Never forget nation’s fallen astronauts

I find it hard to believe that it’s now been 40 years since this nation witnessed a horrific tragedy that led to a three-year pause in humanity’s quest to explore the cosmos. It happened Jan. 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard.

I was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kan., when Challenger exploded just 73 seconds into its flight. At the time, our office was the only one in the wing headquarters with access to cable television.

Each day, others in my office kept that television tuned into a news network that provided continuous reports that my office staff tended to monitor. We did this just in case something significant happened both in the United States and around the world.

Most of the time, I couldn’t watch television since I worked in a separate office, where I served as a newspaper reporter and photographer. Needing to take a break that morning, I stepped into the main office area and immediately got caught off guard.

I looked around the area, which was packed with members of the base’s senior military leaders. All of their eyes remained transfixed on the television, which at the time I couldn’t see.

No one said a word. I knew something serious happened, but I didn’t know what it was.

It was here that I asked one of the airmen I worked with why all of the commanders were in our office.

He simply replied, “didn’t you hear? Challenger exploded.”

I was absolutely stunned. Hoping what he said to me was wrong, I turned and looked at the television, which continued to replay the shuttle’s launch from what is now known as the Kennedy Space Center.

The news report I watched included a discussion between the mission ground controllers and astronauts as the shuttle continued upward. I still remember hearing the ground controllers telling the shuttle crew to increase the thrust of its main engines.

Shuttle commander Dick Scobee then confirmed, “Roger, go at throttle up.”

Seconds later, the spacecraft disintegrated 6,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in which the debris from the shuttle scattered across the water. This included the Challenger’s crew cabin, which separated from the orbiter during the explosion and hit the ocean at roughly 207 miles per hour.

The Challenger disaster, as it became known, took the lives of Scobee along with shuttle pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik and Ronald McNair, payload specialist Gregory Jarvis as well as Christa McAuliffe, who became the nation’s first teacher to fly into space. Some of those names really hit home to me, especially Resnik, who grew up in my hometown of Akron, Ohio.

The investigation revealed that one of the silicone seals wrapped around one of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters failed due its exposure to cold weather and wind shear that blanketed Florida days before the shuttle was due to launch. That break in what was referred to as the “O-ring” allowed heated gas from the booster to leak out and ignite fuel stored in the shuttle’s main fuel tank.

Following this disaster, the nation’s space shuttle fleet remained grounded for nearly three years as NASA led efforts to redesign the solid rocket boosters they used during the launch procedures. This led to significant structural changes involving the construction of the Endeavour space shuttle.

However, the Challenger disaster, as it became known, wasn’t the first time humanity faced similar incidents in which our nation dealt with tragedies where we faced setbacks in our quest to reach the moon as part of our quest to eventually send humanity to other worlds.

The first happened Jan. 27, 1967, as astronauts Gus Grisson, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died after their space capsule caught fire during a launch rehearsal test at what was known back then as the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

An electrical short ignited the oxygen that filled the cabin where these astronauts sat during this test, which represented one of the steps needed for the spaceship to fly into low Earth orbit as efforts continued to send humanity to the moon.

Sadly, rescue teams were unable to save these men, who remained trapped inside the capsule because they couldn’t open the plug door hatch due to the internal air pressure sealed inside.

While this accident led to needed changes to provide better protection against future crews of astronauts that would eventually step foot on the moon starting July 20, 1969, it represented the fact that humanity would face various dangers in its quest to explore the cosmos.

I would be remiss if I didn’t include another tragedy that happened Feb. 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon lost their lives during that disaster.

The investigation revealed that foam insulation on one of the shuttle’s external tanks broke off, damaging the thermal protection system of the shuttle’s left wing. That breach allowed superheated plasma to enter the wing of the spacecraft that led to structural failure that destroyed it.

Having looked back on humanity’s setbacks over the past 60 years, I continue to maintain a sense of optimism and curiosity as we set our sights on something we haven’t seen in nearly 55 years. Currently scheduled to happen Feb. 6, four astronauts will launch from the Kennedy Space Center as we return to the moon.

Similar to the steps we took during the missions we completed before humans first stepped foot on the lunar surface July 20, 1969, the Artemis II flight will allow this crew to test out the various types of equipment needed to maintain a steady orbit around the moon to ensure everything works as planned.

That mission sets the stage for the launch of Artemis III, which is currently planned to happen in mid-2027. That spaceship will allow people to once again walk on the moon since astronaut Gene Cernan left his footprints in the Taurus-Littrow valley of the lunar surface Dec. 14, 1972.

I can only imagine the new wonders and unexpected discoveries mankind will unlock once we return to the moon. For me, it leaves me pondering many questions regarding the cosmos.

Where does the universe begin? Where does it end? Are we alone, or does the cosmos teem with an abundance of life just waiting to be discovered? And the biggest question of all: Why are we here? Those are questions I hope humanity can answer one day.

“Ad astra per aspera -- a rough road leads to the stars.”