Millions of Americans -- in fact, hundreds of millions throughout the world -- remember where they were and what they were doing 25 years ago Friday.
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the one of the most tragic moments in Florida history -- the Challenger disaster that claimed the lives of astronauts Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Judith Resnik. On Jan. 28, 1986, 73 seconds after launching off from the Kennedy Space Center, the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated due to a seal failing in the right solid rocket booster.
Canceling the State of the Union address scheduled for that night, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation, offering a tribute which is still poignant after all these years.
In a statement released Thursday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden offered his thoughts on the loss of the Challenger crew as well as the loss of astronauts in the Apollo 1 and Columbia tragedies.
The last week of January every year brings us the opportunity to reflect on the sobering realities of our space exploration enterprise, noted Bolden. Each time men and women board a spacecraft, their actions carry great risk along with the opportunity for great discoveries and the chance to push the envelope of our human achievement.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of Challenger -- a tragedy that caused us to completely rethink our systems and processes as we worked to make the shuttle safer, continued Bolden. The nation will never forget Jan. 28, 1986, nor its indelible images.
Bolden offered a personal take on the astronauts lost in both of the space shuttle disasters.
The astronauts in that crew were personal friends of mine, as were the astronauts aboard Columbia when it was lost. The Apollo I crew perished while I was studying at the Naval Academy, and I mourned their loss in the line of duty with the nation. These brave men and women will always be a part of us, and we are still building on their legacies.
Bolden took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the Challenger crew.
The NASA administrator was not the only leader to commemorate the anniversary.
I cant help but wonder what advice the Challenger crew might have for todays space policymakers who are grappling with NASAs budget, said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., earlier in the week in a video statement urging America not to abandon space exploration.
They gave their lives because they believed in the meaning and value of exploration, added Nelson.
Nelson, who was a congressman at the time, took part as a payload specialist on the Columbia in January 1986. The Columbia mission ended 10 days before the Challenger disaster.
The astronauts lost in the Challenger and other space missions are memorialized all across the Sunshine State from the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee to Ed White High School in Jacksonville, named after one of the three astronauts lost in the Apollo 1 tragedy. More than 40 schools across the nation are named after Christa McAuliffe, a payload specialist killed in the Challenger disaster. McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire, beat out more than 11,000 competitors in NASAs Teacher in Space program.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
