The crew of the Challenger tragedy
January 28, 1986.
I made a 28 on a math test that day. My parents got a call from the teacher because it was abnormal for me to make a grade that low. Mine was a household where B’s were barely tolerable, so to fail with such a low grade was almost inexcusable.
The question my parents asked me was why did I do so badly on the test?
My answer was simple.
I was upset because a few hours before the test I had seen the Challenger disaster – along with my classmates – live on television.
If you were alive and old enough to remember it, I’m sure you have a vivid memory of that day as well.
I was in fourth grade. I was smack in the middle of my 9th year on the planet. Being a news hound from a young age I was frequently interested in disasters and other significant new events far more than typical kids my age.
There were other notable events that had happened when I was younger that left last impacts: Ronald Reagan’s assassination attempt, the Mississippi River flooding, the Beirut bombing, and numerous airline crashes.
But this was different.
First, it was the hype. With a citizen school-teacher on-board it was a media frenzy. Second, my school – which didn’t have TVs in all classrooms until that year – was having all the kids watch it live. I’m sure the vast majority of other schools were doing the same.
The entire event was a slow-motion blur. I’ve seen the video of the explosion so many times that it is ingrained in my brain. It was a turning point. It was the Kennedy assassination for my generation.
Dick Scobee. Michael Smith. Ellison Onizuka. Judith Resnik. Ronald McNair. Christa McAuliffe. Gregory Jarvis.
Those were the crew members lost. At one point I remember all of their names. Now, I just remember that tragic event more than those lost.
Some years later, on the last on-air shift on Atlanta’s WNNX sometime in the mid-1990s (’93? ’94?), deejay Will Pendarvis played two songs back-to-back that are haunting together. The first, “Getting Away (From This World)” by the band Ratcat, incorporated the NASA audio transmissions from the Challenger launch, including the explosion. Next was “Top of the World” by Planet P Project, and haunting song in the vein of “Major Tom”.
Challenger (Ratcat and Planet P Project) DeadJournalist.com by deadjournalist
I own both of those albums just to listen to that combination of songs to honor those lost. They brings chills every time I listen … and I’ll do so again tonight.
I’ll also think of the other explorers of the great unknown lost – including Edward White, the brother of my gifted teacher in elementary school and first person to walk in space, who was lost in a fire in the Apollo testing disaster.
They all sought to live the dreams of school-kids. To explore beyond the bounds of gravity. To risk it all in the name of exploration.
RIP spacemen and women.
