Like so many around the world, Jim Scobee watched his television as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off on January 28, 1986 – and then suddenly exploded as it was rising in the sky. The former space shuttle pilot reciting the names of all 24 astronauts killed in the line of duty over the years, Jon McBride, had to fight back tears.
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And that was the dream Christa McAuliffe made her reality; a role model to these students lost too soon.
Susan Borland was the commander of the simulated mission on the Challenger explosion anniversary.
A flag that has flown across the country in McAuliffe’s honor flew at Concord High before making its way to its permanent home at the Christa McAuliffe Library in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Many people today are remembering exactly where they were when this happened including CBS 58 Assignment Desk Manager David Wheaton, who was assigned to a navy ship sent to search for debris from the challenger.
Her son Scott, who is now 39, took part in the emotionally charged ceremony. Families of the Challenger astronauts gathered with NASA to mark the anniversary.
As for NASA, its shuttle program ended five years ago, and the focus is on the International Space Station and exploration through unmanned space probes.
Today, many people paused to reflect on the lives, hopes, and mission of the seven crew members on board the Challenger.
Racine Unified School District’s Planetarium Director, John Surendonk, said, “Growing up in the 60s everyone had an interest in space”.
The explosion was broadcast live around the globe, marking one of the darkest days for NASA and space travel as a whole.
“We were all trying to make sense of it”, Kathryn Stuart says.
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Since the disaster, Wheeling Jesuit University was able to open their Challenger Learning Center, to gives kids in our area a hands on lesson on some of the things astronauts might experience, when they go through training. For the family, “it’s like it’s just happened, which in a way keeps Dick Scobee young in our hearts, and the joy and excitement he had for flying”.
