‘It’s part of his story’: Daughter remembers astronaut dad 40 years after Challenger explosion
Originally Published: 27 JAN 26 13:48 ET
By Dacia Johnson, Meghan Moriarty
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BREVARD COUNTY, Florida (WESH) -- It was Jan. 28, 1986 when seven crew members loaded onto the Challenger space shuttle on Florida's Space Coast, with plans to head to space.
Instead, the shuttle exploded minutes after launching – killing all seven people on board: Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith A. Resnik, Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, Mike J. Smith and Ellison S. Onizuka.
NASA last week held a Day of Remembrance for the seven crew members on Challenger and other astronauts who have died during different missions.
Jane Smith-Wolcott, wife of Pilot Mike Smith, attended the event saying: "Every day, we remember Mike and we love him."
The pilot's daughter was also at the event, adding, "This was an adventure for him."
"I lost my father," Alison Balch said, "but to everyone else, they felt like they lost somebody also."
Balch said the Day of Remembrance is a nice way to gather people and hear stories about her father.
"It's part of his story. I wish it had gone differently, but I can't make sense of that because we're given the life we're given. I have a strong faith," Balch said.
As Challenger lifted off at 11:38 a.m., thousands of people, including many children, watched from the ground below while millions more watched it all unfold on live television.
For the first minute or so, the flight appeared to travel normally. But at 73 seconds after liftoff, controllers lost all contact with Challenger as a fiery ball streaked across the sky and TV screens.
That evening, Reagan addressed the nation. Quoting John Gillespie Magee, he said, “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.’”
The explosion led to the grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet for nearly three years, during which various safety measures, solid rocket booster redesign and a new policy on management decision-making for future launches were implemented.
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