30 years later, remembering the Challenger crew
Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger broke apart in the clear, cold sky high above Cape Canaveral, the commander's widow no longer feels anger at NASA and the management missteps and schedule pressure that kept the orbiters flying despite a fatal flaw in their solid-fuel boosters.
She tells CBS News she is at peace with history, her role in it, the heart-wrenching loss of her husband and his six crewmates and her connection with the countless people who will never forget America's loss of innocence on the high frontier.
"I am able now to treat the event as history rather than avoiding the public scrutiny that overcame us during our private grieving," said June Scobee Rodgers, whose husband, Francis "Dick" Scobee, commanded the 25th shuttle mission. "I'm envious when I look back at Dick Scobee's pictures, and he's so young, and I'm a great grandmother now!
"It's also interesting to hear the perspective from my children as adults when they talk about it," she said. "I still hear from people who can tell me exactly where they were and what they were doing, if they were old enough, at the time of the accident. And it's amazing to me. They want to share their story with me. It's as though they are sharing the experience of their own grief with me."
El Onizuka
Christa McAuliffe Greg Jarvis Judy Resnik Mike Smith Dick Scobee Ron McNair
Recall with numbing clarity the moment this happened, I, as well as millions of others could not, would not believe what we were witnessing. The overwhelming grief was only assuaged with time. Christa McAuliffe was chosen over 10,000 other teachers to make this ground breaking journey into space. She left behind a son, daughter and husband as well as hundreds of students who adored her. SHE made a difference.
