The Challenger Disaster

When I was 15, which seems like eons ago now, I got to stay home from school on the day the Challenger was due to launch. I can't remember now why I got to stay home. I doubt it was specifically to see the launch of a shuttle. I do remember that I was a bit of a space nut as a kid, even going so far as to paint a ceramic trash can with a picture of a shuttle and the Canada Arm picking up "space trash" - which I labelled as such so it was clear what was happening in the picture.

It was in January, so quite possibly, I was home sick. I know I was home alone, being old enough, and probably sick enough, to be trusted not to get up to any mischief. I remember watching the shuttle launch, thinking that one day I wanted to be an astronaut. There was - and still is - something romantic about that notion. I don't think I was so versed in space exploration that I actually knew who was on the shuttle, or that a teacher was being sent into space. I don't think that was as big a deal to me as the fact that the Canada Arm was on board. Yes, I was a proud little patriot even back then.

I remember the countdown, I remember the launch, I remember the crystal blue sky into which that glorified rocket ship soared.

I remember the sudden puff of smoke, so seemingly tiny on our old t.v. Then, the image of tendrils of smoke careening off in all directions. I remember the silence that came from the television, then the dawning realization of the announcers, then the frenzied and panicked voices.

I remember the early morning of September 11, 2001, when in San Francisco, hearing the exact same tones of voice coming from the hotel t.v. Voices that normally carried such authority, suddenly cut short, speechless.

I remember that day in January 1986, and the sinking feeling in my gut when I realized what had happened.

They blew up. Completely and forever.

I read today that the teacher on board, Christa McAuliffe, had a back-up, who was successfully launched into space on the shuttle yesterday. Officially making her the first Educator in Space.

That's pretty neat-o, as I would have said if I'd lived in the 50's.

From that piece of news, I learned that Philip Kaufmann has directed a movie about the investigation into the accident, called Challenger, starring David Strathairn. It's about Richard Feynman's role in that investigation. He was that rare thing, a celebrity physicist. Wrote a couple of funny books, apparently. It looks like an interesting idea for a movie.

The Challenger, for me, was like the Kennedy Assassination for my parents. I'll always remember that day. Friends kid me about my weird phobia of being launched into space. It's very specific - about being strapped into a rocket and being launched. I have no fear of the concept of space, or floating in orbit, or any of that. But the idea of being launched... I also hate plane take-offs, but to a much lesser degree.

I'll probably never get the chance to launch into space, unless I can suddenly afford $200,000 USD for a seat on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic flights.