Wednesday; January 28
Forty years ago, our nation – and much of the world – walked around in a daze. On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after launch from the east coast of Florida. While the event would have made history wherever and whenever it happened, it was close enough to witnesses and the cameras that it was seen by countless people. For those of us who were alive back then, it is a moment many of us can never unsee – and for those of us who grew up with the space race and those who have a connection to the Space Coast, it is still a very vivid memory. As I reflect on Challenger disaster, one of the things I think about is how shocking it was. Sure, we knew that something so powerful and complex could go wrong; but we had become so used to the successes and tuned out the potential for failure that the shock was multiplied! Eventually, we woul...