Challenger: 25 Years Ago

On July 4, 1982, I went to Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert to view the landing of the space shuttle Columbia. I've always been a fan of the U.S. Space Program. To me, it is the only worthwhile program the country has.

At that landing, I was joined by over a million other spectators on Rogers Dry Lake. President Ronald Reagan was there to give the go-ahead for the lift-off of NASA's newest space shuttle, Challenger atop a modified Boeing 747.

After Columbia landed, President Reagan gave the okay for the Challenger's take-off. After the 747 got airborne with Challenger mounted on top, it flew over the huge crowd of spectators giving all a memory that would last as long as they lived.

Tragically, Challenger (and later, Columbia) gave people more memories that would live forever. On January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded as it was being launched into orbit due to a faulty o-ring seal on one of the solid rocket boosters over Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew of 7 were all killed.



I was working at Maryland Casualty Company in Encino, California at the time. While at work that day, I received a telephone call from my mother telling me that Challenger blew up. Immediately, a sickening feeling came over me. It was the same feeling as when President Kennedy was assassinated and on September 11, 2001. It is one of those moments that shock people to their core, leaving an indelible mark on them. It was the kind of event people always remember with vivid detail, such as the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, the JFK assassination in 1963 and the terror attacks in 2001. I would also have to include the destruction of the shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003 when it broke apart during re-entry, killing its crew.

Above, a monument stands in the background in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo honoring Challenger crew member Ellison Onizuka in Onizuka Square.

Today, a monument of the shuttle Challenger stands in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles honoring Japanese-American astronaut Ellison Shoji Onizuka. The square in which the monument stands is named Onizuka Square.

It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed. I still remember it to this day. It is also hard to believe that the two space shuttles I saw on that joyous day on July 4, 1982 at Edwards Air Force Base met with such tragic fates.