Space Shuttle Challenger

Christa's mom lived to be 94 years old:

[quote] Grace Corrigan, mother of Christa McAuliffe and education advocate, dies at 94

Not quite four months after she watched in horror at Cape Canaveral in Florida as the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing her oldest daughter and six other crew members, Grace Corrigan stood before an audience and spoke about everyday courage.

“The little things are the stuff of success,” Mrs. Corrigan told the 1986 graduating class at Framingham State College, an alma mater she shared with her daughter Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher who was the first private citizen selected to serve on a space mission. “She was a hero in the most meaningful way, the ordinary way,” Mrs. Corrigan added, and that was something they shared, too.

From a childhood during which her parents died when she was young, and on through retirement years when her daughter’s death thrust her into an international spotlight, Mrs. Corrigan met life’s reversals with candor, clarity, and a determination to keep doing good.

“It was a loss for me, just one of those overwhelming things,” she told the Globe in 1993, speaking quietly about her daughter’s death. “What can you do? You can’t go back and do anything about it. Except what I’ve been doing all along, which is to ask myself, ‘OK, Christa, what’s the best thing I can do here?’ ”

Mrs. Corrigan, who had returned to college to get a teaching degree after her five children were grown, was 94 when she died Thursday. She had lived in Framingham for much of her life.

In the years following the Challenger explosion on Jan. 28, 1986, Mrs. Corrigan devoted considerable time to advocating for well-funded school systems and extensive community involvement with children’s education.

“She had an impact on so many people, and she did it in a quiet, determined way,” said Mary E. Liscombe, director emerita of what is now the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning at Framingham State University.

“Grace was basically carrying on what Christa would have done herself, had she survived that flight,” Liscombe said. “She would always talk about Christa’s devotion to teaching and to the children.

As the first schoolteacher chosen to be part of a shuttle mission crew, Christa McAuliffe was a historic figure in the education community and was idolized by children everywhere. The tragedy of McAuliffe’s death, which enshrined her iconic status, left Mrs. Corrigan and her husband, Edward, to grieve a child’s death while the world watched.

Mr. Corrigan died of lymphoma at 67 in 1990. Before his death, he and his wife began collaborating on a book that included excerpts from McAuliffe’s letters and diaries. “A Journal for Christa” was published in 1993.

“Ed had strong opinions about NASA,” Mrs. Corrigan told the Globe that year. “He read all the reports and was bitter he’d lost his daughter. We made an agreement not to speak out publicly or to seek publicity by giving interviews, but I know it bothered him terribly.”

Both of the Corrigans traveled widely to speak to organizations and to participate in fund-raisers. “He missed Christa every day of his life,” Mrs. Corrigan said for his Globe obituary. “We incorporated her in everything, because she was part of us. He spent the last four years doing what she had left undone.”

In the 1993 Globe interview, Mrs. Corrigan recalled that after her daughter died, she took measure of the possible ways she could continue Christa’s mission in life.

“Maybe that involves working with schools or teacher organizations or the Girl Scouts,” Mrs. Corrigan said. “If I weren’t doing something I felt Christa approved of, I’d feel guilty.”

She added that “the important lesson we can all learn from Christa is to do what you want to do and do it as well as you can. I could have done without the losses in my life, I guess. But everyone suffers some loss along the way. You cannot escape it. Who promised us a rose garden?”

Born in Waterbury, Conn., Grace George was the older of two children. Her parents were Stephen George, an engineer, and Marion Harder. When Mrs. Corrigan was 3, her mother died, and she went to live with her maternal grandmother at 10, after her father died.

According to Edward’s obituary, he and Grace began dating while they were students at Crosby High School in Waterbury. They married in 1947. A Boston College graduate, he was an assistant controller of Jordan Marsh in Boston before becoming an accountant manager for GTE Sylvania in Waltham.

Mrs. Corrigan had studied art in New York City and her paintings shared wall space in her Framingham home with photos of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

After raising her children, Mrs. Corrigan went to Framingham State, where she finished a bachelor’s degree in education in four years. A teacher herself, Mrs. Corrigan fielded mail from all over the world — missives from students and teachers McAuliffe had inspired. Some who reached out to Mrs. Corrigan had received a career boost from programs or awards that were created to honor McAuliffe’s legacy.

“I had a letter yesterday from a woman in Michigan just back from Japan,” Mrs. Corrigan said in 1993. “She was so excited she went on for pages and pages. … Give a teacher a little bit of recognition, a little push, and they keep going and going and going.”

Liscombe, who had met McAuliffe when both were Framingham State students, accompanied Mrs. Corrigan to some speaking engagements and watched her address groups large and small, in Massachusetts and across the country.

“She had the ability to totally command a room,” Liscombe said. “She was diminutive, but when she stood up there and began speaking, she was the biggest person in the room.”

Mrs. Corrigan also regularly visited the McAuliffe Center, where she would speak to some of the thousands of children who visit the facility annually.

“She was just so real with the kids,” Liscombe said. “Her message was always, ‘Do you know why Christa went into space?’ The kids would ask why, and she would say, ‘For you. She wanted you to understand that someone who was a regular person could do something like that. And you can, too, if you dream it and you work hard to achieve your dreams.’ The kids would watch her spellbound.”

Mrs. Corrigan leaves two sons, Christopher of Framingham and Stephen of Walnut Creek, Calif.; two daughters, Lisa Bristol of Sterling and Elizabeth of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Steven McAuliffe of New Hampshire, the husband of her late daughter; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday in St. George Church in the Saxonville part of Framingham. Burial will be private.

During the 1993 Globe interview, bells began ringing at St. Jeremiah Church, a few blocks from Mrs. Corrigan’s Framingham home.

“After the accident,” she said, before pausing to begin again.

“No, it wasn’t an accident,” she said of the Challenger explosion. “After it happened, every church in town began to ring its bells. Someone called Father O’Connor and asked him why his weren’t ringing too. ‘We don’t have any bells,’ he said. So they started a church drive.”

And that resulted in the bells that chimed a dozen times as she sat with a reporter.

“Listen,” Mrs. Corrigan said. “Those are Christa’s bells. Can you hear them?”

I was in fourth grade and I can remember Challenger like it was yesterday. Until 9/11 that was the big event of my generation.

I have posted this before, but I grew up in Clear Lake (by Nasa in Houston) and a few of the astronauts' kids went to my school. It was very terrible when it happened for the community. The kids were in Florida, if I recall.

They knew the risks and died doing what they loved.

R5 needs to die in a shuttle explosion.

Monster.

I remember watching the launch when l was in first grade on the TV with wheels they would roll in. Later that day they marched the whole school out to lower the flag, and sing something patriotic, I want to say it was "God Bless America". I remember seeing my teachers cry, but being young not really understanding why. Now that I am over 40 (I look 25!) death, and tragedy hit you like a gut punch. If I was an adult back then, I would have cried too.

I always assumed that the astronauts died instantly when the shuttle exploded, before they even knew what happened, which would've been a small blessing. It wasn't until many years later that I learned they survived the explosion and didn't die until the impact with the water. It's possible they were conscious during the entire descent. I cannot even imagine.

I feel terrible for Christa's mom.

She lost both her parents at a young age, then her daughter in this horrible explosion, then her husband four years lady.

And she still managed to live to 94.

She was once, twice, three, four years a lady.

I remember watching it live on TV.

At explosion, for about 3 seconds seeing the horizontal direction of the white smoke, I had two simultaneous reactions:

1. "Oh, that must have supposed to have happened. Booster rocket separation.

2. "This isn't supposed to have happened. This is bad."

And knowing 2 was what happened.

And then the voice of mission control, "Obviously a major malfunction".

We watched it in elementary school. I was in 3rd grade.

Everyone was really bored just sitting there watching the launch. Even the take-off was pretty anticlimactic.

Then right after it exploded, a 6th grader jumped up and yelled, "Finally some action!"

We all laughed.

The whole "teacher in space!" thing was just some cooked up PR for the space program, but Christa really was a great find. She was so earnest, sweet and engaging. She would have made a great ambassador for a renewed push for science in schools.

She must have felt like she won the Lotto, being plucked out of millions of teachers. Same way Caroline Kennedy thought she won the lottery beating out all the other bitches for John John’s hand in marriage and getting her fairytale ending.

For some reason I had no idea this happened. I don’t remember my teachers talking about this in school. Since I was only 3 when 911 happened that’s what they focused on.

The runner up to the teacher in space program contest, Barbara Morgan was able to fly on a mission in 2007.

I was cutting class at McDonald's, I was a junior in high school. We saw it live on TV.

Totally unnecessary loss. Christa should never have been closer to the shuttle than the parking lot of a Cocoa Beach motel. NASA would have rescheduled the launch if they hadn't been pushing to keep the schedule for Christa's broadcast to schools. Instead the schoolkids got to see this. Death by PR stunt.

Could have been worse for the kids though. Big Bird was NASA's first choice.

I lived in Orlando at the time and was in seventh grade. We went outside to watch it (as usual). Everyone was very confused at first; no one was sure what had happened. Afterwards they brought us inside and let us go home early. It was very sad, but I still remember all the bad jokes people made about it at the time.

I had just started my first job after college, working on Capitol Hill for a US senator. I was in the Senate Chamber when it occurred. Someone in the Press Gallery signaled that something terrible had occurred.

John Glenn came into the chamber a short time later and spoke about the disaster.

Christa McAuliffe was a big deal.

And Ronald Reagan may have been a shit in many ways, but he really spoke eloquently about it. He could communicate what the nation felt.

[quote]We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

Was that the one with the school teacher?

These shuttles were death traps.

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was just as bad (if not worse).

It exploded in the atmosphere.

[quote]The runner up to the teacher in space program contest, Barbara Morgan was able to fly on a mission in 2007.

I wonder if she still holds a grudge at not being selected and had to settle for runner up? Most people would say fuck you and not work with you again.

I was kicked out of school for cutting class & had to go to a continuation school for a brief period before going on Independent Study & eventually going back to my regular school & graduating. Unfortunately one of the few times I went to class was on the day of the Challenger explosion. The teacher had wheeled in a Tv & we watched it live, & when it exploded the students started cheering. I was appalled. They were very anti-teacher & were reveling that one blew up.

[quote]Christa really was a great find. She was so earnest, sweet and engaging.

Oh puhleez!

That two-bit cooze fucked and sucked her way onto that rocket ship.

[quote] The teacher had wheeled in a Tv & we watched it live, & when it exploded the students started cheering. I was appalled. They were very anti-teacher & were reveling that one blew up.

O. M. G.

[quote] O. M. G.

Dyatlov right?

I was in Kindergarten so I didn't watch it but my siblings did and I remember being sent home to school early and having to hang out with our neighbors until my parents got home. I didn't much understand why but when I started seeing stuff about it in the papers and magazines I got the idea and it really creeped me out and ever since then I always had a weird aversion to outer space, especially outer space exploring. Like this weird feeling we shouldn't mess around too much up there, aren't meant to be up there.

It took 3 minutes for the capsule with the crew to hit the ocean. Some were still alive. 3 minutes is a long time. Rumor was they could still hear them in mission control as the capsule fell.

"Why didn't Christa McAuliffe take a shower before she got on Challenger?"

"She thought she'd just wash up on shore."

What does NASA stand for? Needs Another Seven Astronauts.

Ooof R30 and R31... Savage

The clapping and woo woo stuff was so dumb, and kinda hesrtbresking.

I was 3 so all I remember was the file footage and investigations that went on in the subsequent years. I had a Fisher Price Little People airplane and my parents said I would “launch” the plane in the air and then bring it back down and hit the floor. That always bothered my mom.

Was it the generational event until 9/11, R3? I think Diana’s car crash surpassed the Challenger accident, even in the United States.

Here is how I would rank news stories in my lifetime:

1. 9/11 (by far)

2. Diana car crash

3. Challenger disaster

4. Hurricane Katrina

R35 I was born in 1998 so I don’t really connect to any of those events .. well except for 9/11. We learned about it in 4th grade. Obviously now that I’m older I’m fully aware. For my generation def all the school shootings. I remember how unsettling it was to see metal detectors being installed during my sophomore year.

the Columbia disaster

The astronauts also likely suffered from significant thermal trauma. Hot gas entered the disintegrating crew module, burning the crew members, whose bodies were still somewhat protected by their ACES suits. Once the crew module fell apart, the astronauts were violently exposed to windblast and a possible shock wave, which stripped their suits from their bodies. The crews' remains were exposed to hot gas and molten metal as they fell away from the orbiter.[19]: 106-108

Frau thread. F&F

[quote] For my generation def all the school shootings.

Def?

[quote] It took 3 minutes for the capsule with the crew to hit the ocean. Some were still alive. 3 minutes is a long time. Rumor was they could still hear them in mission control as the capsule fell.

R39 Sorry def equals definitely

True Story = I was a kid when it happened. I remember the shuttle launch was postponed a few times before this final launch. After the newscaster said the launch was postponed again my sister said "one of these days that thing is going to explode"...3 days later she was right....And at least half of the astronauts were still conscious until the crew cabin splattered onto the ocean...VIDEO.

Why is there no continuous footage of liftoff, flight and explosion? Every single clip shows it flying, then a switch to a fuzzy close-up explosion.

R36 I would add Columbine on that list too. And I don't know if in the U.S Princess Di's death was bigger than the Challenger explosion.

Sorry R44 was meant fot R35.

There's something distasteful about having to sit through a commercial before I get to watch people die

[quote]I wonder if she still holds a grudge at not being selected and had to settle for runner up?

Really, R23? I think more than anything she was relieved after the way things turned out.

So I will get people disagreeing with this, but I’ll add Michael Jackson’s death to the list. It didn’t have quite the impact of Di’s death, but it was still incredibly shocking to the public.

R37 do you think they disintegrated in the atmosphere, or were any body parts recovered?

I remember reading the head of least one of the Columbia astronauts was found dismembered from the body but nearly intact in its helmet.

"And Ronald Reagan may have been a shit in many ways, but he really spoke eloquently about it. He could communicate what the nation felt..."

I heard that the whole tragedy was kinda Reagan's fault btw.

The story goes like this: That day was much too cold for a launch, but there was pressure to go ahead with it anyway because a conversation between the astronauts and the president was slated to happen live during the upcoming State of the Union address. The cold infamously caused a problem with the fuel that resulted in the explosion and deaths.

Instead of conversing with the astronauts that night for the SotU as planned, Reagan delayed for a week and then gave that moving speech about their deaths (written by none other than Peggy Noonan).

How long did Challenger dominate the news cycle? Michael Jackson & Diana dominated the news for several weeks, only exceeded by 9/11.

I love seeing explosions.

It's like New Year's Eve.

The shuttle crew cabin broke away in one piece from the cargo bay in the explosion.

NASA camera tracked it all the way down to the water. This was broadcast in the original coverage but watching it at the time I didn't recognize it for what it was.

There was a few confused moments where I saw a parachute open in the sky and thought maybe somebody had escaped. I can't quickly find reference to that but they definitely had no parachutes. I think some newsman said it was part of the rescue operation but I can't see what sense that make. It might have been the landing drag chute.

Her ogilve home perm was tragic. I wonder what her hair looked like after?

If I recall correctly, the parachute was from one of the solid rocket boosters which usually parachute back to earth after the launch but in this case they were blown up.

Did NASA take photos of the crew cabin recovery?

I'm curious about what it looked like.

NASA Gives Graphic Details of Columbia Deaths

As mentioned above, the Challenger crew cabin survived the explosion nearly intact and remained that way until it hit the water off Florida three miles down at roughly 2,000 mph.

Columbia gradually disintegrated over two or three states during what was supposed to be a controlled descent, leaving a trail of shuttle parts and human remains several hundred miles long.

So Challenger and Columbia were different events?

Challenger was 1986.

Columbia was 2003 (I think).

Why did it happen twice?

That's why the program ended, R62.

They didn't want it to happen a third time.

There was no "it" that happened twice. The two disasters had entirely different causes, resulting in two different means of destruction. Wikipedia has fair summaries of what happened to each.

Challenger blew up while it was still in the launch phase. Columbia disintegrated during re-entry to the earth's atmosphere after completing its mission.

Another difference.

Challenger began and was over in moments.

Houston knew days before re-entry that Columbia was doomed and just had to watch it happen. The crew also knew they were badly damaged but I'm uncertain if they knew it was unrecoverable.

.,.,

Famous last words: I wonder what this button is for?

[quote] Houston knew days before re-entry that Columbia was doomed and just had to watch it happen. The crew also knew they were badly damaged but I'm uncertain if they knew it was unrecoverable.

Damn, that's awful.

Actually, the crew in Columbia were emailed and informed of the fragment of structure hitting the wing but were reassured several times it was safe and had nothing to worry about, and from the videos taken of them they seemed to think everything was hunky dory.

Why didn’t they just tell them?

Did the debris from either explosion kill anyone on the ground? That’s a lot of metal raining on the earth?

R71 Like I said, they did let them know of debris hitting the wing upon launch but they downplayed it, and honestly, they would not have been able to do anything whatsoever about it anyway. They would have been essentially waiting to die.

So? Better to know. Let them get their affairs in order.

If it were me I would rather not know, but to each his own R74

Maybe they could have jerry-rigged it with a vacuum cleaner and some aluminum foil like the Apollo 13 astronauts "did".

Wait, are you saying NASA knew that the Columbia shuttle and its crew were doomed? Or didn't they know and just miscalculated the risk of the descent?

In the former case, couldn't they have sent a rescue mission with one of the other shuttles or maybe asked for some help from Russia?

They would have run out of food and air long before a rescue mission could have been assembled. It wasn't physically possible in the time needed.

So they just let them die?! There’s always a way.

[quote] They would have run out of food and air long before a rescue mission could have been assembled. It wasn't physically possible in the time needed.

Tell that to the crew of Apollo 13.

WHET "failure is not an option?"

Where did Christa McAuliffe vacation?

All over Florida.

Omg where did you people find these Christa McAuliffe jokes???

They're absolutely horrible!

And I didn't realize there were so many of them!

How many Columbia astronauts can you fit in a car?

2 in the front.

2 in the back.

3 in the ash tray.

Christa's mother reminds me of Kim Hughes from As the World Turns. Stoical older lady who doesn't show her feelings easily.

[quote]Her ogilve home perm was tragic.

Christa's hair used to bug my mother to no end.

Well Christa sure lived up to the hype...

THE ULTIMATE FIELD TRIP, indeed.

Barbara Morgan was the winner of the Luckiest Bitch In the World Award

[quote]I think Diana’s car crash surpassed the Challenger accident, even in the United States.

Only for homosexuals

I was working on the set of Disney's first sequel to the 1961 film The Parent Trap in Tampa when I was forced to go to the emergency room at Tampa General Hospital. I remember sitting in the Emergency Room watching the incident unfold on television. When I got back to the set four hours later, the news had only begun to trickle in.

Amazing, r88.

Today that news would’ve gotten back to set instantaneously.

What did Christa McAuliffe tell her family as she left for the Challenger liftoff?

You feed the dog; I'll feed the fishes.

One of the astronauts was a hero especially in Hawaii--i believe he was the first Hawaiian astronaut

Oh, I'm sure a couple of people knew, but we were on location, and they kept it from everyone, R89. It would've shut down the set for the day and it was a tight three-week shoot. I mean, I went back to work rather than home after the emergency room because I couldn't be replaced, even temporarily. It was talked about the next day, but we still had work to do.

Completely off topic, Hayley Mills was a complete and utter joy to work with.

[quote] One of the astronauts was a hero especially in Hawaii

NASA was sending up their best. Each of the crew except Christa were extraordinary, magnifying the stupid waste of the incident.

Take a quick glance at Judy Resnik's CV. Exceptional in every regard. Yet she is just a footnote to the tragic loss of "hero" McAuliffe

Wasn't Christa screwing Scobee? Or was it Smith.

Judy Resnik was one of the first women in NASA's astronaut program, and NASA sent her out to do media appearances all the time because not only was she brilliant, but she was the only female astronaut at that time who was legitimately attractive. The other female astronauts were all really homely and dykey-looking but Judy Resnik had the looks.

And fun killing feminists sent her hate mail because she dared to be sexy and proud of it

[quote] I remember watching the launch when l was in first grade on the TV with wheels they would roll in. Later that day they marched the whole school out to lower the flag, and sing something patriotic, I want to say it was "God Bless America".

It was "American Made" by the Oak Ridge Boys.

I knew people who knew her when she was in the private sector r95, and she was indeed brilliant. A pioneer in many ways, not just as an astronaut. Sad she was gone too soon.

When they went down to recover the remains, they could only identify Judy because of her huge mane of dark hair.

Wow, she was very pretty R95.

Barbara Morgan was quite beautiful, as well.

Christa...not so much.

For fellow sickos, this is my all-time favorite comic spin on this horrific event:

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

Wow, that ate the entire post.

Basically, while she was no Judy Resnick, I thought Columbia's Kalpana Chawla was cute.

[quote]I want to say it was "God Bless America".

{quote]It was "American Made" by the Oak Ridge Boys.

At our Performing Arts Middle School, it was "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" from "Gypsy." I played Mazeppa.

Judy's awkward interview with Tom Brokaw. He comes off as a sexist creep.

We might let them be rocket scientists but there's only one question that matters: fuckable or unfuckable.

Question = I have never heard this answered = WHY didn't NASA recover any of the Challenger Astronauts cellphone data? Surely at least one of the phones were recovered and yet nobody talks about it. Sounds like a Conspiracy to me!! I understand the pilot was busy flying but there was no way you are going to convince me that Christy wasn't taking selfies. No Siree!!

NASA knew there was a problem with the shuttle but they did nothing. There were two incidents before Challenger where the shuttle almost blew up on re-entry. The recent Netflix Challenger documentary went into all the details.

[quote] Wikipedia has fair summaries of what happened to each.

Link?

Do you not know how to use Wikipedia?

It's my "Kennedy was shot" moment that my mom always talks about and my nephew's 9/11. Those moments that are cemented in time, signifying when we first were forced to think about the larger world through tragedy.

I remember everything about that day: I was in first grade. My teacher was Mrs. Akins. She was SO excited because she had applied to be the teacher on the shuttle (and made it through a few rounds in the selection process). It was such a day of joy. And then... not.

It was the day I understood what sorrow and death felt like.

I bet Christa gave ole HW Bush a handie to secure her spot on that rocket.

Challenger and Columbia were felled by a piece of foam and a tile while still in Earth’s orbit. I certainly do not believe the Apollo 13 incident happened as the powers that be would have us believe. When I reach the pearly gates I will enquire about NASAs lies.

[quote]Challenger and Columbia were felled by a piece of foam and a tile while still in Earth’s orbit.

Yeah, um, no.

Christa McAuliffe was so honored to be the « chosen teacher » on the challenger. I think, trying to make her competitor teachers not feel so bad about not being chosen, she said, (paraphrasing )

« when I go, there will be my one body in the space challenger, but there will also be 12 souls.. »

Documentary about Christa made before her death, narrated by Burgess Meredith:

Documentary about Christa made AFTER her death, narrated by Burgess Meredith:

r118 Burgess: "Christa's dream ended 74 seconds after she had left the earth." So dramatic lol

She promised "the ultimate field trip"

NASA vows the next moon landing must include the first woman and the first person of color. No mention of trannys but there is still time.

They've learned nothing.

Actually, there's a good chance that the first woman on the moon will be out lesbian Anne McClain.

If memory serves, there were actually a few options that could have at least attempted to save Columbia. There was one or two floated that would have involved a temporary patch job that would have required a space walk and might not have worked, but were probably preferable to doing nothing. They were also readying Atlantis for a launch shortly after Columbia was to have returned, and given the long duration of Columbia's mission, they had enough supplies to last until Atlantis' prep was finished and was then launched remotely, which would, again, have required space walks.

But instead, nothing.

I wish the shuttles were still running.

They were so futuristic.

Interview with Judy's parents