Here’s what happened.
As another year passes, we remember with solemn reflection two dramatic tragedies that befell the USA’s space exploration program. On January 31, 1986, memorial services were held for the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger in Houston, Texas, while millions watched it worldwide via television. The spacecraft disintegrated in midair just minutes after takeoff on January 28. President Ronald Reagan provided the eulogy.
The most significant connection that Atlanta has to that tragedy (beyond shared sorrow) is through a crew member. The legacy of astrophysicist Ronald Ervin McNair, Ph.D. continues to enrich education and inspire dreams throughout the region.
Here’s why it mattered then.
Overall, the U.S. space program has been an overwhelming success. Technological and engineering excellence, as well as rigorous training, has kept the program relatively free of casualties. The Apollo I crew died during a launch exercise, but all of the other Moon missions ended safely—including the ill-fated Apollo 13. However, space exploration continues to be extremely dangerous.
A second space tragedy occurred almost 17 years to the day of the Challenger disaster. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during its landing attempt, on February 1, 2003. The Columbia Mission crew included Ilan Ramon, the first Isreali astronaut. Ground eyewitnesses reported that Columbia’s burning debris resembled daytime meteors. Mike Luckovich, editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, captured those haunting images of “falling stars” in his visual tribute. President George W. Bush provided the eulogy at the crew’s memorial service.
Here’s why it matters now.
President Reagan’s most memorable words in tribute were actually spoken in a national address on January 28. He quoted from the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.”
An Atlanta area school is one of the buildings and programs throughout the nation that bears Dr. McNair’s name. Carl S. McNair, his brother, is the founder and leader of the McNair Achievement Programs (MAP) and McNair Foundation, which are both based in Atlanta. McNair science honors programs are offered at over 180 U.S. colleges and universities, including Morehouse, and McNair’s alma maters, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A & T) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Here’s the latest update . . .
The last Space Shuttle flight landed safely on July 21, 2011. The Obama Administration is revamping the USA’s space outreach with strategies that could include significant program reductions.
However, Newton Leroy Gingrich, a candidate for U.S. president, recently expressed his vision for resuming space missions and colonizing the Moon.
. . . And here’s an interesting fact!
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has invented thousands of products that enrich our daily lives. They include ultraviolet sunglasses, memory foam, and digital imaging. NASA did not invent Tang, but its use in space spurred widespread consumer popularity that continues today.
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