On This Date: On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after blasting off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts on board — including New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, a civilian who had been selected to fly via NASA’s “Teacher in Space” program and astronaut Ron McNair (graduate of Carver High School and NC A&T).
The Challenger was lost because a rubber “O-ring” seal on the shuttle’s right-hand solid rocket booster failed. The O-ring failed in part because unusually cold temperatures on launch day caused the part to harden, investigators later determined. The temperature at liftoff time was 36 degrees colder than any previous shuttle launch. https://www.space.com/31760-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster-30-years.html
BTW: Did you know that Ron McNair was an accomplished saxophonist.
Before his last fateful space mission he had worked with the composer Jean-Michel Jarre on a piece of music for Jarre’s then-upcoming album Rendez-Vous. It was intended that he would record his saxophone solo on board the Challenger, which would have made McNair’s solo the first original piece of music to have been recorded in space. However, the recording was never made as the flight ended in disaster and the deaths of its entire crew. The last of the Rendez-Vous pieces, “Last Rendez-Vous”, had the additional name “Ron’s Piece”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McNair
Verne Hill
VERSE: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” Psalm 150
QUOTE: “A person who loves his job, will never work a day in his life.”
MON-SAT 6A-10A(& Sunday@5 host)
verne@wbfj.fm
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