U.S. remembers fallen astronauts 20 years after Challenger disaster
NASA officials and the astronauts' families were joined at the Kennedy Space Center here by dozens of visitors to remember the crew members whose fiery deaths on January 28, 1986 shocked the country.
"It is a beautiful day here," June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger pilot Francis "Dick" Scobee, said on a sunny yet windy Saturday, in front of a black granite monument bearing the names of the 24 astronauts who have died since 1964.
Scobee Rodgers, who delivered the main speech, said her late husband was aware of the potential danger he faced as a shuttle pilot. "He knew about the risks and accepted them as a test pilot," she said. "Without risk, there is no knowledge. ... The greatest risk is to take no risks." She said the space program should continue, adding that "(God) gives us curiosity and challenges us to discover."
The family of Challenger's most famous crew member, high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, declined to attend the ceremony.
McAuliffe's participation in the launch as a civilian had made her a national star, but her family has largely remained out of the public eye since the national tragedy.
The disaster turned into a national trauma much like president John F. Kennedy's assassination 23 years earlier and the September 11 attacks 15 years later. Scobee Rodgers read a letter written by her daughter Kathy years after her father's death. The explosion "was a national tragedy, everyone saw it," her daughter wrote. "My dad died a 100 times a day on TV."
Twelve children saw their parents die in the 1986 accident, Scobee Rodgers said.
Saturday's ceremony was also attended by relatives of victims of the shuttle Columbia tragedy, which also killed seven astronauts in February 2003, and the Apollo I accident, in which three astronauts were killed in 1967.
Relatives placed flowers in front of the granite monument to the US space program's fallen astronauts.