Where were you?
Jan. 28th, 2006 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyI spent my childhood years dreaming of being an astronaut. I would lay on the warm concrete of our driveway in midsummer, flashlight in one hand, Nat. Geographic star map in the other and identify as many stars and constellations as I could find. I had a telescope I dragged with me to Summer Camp and everywhere I could take it until it broke. I read science fiction and fantasized about being on spaceships.
Whenever a ship when up, I was glued to the TV. I watched Gemini missions. I watched every Apollo mission. I cried when Grissom, White and Chaffee died on the launch pad. I followed every moment of the Apollo 13 mission; watching the movie is like a flashback for me. And when Neil Armstrong took "a small step..." I was there. They were my astronauts.
20 years ago today, I was working at an adolescent residential program. One of the administrators always had a little TV on in his office. He came rushing out into the corridor crying, "The Shuttle just blew up!"
This guy wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box. I knew there was a Challenger launch that day, but couldn't afford to stay home. I said, "you mean they had problems at launch?"
"No," he insisted, "it blew up!"
We all rushed into the Day Room and turned on the TV. We felt that this was too historic a moment to stick to the daily program, and it was a time when the residents were doing their homework. We switched on the TV and watched, horror-stricken, as they played the tape again and again, from every angle they had. Some had vague hopes of finding the Astronauts. We all knew in our hearts they were gone.
It was to the credit of the administration that they got NASA back on track right away, and showed us that the American spirit is not daunted by the loss of its pioneers. They certainly investigated the incident. The fact that not all of the recommendations were followed, or warnings taken can be traced to the next disaster on the Columbia.
How different was our response to Columbia.
Critical changes in management were not made. With this administration's tendency to make appointments based on politics, rather than skill, the future of other programs is in doubt.
Where were you on this day, 20 years ago?
Whenever a ship when up, I was glued to the TV. I watched Gemini missions. I watched every Apollo mission. I cried when Grissom, White and Chaffee died on the launch pad. I followed every moment of the Apollo 13 mission; watching the movie is like a flashback for me. And when Neil Armstrong took "a small step..." I was there. They were my astronauts.
20 years ago today, I was working at an adolescent residential program. One of the administrators always had a little TV on in his office. He came rushing out into the corridor crying, "The Shuttle just blew up!"
This guy wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box. I knew there was a Challenger launch that day, but couldn't afford to stay home. I said, "you mean they had problems at launch?"
"No," he insisted, "it blew up!"
We all rushed into the Day Room and turned on the TV. We felt that this was too historic a moment to stick to the daily program, and it was a time when the residents were doing their homework. We switched on the TV and watched, horror-stricken, as they played the tape again and again, from every angle they had. Some had vague hopes of finding the Astronauts. We all knew in our hearts they were gone.
It was to the credit of the administration that they got NASA back on track right away, and showed us that the American spirit is not daunted by the loss of its pioneers. They certainly investigated the incident. The fact that not all of the recommendations were followed, or warnings taken can be traced to the next disaster on the Columbia.
How different was our response to Columbia.
Critical changes in management were not made. With this administration's tendency to make appointments based on politics, rather than skill, the future of other programs is in doubt.
Where were you on this day, 20 years ago?
