I was part of the team reporting on the launch from the Johnson Space Center for the National Space Institute's "Dial-a-Shuttle" service. I wasn't on mic at the time -- my colleague Patricia Jones (Dasch) was -- and the explosion stunned us both for a good couple of minutes. We were all fans of the space program, volunteering for NSI, and it hit us all hard.
A seldom-used corridor in the JSC visitor center museum was typically cordoned off for the press room during missions; it was nearly deserted at the time (although the big local stations and networks had their own private trailers), but I remember the European Broadcast Union coordinator, a normally cheerful woman named Barbara Joy, crying. Later in the day NASA staff closed off the rest of the building to the public and began setting up tables and phone lines for the media circus that was to follow.
A couple of days later, I provided commentary for the Dial-a-Shuttle coverage of the memorial service. I've never listened to my recording of that.
By the way, it's also 41 years since the Apollo 1 launch pad fire (January 27, 1967) that took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee; and Friday February 1 will be 5 years since the Columbia disaster. This is not a happy time of year for the space program.
A seldom-used corridor in the JSC visitor center museum was typically cordoned off for the press room during missions; it was nearly deserted at the time (although the big local stations and networks had their own private trailers), but I remember the European Broadcast Union coordinator, a normally cheerful woman named Barbara Joy, crying. Later in the day NASA staff closed off the rest of the building to the public and began setting up tables and phone lines for the media circus that was to follow.
A couple of days later, I provided commentary for the Dial-a-Shuttle coverage of the memorial service. I've never listened to my recording of that.
By the way, it's also 41 years since the Apollo 1 launch pad fire (January 27, 1967) that took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee; and Friday February 1 will be 5 years since the Columbia disaster. This is not a happy time of year for the space program.