It's one of those 'remember where you were' moments, right? I mean, at least for certain generations.
I had been working night shift at the hospital and got home and could not sleep so was watching the launch. They were still fairly new but they were broadcasting live because of Christa McAuliffe.
She was to have been the first citizen in space - a teacher - but two politicians bumped her two different flights, sealing her fate instead of theirs.
I happened to be on the phone with my mother while watching - she was not. And said, "I think the space shuttle just blew up". We both hung up to watch TV.
I never did get to bed that day.
Last year, Morty recommended the book Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. I think it was only one of two non-fiction books I read last year.
In its own way it is amazing. Long, but amazing. And horrifying.
And F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G.
You go into the book knowing the outcome (oh, Spoiler Alert for Gen Z'ers who actually don't read this blog or know it exists) but as the story is told - starting decades earlier - you see and feel each mistake made along the way. The inevitable. Cringing when you get to the chapter that IS launch day.
Actually, you don't know the outcome. Yeah - of the shuttle and its crew, sure. (or do you??*), but not so much of the aftermath.
Frustrating. Infuriating. Dumbstruck.
I know I am easy to anger, which is why my news is nil, but reading the book just flabbergasted me. I'd get angry and have to put it down.
Not one person lost their job. Not one. Zero. That a few people who felt guilty (but weren't the real culprits) didn't take their own lives was kind of a surprise. Oh - that's the Spoiler Alert(s).
It is government and contractor fuck-uppery on every level. I'm not generalizing this either. Honestly, in its own way, it is an excellent book.
40 years. No more shuttles. The ISS, which the shuttles helped build, is on its way to being decommissioned. We'll just be left with Elon or Katy Perry's Lyft to rely on space exploration / travel.
* my favourite review
3 comments:
It was a cold year that year 19 degrees at some point. I went out for lunch from my job there were twin plumes in the sky. I knew it wasn’t normal . Turned on my car radio . I also remember pieces washing up on some of the more southern beaches. It was a sad time especially because of Christa McCauliffe . O Rings and what could have been. They told so many stories throughout the Aerospace community some too ghoulish to repeat
I was talking with a client on the phone, he was watching out his office window, and suddenly said, "that is not right, and hung up." Stupidity is repeating itself, not everyone is confident with the reentry heat shield on Artemis, and they are pushing forward with a manned launch in the next month or so.
sad but not surprising alas
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