It is truly unbelievable. It has been 25 years ago, when these images were splashed across our TV screens:
A President comforts a grieving Nation:
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’ —- Ronald Reagan
This is a great one here, I ask that you go and read the entire thing….:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — For many, no single word evokes as much pain.
Challenger.
A quarter-century later, images of the exploding space shuttle still signify all that can go wrong with technology and the sharpest minds. The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — a scant 73 seconds into flight, nine miles above the Atlantic for all to see — remains NASA’s most visible failure.
It was the world’s first high-tech catastrophe to unfold on live TV. Adding to the anguish was the young audience: School children everywhere tuned in that morning to watch the launch of the first schoolteacher and ordinary citizen bound for space, Christa McAuliffe.
She never made it.
McAuliffe and six others on board perished as the cameras rolled, victims of stiff O-ring seals and feeble bureaucratic decisions.
(—-)
“I wonder if it’s because the image is so ingrained in our brains, that it seems like yesterday,” Rodgers said.
Almost as many years have passed since the accident, as the span of her 26-year marriage to Dick Scobee.
“Isn’t it interesting about the number 25?” she asked softly. “Challenger was the 25th mission. This is 25 years.”
A full generation has come and gone.
Something to watch, a documentary on this awful event….:
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