HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Jan. 28, 2006 "They touched the face of God." Twenty years ago today, the space shuttle Challenger tore apart soon after its launch for a horrified nation to see. January 28, 1986. Has it been twenty years? There are events in our lifetime that most of us remember forever the moment we hear about them. the John F. Kennedy assassination, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for all mankind.", President Nixon resigning, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11... I remember vividly where I was when those events rocked my consciousness. A study hall as a sophomore at our Our Lady of Mercy high school. On a date with Carol Rasmussen. Speaking at a Christian conference at Arrowheard Springs, California. In a hotel lobby in Marshall Minnesota. Sitting at my desk reading the Drudge report as I prepared to speak at a middle school in Southern California... Twenty years ago today I was sitting at my producer's desk at WGN-TV in Chicago. We were preparing two shows that morning for the fans lined up in the hallway next to the studio for, "The Bozo Show." I was on the telephone with Ron McCoy, the head of our public relations department, a man who rarely got excited. All of a sudden, he began talking in gibberish.... "The Challenger! It just, just, just, just...oh my god..." "It just WHAT?" I yelled into the phone. "It just, just, just, just...DISSOLVED!" The call disconnected. I heard a dial tone. I ran down to the newsroom and saw the first replay and stood there shaking my head and stating the obvious. "They're all gone." I said to no one in particular. I was numb. It is one thing to read about history, it is quite another to watch it personally. Six astronauts and one very special private citizen who believed in their mission and trusted fully in the people who ran the space program indeed had slipped from the, "surly bonds of earth," as President Reagan was to eloquently say in his tribute to them. Twenty years ago today. I had grown up with the space race. I was in the fourth grade when Sputnik orbited the earth. In fact, one night I stood in my front yard with my family and neighbors and we watched that blinking light move across the sky. I remember the original Mercury astronauts and the feats of Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom and John Glenn as they took their lives in their hands and used them nobly for the country they loved. I remember hearing Frank Borman read the Bible on Christmas Eve during his space flight in 1968. I remember the moment by moment drama of Apollo 13 in 1970, when the crew encountered problems and we all wondered if they would return home safely. I even remember the three astronauts who died instantly in a flash fire as their space capsule sat on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy in 1967. It was our first jolt as citizens of the United States that we were not only trying to beat the Russians into space, but that it was a very dangerous endeavor, as well. It made us proud and sobered us at the same time. Two weeks ago, I spoke at Christa McAuliffe Middle school. On January 27, 1986, there was no school of that name anywhere in the United States. But, because she followed through as an American patriot to be part of something very special in our nation's efforts to be technologically responsible for the talents God gave to us, she has a legacy now for all the world to admire. I can still see her wide smile that morning as she strode to the launch pad and waved to everyone in her blue space suit with the NASA insignia. She was not an astronaut, she was one of us. We were going with her on that mission and we waved back.... Twenty years ago today. I still have the live video of the launch and I still cry every time I watch it. I needed President Reagan to put the final perspective on what happened that fateful morning for me, "And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them." And, finally he stated, "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored 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." Twenty years ago today. ------------ About the author: Pat Hurley has won three Emmy awards for writing, hosting and producing television shows. He resides in Southern California. Email: coolhumor@sbcglobal.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
