The 17

From the wee beginnings of the American space program I have followed the progress of man’s initial efforts to “break the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of God.” 

I have watched a myriad of launches from the comfort of my couch, and the safety of my front yard; for my home is a scant 100 miles from the Florida east coast.

I am a part and parcel of a century singular amongst the countless millennia which preceded it.

The Wright brothers and the first airplane

Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic

Russia’s Sputnik satellite

The Mercury Program

The Gemini Program

The Apollo Program

Skylab

The Space Shuttle

The International Space Station

The Explorer and Mars missions

The Voyager series of unmanned interstellar spacecraft

And I was privileged to see all of it.

It’s strange how that during the course of our lifetimes we live out thousands upon thousands of miscellaneous days, and if and when we attempt to remember any, when they are past, it is virtually impossible to do so.

And though our multiplied successes are imprinted on the landscape of the countless days which precede and secede them, our failures rule and reign amongst all our days.

And among the myriad of successes which accompanied those first tenuous steps into our universe, there were those few outstanding failures.

Failures which robbed us of 17 of the most gifted men and women who ever graced this planet.

Virgil Grissom, Edward White, Roger Chaffee, Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon

Ed White. The first American spacewalker

Christa McAuliffe. The first teacher in space

Ilan Ramon. Israel’s first astronaut

And their names and their achievements are immemorial. 

And who can forget where any one of us were when we heard the news?

Apollo 1 - 1967

A static test of a rocket scheduled to fly the very next month. Fire erupted in the three man capsule and as a result of its oxygen-rich environment quickly engulfed the unsuspecting astronauts.

My high school sweetheart and I were enjoying a date at a local pizzeria.

The Challenger - 1986

Just 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral the Space Shuttle Challenger disappeared into a massive fireball, and seven astronauts plummeted to a watery grave.

I was a delivery driver for UPS at the time, and had stopped to eat at the same mall in which I delivered packages.

The Columbia - 2003

As the Space Shuttle Columbia was engaged in its final approach for landing at Cape Canaveral, and no more than 15 minutes from home, it disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana, and we lost another magnificent seven.

I was seated in the “counselor’s chair” at a nearby church when I heard the news.

And it is curious that all three American spacecraft disasters occurred within one week on the calendar; (though years apart).

It is always easy to play backseat driver or television quarterback; especially on a past tense basis, and after the facts have been released. 

But in an age of the most amazing technology the events leading up to, and the ultimate causes of these three disasters cause one to shake his or her head in amazement; since each and every one of these real-life (and death) scenarios

… might easily have been prevented.

It was concluded that the presence of pure oxygen encouraged that first tiny flicker of flame within the Apollo I spacecraft, and allowed for its immediate combustion, and that the lack of a quick release bulkhead door sealed the fate of the astronauts.

It was concluded that prior to Challenger’s flight an O ring on the massive solid rocket booster had been compromised; as the result of early morning temperatures. The resulting brittleness of the material allowed hot gases to impinge on one of the two external propellant tanks. And the rest is history. NASA had been warned by a subcontractor that the unseasonably cold temperatures might lead to the failure of this crucial component.

It was concluded that during the liftoff of Columbia a small piece of insulating foam had come off the belly of the shuttle; striking its left wing. Upon reentry the integrity of the spacecraft’s structure was irrevocably compromised. NASA officials were fully aware of the loss of the tile, and the resulting wing strike, but discounted it of little consequence. Space agency scientists had urged administration supervisors to use various means to video the damage in flight, but their admonitions were ignored.

Whether inanimate or animate, human being or machine, it is all too apparent that those small, seeming innocuous flaws, when undiscovered, or unattended, have the innate capacity to decimate the structure and sanctity of our lives.

The Space Program. 

… An example to all of us.

 By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 27. Copyright pending

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