I too wanted to be that “First Teacher In Space”

I too wanted to be that “First Teacher In Space”
Thursday 28 January 2016 (30 years later)
It was just over 30 years ago, in the mid 1980’s, that the call went out from President Ronald Reagan that he wanted to put a Teacher in Space. As an American working in Bermuda as a teacher, that was all I needed to hear.  I immediately contacted NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to send me the application form for the newly created “Teacher In Space Program”. Well what I received was not just an application but a complete package that explained all that would be required and what would be expected. Undaunted, I began to fill out the application and write the essays explaining what I intended to do and teach while I was up “there” as well as the essays that explained why I should be the choice. You may be wondering at this point, why I would be compelled to seek out this opportunity. Well the short answer is that I had been training for just this all my life. I was an Eagle Scout in my youth. I was currently serving in the US Military and had earned many levels of achievement that included the Airborne Tab (US Paratrooper) and the Pathfinder (Airborne) Badge. I was further training to get accepted into Special Forces School. But the most important reason why I was seeking out to be the First Teacher in Space was that I was and continue to be a Proud American. I scanned the heavens and realized that I wanted to be there…It was like answering a call. Not just any call but “the call”. Calls like these only come a few times in a person’s life and I was not about to let this opportunity pass me by.
Well after what seemed like an eternity, but was a couple of months, a package from NASA arrived. In it was a Mission Patch and some other papers, the most important of which, was the letter that acknowledged and thanked me for my application and that after extensive and exhaustive research a decision had been made to choose Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire who had earned a spot on the mission through NASA’s Teacher in Space Program. After undergoing months of training, she was set to become the first ordinary American citizen to travel into space., I was greatly disappointed. I continued to follow the program and awaited the day that the launch would take place.
The mission aboard the Challenger Space shuttle was due to take place on January 22nd 1986 but was delayed due to weather. Finally the new launch day of January 28th arrived and I had my class watching on TV here in Bermuda in great anticipation of the historic moment. Finally, the count down began and the roar of the rocket engines filled my classroom over the sound system I had installed. I don’t know about my students, but I was excited because after all, even though I had not been the one chosen, I felt as if I were right there in the shuttle. Finally, the great weight of the shuttle was escaping the pull of gravity and lifting off in what appeared to be a perfect launch. But a mere 73 seconds later we sat there speechless in awe, shock and disbelief as did thousands, even millions of others watching on TV’s everywhere as the Challenger exploded in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Within an instant, the spacecraft had broken apart and plunged into the ocean. There had been hope. There always is hope that some of the Crew of 7 would survive but alas this was not to be. Needless to say, this event shocked the world and motivated me to once again write to NASA and state that I was never more committed to wish to be chosen. Unfortunately, due to this disaster, all space shuttle flights would be put on hold until 1988.
I was still in Bermuda and I was given the honor at my school to sing during a special service that was held in honor of the 7 US Space explorers: Teacher-in-Space payload specialist Sharon Christa McAuliffe; payload specialist Gregory Jarvis; and astronauts Judith A. Resnik, mission specialist; Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, mission commander; Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist; Mike J. Smith, pilot; and Ellison S. Onizuka, mission specialist.
space-shuttle-chal_3560043k
Now, I always try to look at things from a leadership perspective and as such there is a bit more information to provide you with so that you can get the complete picture of what transpired leading up to this fateful event.
The morning of January 28 was unusually cold. In fact, there was ice present around the launch site. The flight engineers warned their superiors that certain components—particularly the rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters—were vulnerable to failure at low temperatures and that the flight should be postponed once again. However, these warnings went unheeded, and at 11:39 a.m. Challenger lifted off. The results of ignoring the facts clearly speak for themselves. Later during a Commission convened to look into this disaster also found that the company that designed the solid rocket boosters, had ignored warnings about potential issues. NASA managers were aware of these design problems but also failed to take action. Clearly there was a leadership issue that chose to ignore the facts for the sake of not wanting the program to look bad. Clearly poor decisions outweighed the proper decision(s). This was not war time. This was not a case where life and limb should have been put in jeopardy but the sake of a Program was at stake and so the actions of a few still had a major impact on what would follow for years to come. At least 2 children (those of Christa McAuliffe) would grow up without their mother.
In closing and my call to action is that we have been taught to Dream from a very early age. For some of us, we have forgotten why we dream because we think that we will never be able to realize those dreams. If you had been in the position to postpone the flight, what would your decision have been? If you had been a member of this flight crew, would you still have wanted to go for it? Although it was not my destiny nor yours to be on that ill fated flight, there are an endless number of dreams that are waiting to be realized and fulfilled by people like you and me. We must never give up on these dreams nor on ourselves.
space-shuttle-chal_3560045k
[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]