Onwards to the Stars

The scene is January 28, 1986. I was fourteen years old. I had just had my tonsils out and was home from school for the week. My father also happened to be off from work. I was eating a pint of strawberry ice cream as that was all my sore throat would allow. We were sitting in the den watching the count down of the launch of the space shuttle Challenger.

3…2…1…Ignition began, the booster rockets fired, and the great vehicle was lifted from the launch pad and into the sky.

“Isn’t that just incredible?” My father said.

The shuttle climbed ever upwards for what seemed like minutes.

“Challenger, go for throttle up,” The control person at NASA said on the television.

I looked intently at the screen as the great space craft picked up speed and soared into the heavens. It climbed ever higher until something went wrong. The steady trail of exhaust from the vehicle suddenly burst into a chaotic maelstrom of smoke and fire. The booster rockets went flailing about mid-air still alit and separated from the space craft.

“Dad?” I asked. “What happened?”

“Shit, son.” He said quietly as he stood up from his lounge chair. He paced back and forth in front of the TV screen.

I knew then that something grave had happened. I kept quiet and sat my pint of ice cream down on the coffee table. I was no longer hungry.

“I think the damn thing just blew to high heavens,” Dad said.

It is funny how such experiences seem so vibrant in your memory. I am 33 years old now and I can recollect that day as if it had happened yesterday. I can still taste that strawberry ice cream and vividly remember the look on my father’s face as it unfolded.

Today, as I watched Discovery go through the same process on the television, my stomach was in knots and the tension was almost unbearable. I heard that familiar queue to throttle up from many years earlier in my childhood. The shuttle continued to climb and finally made it into orbit. My eyes became wet with tears but I didn’t cry. After two and half long years we were finally back in space. Now, if we can just get those seven brave souls home safe and make space travel a routine affair again, I will be ecstatic.