Challenger: The Final Flight

Many born in the 90's have no recollection of a time when space exploration failed. This documentary looks at the successes of NASA in terms of inclusion during the 1970's and 80's. Then looked at how NASA got greedy and tried to do too many things at once, 7 great people were sacrificed in this greediness in January of 1986.

I found it interesting that the name "Roger Boisjoly" wasn't mentioned once. The man who probably fought harder than anyone to fix the o-ring problem gets passed by? While the series held my interest for all four episodes, a little more tech and a little less teacher would have been better, for me at least.

I have spent much of my adult life avoiding thinking about this tragedy. It is a case study on how an organization can become wicked and its members essentially the epitome of evil.

For me it was just horribly sad to watch this and there is a prevalent sense of horror as events move toward the inevitable ending.

What made it worth watching for me was to learn about Feynman's role. I knew the outline of it but not the specifics. It's quite amazing.

What astonishes me is there are these awful, old, gross NASA administrators who are still totally unrepentant, although they are clearly and obviously to blame for what happened.

The facts that are known about this inexcusable disaster are all over the net. If you are interested in the technical aspects of the accident read the Rogers Commission report.

This is the story of the Challenger disaster from the viewpoint of a lot of people that were there at the time. I found those views compelling and with all of that background information, by the fourth episode I felt like I was back in 1985. It was like I was right there, with all of those people.

Not exactly on topic but a bit of trivia: I worked for Morton Thiokol when the Challenger accident happened. There was a mandatory employee meeting the day after the disaster. We were all required to sign non-disclosure agreements. We were told that if we were caught saying ANYTHING, even the word Challenger, to ANYONE (even co-workers), we would be fired immediately.

I rarely cry over any television program or film, but this one did me in. I was 13 years old when the Challenger tragedy occurred, and my school had each class watch it live on TV. I will never forget the feeling of watching this happen real time, when my classmates and I were so thrilled and excited about an everyday school teacher going into space. It gave us all hope that we could do anything we wanted to do if we wanted it badly enough. Then, the unthinkable happened. They actually canceled school the next day to allow our young minds and hearts to come to terms with what we saw.

Like the tragedy of the Titanic, this is a bold reminder that mankind is NOT infallible and is inherently fragile. We may *advance* beyond our wildest dreams, but whenever human involvement is part of the equation, the worst can happen.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of these seven brave crewmembers and all of the others who have perished in other disasters. I had forgotten that they were able to retrieve the bodies of the Challenger crew. Hopefully that provided some sense of peace for those who continue to mourn their loss

RIP: Michael J. Smith Francis R. (Dick) Scobee Ronald E. McNair Ellison S. Onizuka Sharon Christa McAuliffe Gregory Jarvis Judith A. Resnik

You are true American HEROES and I will never forget you and your sacrifice.