of all 24 fallen astronauts.Besides the two shuttle crews and the Apollo 1 crew, the list included astronauts killed in training accidents not directly involving spacecraft. His voice broke as he read the Challenger names.
Space Shuttle Challenger: In 73 seconds, everything changed
Afterward, a group of five family members laid a wreath and flowers outside at the base of the Astronaut Memorial Foundation's Space Mirror Memorial, holding arms around each other and patting each other on the back while they looked at the names of loved ones engraved in the black granite streaked with rain.
Visitor Complex guests followed, placing colorful roses and carnations in the white fence bordering the memorial.
Weather prevented the Florida Air National Guard from flying four F-15 jets overhead in a "missing man" formation.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.
Remembering fallen heroes
Titusville and U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum at 11 a.m. Saturday will host an Astronaut Memorial service at Sand Point Park. The public is invited to attend. Former NASA astronaut Greg “Box” Johnson is the keynote speaker.