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Thirty years ago, the nation watched in shock as the space shuttle Challenger exploded soon after take off, tragically killing all seven crew members, including a civilian teacher. This shuttle had launched and landed successfully nine times before this tenth launch. One of the rocket engineers feels partially responsible to this day. In a recent interview, he explains that he and his colleagues had anticipated the failure, and had warned officials that conditions weren’t right for the launch. When NASA ignored their warnings, the consequences were fatal. Listen to hear more from a NASA engineer’s perspective on this tragic event.
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President John F. Kennedy’s supports and efforts to jump-start a U.S. space program were in response to the perceived threat from the Soviet Union. Kennedy did not want the Soviets to be the first to send a human being to the Moon. This public radio story describes the differences between the Soviet and the U.S. space programs and why it was successful.
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