19 Years Ago Today

I was home with my wife; our baby daughter was 5 days old and my wife had a hard time getting around because of her Caesarian operation. Both of us were (are) ardent space nuts so we turned on the TV to watch the Challenger launch.

We watched it launch and, a minute later, explode. I was confused for a moment because the NASA mission control guys were still reading downrange data. I had seen enough of those launches to know that things weren't right, though. A minute later, the TV commentator, (I think it was a CNN guy named Holliman, who's now deceased), grimly announced that the Challenger was gone.

We continued watching for several more hours, hoping against all logic that the astronauts would somehow come out of this.

It was a very depressing day and it reminded me of the sadness I had felt as a young boy when I found out in my school's morning announcements that 3 astronauts had burned to death in the Apollo 1 fire.

That night, President Reagan gave a speech that worried most pro-space commentators before he gave it - they thought he might announce a cancellation of the Shuttle program or some other condemnation of NASA. In fact, he gave one of the most poignant and uplifting speeches of his presidency. Here's an excert:

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "“Your dedication and professionalism have moved an impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it. "

Take a moment today and reflect on the brave astronauts from the Challenger, the Columbia, Apollo 1, the Soyuz 1970 disaster, and others who have died in training both here and abroad. They live our dreams for us and willingly risk their lives doing so.