Carrying the Lantern
Anniversary of 51-L
"Remembering Challenger: Kyle Meenan's Blog"; well written and touching. Here's my own reflections on that fateful day.
I was both unfortunate & fortunate to have seen the Challenger accident live - really. I was working at Patrick ABF back then and watched the launch from my office window. Just another one, NBD. My boss was standing next to me and I remember as it climbed into the late morning sky something didn't seem right. Since I lived in Florida, I had seen many shuttle launches and something just hit me quickly as second 73 ticked past. There was no explosive sound, contrary to what the images lead you to believe.
I turned to him and said, "Something is wrong." He had been in Florida much longer than I, but he just said, "Really?" It wasn't that he didn't realize it also, we just reacted differently. As we continued in silence to stare at the shuttle, I thought what I was seeing was the shuttle itself turning and attempting a return to Cape Canaveral. Of course that was not it.
Within minutes we all went home. All of the Space Coast region went quiet that day. I can't say what happened elsewhere, but up and down the coast in Brevard County the earth stood still. In the days that followed, it took a long time to get back to a normal rhythm of life.
Eventually there were moments of good news that began to appear. One in particular that I recall was the Challenger salvage effort. There was a Navy Captain at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - not a good assignment, being a USN Officer at a USAF base. He was responsible for contingency planning; creating the 'what if' plans should something go wrong with the immediate launch or landing of a shuttle at Cape Canaveral. But of course nothing ever did go wrong, till that moment. He led the salvage operation to recover any and all Challenger debris. His name was Capt. Charles "Black Bart" Bartholomew. [2]
Fast forward a few months. He rose to the occasion and orchestrated the largest, most intricate, and most successful underwater search and salvage operation since the clearing of mines in WW II. I've read reports that describe "A total of 22 ships, six submersibles and 33 aircraft participated in a search for debris centered on the edge of the Gulf Stream and covering a total of about 93,000 square miles of ocean to a depth of 1,200 feet. All floating debris and any underwater debris considered to be important to the accident investigation were recovered." [1] I often wonder what happened to him. This was of course a team effort. Col. Edward O'Connor orchestrated the salvage effort for NASA and also shares a large part of my praise. [2]
May the seven of Mission 51-L rest in peace. In their memory...
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr (1922 - 1941)