posted 01-30-2006 08:51 AM               

I found myself reflecting last Friday on the 39 years since the Apollo 1 fire and at the age of 10 and an avid space follower by then, how it had hurt my heart. Even at that age I felt that the program must go on. I reflected and talked to a few folks here at work, reminded them of the date and their reaction was some what blasé for most (not all). You may think, well that is typical of the American public, but remember, I work in an Aerospace Engineering Department. I have the "Fallen Heroes " patch above my desk. It is 12" in diameter and has all three dates on it, and they all know I am a "Space Geek". To these it should be different, but for the most part it was not.

I certainly remember the 51L flight. I was home from work that day and watching the lift off on TV. From by back patio door of my home in Savannah Georgia, after about one minute into the launch, you could actually see a Space Shuttle lift-off as a bright dot pulling a contrail behind it (at least until the SRBs depleted). I watched the launch and after Max q I turned away for a quick look out the window to see if the Shuttle was visible. When I turned back to the TV the shuttle stack was gone and all that was visible were the two SRBs coming out of that white cloud. I thought to myself, looks like an RTLS abort, but where is the vehicle? Those next few moments felt like forever as I was glued to that white cloud, the Challenger and crew was gone.

The day that STS 107 never returned, is also etched into my memory. It was a Saturday, a work day at the Church (digging the footers for a new building foundation). I wanted to stay home and watch the landing, but the work at the Church needed may hands so I decided to tape it instead. I was "digging in” when I had heard the news, someone told us that the radio announcer stated that it looked like the Columbia had disintegrated while coming home. All those folks knew I followed the Space program and I thought that was not a thing to kid about, until I looked in their eyes and saw the tears. The crew of STS 107 had gone home eternally. I went home at lunch break and played the tape and cried. How could it have happened again! The loss of another crew.

So as I reflected Apollo 1 and 39 years, I also realized that the fault for all three accidents was not the crew, they preformed as required. It was not the vehicles they performed as designed. It was the decisions that were flawed. Testing in pure oxygen at 14.7 psi, what were we thinking. Go for launch without the data that says it is OK (no test data for O rings at those temperatures to say it was good, but that's OK, there was no proof that it would be a problem so it must be OK, wrong logic, TEST TO VALIDATE). Then when you think we would have learned we do it again, we take the stance, if we don't look it will be OK and then this time the piece that fell off, fell through the leading edge. I don't know what could have been done to save the crew of STS 107 if they would have looked but we know what happens when you don't. Flawed decisions, that's what took those lives.

With all of that rolling around in my mind I found myself awake at 3AM Saturday morning January 28, 2006. Twenty years after that fateful day. I could not sleep and as the clock reached 4AM I knew were I must go. If I get on the road at 5AM I will be at the gate of the KSC at opening which is 9AM. I was going to watch the memorial that morning but now I decided I was going to do more than watch I was going to be part of it. I was also going to take the "old tour", the Then and Now tour, so that I could be at Complex 34 just for a moment.

So that is what I did. I arrived at 9:15AM 300 miles from home (final preflight checks of my truck revealed a few anomalies prior to lift off and I found myself in a 15 minute hold at the gas station while I fueled, checked the oil and tire pressure, safety first). Upon arrival I found the crowd small but undaunted I went in. All those that attended KSC that day were given a flower (mostly roses with some other I did not recognize) and went to the Memorial wall. The area was blocked off for the dignitaries and family. The public was given an area off to the side and unless you got there early a place along the fence was gone. Most were but two to three deep, so the view was acceptable. It was good to here those folks talk about the crew of Challenger. June Scobee Rogers (Commander Dick Scobee's spouse at the time of the accident) spoke of Dick's love of her, the family and the program and his son Richard spoke of his loving father as well. If you have access to NASA TV it is running often now, it is worth the hour and a half to hear what was said. (If I was there with you I could point out my head shot from the crowd . At the end, June and William Gerstenmaier (Assoc. Administrator for Space Operations at NASA) put a wreath at the base of the memorial and then it was over. The crowd came up and put their flowers at or in the fence. WE remembered, it was good to be there. Later at Complex 34, I saw the wreath left there (from the private ceremony the day before) and as the tour guide gave their talk I walked away, sat down on the cement block there and reflected on these few days.

I hope you are able to do the same. Wednesday will be three years since STS 107. I would assume that the JSC will hold a ceremony, if they do, try to be there it will make a difference.

posted 01-30-2006 11:52 AM               

Thank you both for the great summaries. Robert we need to have some kind of cS pin or something because I was there also. In fact that's my shiny head third from the left in the first picture GAC posted.
I would love to have met you guys after the ceremony.

I had the great honor of having breakfast with the families prior to the service. They went out of the way to make all of us feel welcome and let us know they appreciated our being there. I had the opportunity to visit with June Scobee-Rodgers, her children Rich and Kathy, Jane Smith-Wolcott, Lorna Onizuka, Ellen Jarvis (Greg' stepmom) and Evelyn Husband and her children. It was a day to remember your heroes.