Wednesday January 28- Challenger

Hi ,

Or Chaim high school in Toronto. Grade 9. Dr. Rangnekar’s biology class.

That’s exactly where I was 40 years ago today- January 28, 1986, 11:39am- when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.

I guarantee every Gen Xer can tell you exactly where they were when the Challenger just disintegrated in what has to be one of the most unreal things I’ve ever seen. We were all wondering, stunned in disbelief: Did we really just see that? Did that just happen?

(Of course, all Boomers can tell you where they were when JFK was assassinated. And Millennials the same with 9/11.)

You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing this in my nonprofit enews. What does the Challenger have to do with nonprofits?

Truth is, nothing. This week I just felt compelled to share some of my memories, because there are so many things in my head from both that day and the days and weeks that followed.

Christa McAuliffe was the first teacher to go into space. Elementary and high school students across North America were watching liftoff. What do you tell a class of third graders? How do you explain the unthinkable?

The space shuttle program had been around for five years. I watched multiple liftoffs, mesmerized by how it could fly into space. I had a poster on my bedroom wall of one of the space shuttles.

And here we were watching a replay of the explosion over and over again. (Yeah, the news couldn’t stop showing the exact second when disaster struck.) At that moment we had no clue what an O-ring was or why the low Florida temperatures that morning would contribute to a catastrophic failure.

What we did know is that the seven astronauts had lost their lives. And it all seemed so… like it didn’t happen. But it did.

And as I sit here typing I remember it all so vividly. I can even tell you where in the classroom I was sitting. (Far left row, third desk from front.) I remember sitting for hours in front of the news when I got home. And then watching as much news as I could in the days and weeks that followed.

I will also never forget the speech Ronald Reagan delivered that evening from the Oval Office. Reagan was a great orator (ok, let’s say the truth: He had great speech writers) but this was the best four minute talk he ever delivered.

In recent years I have read studies of that speech. One study explained that Reagan had to address FIVE different audiences in a very short time:

• Collective mourners

• Families of the astronauts

• School children

• The Soviet Union (this was at the height of the Cold War) and

• NASA employees.

As someone who writes speeches, I can tell you it’s very very hard to effectively address so many audiences in one speech, let alone in four minutes. Yet his speech writers did a masterful job.

Watch the speech here:

The ending is seared into my mind: “The crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger honored us with the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.”

(That final phrase is taken from a poem called “High Flight” written by John Magee, a WWII aviator.)

Memory is a funny thing. I can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen five minutes ago but I can remember every detail of something that took place forty years ago.

The other thing that’s kind of making me take an extra minute is the fact that it’s been FORTY years. To some of you I must sound like a grandfather telling old war stories. But forty years IS a long time and yet, it feels like yesterday.

As I said above, I don’t have a special reason for sending today’s enews. But given today’s anniversary, I felt the need to get some of my thoughts and feelings onto “paper” and share them.

Which leads me to one final thing: If you remember where you were, click reply and let me know. I’m definitely interested in hearing.

I’ll be back in your inbox next Thursday. Have a good day.