(Above) Mission Operations Director Gene Kranz reacts to news of a delay in the launch of Challenger on August 30, 1983. This scene was recorded in the mission operations control room (MOCR) of JSC’s mission control center.
FAST FACTS: STS-8 was the third flight of Space Shuttle Challenger, and the eighth shuttle flight. It conducted the first night launch and night landing.
Before the Challenger disaster, all missions starting with STS-5 used these flight helmets. No pressure suits were worn. The crew only wore one-piece light blue flight suits, escape harnesses, the above helmet. If the Shuttle’s cabin had depressurized on flights STS-5 to STS-51L the astronauts blood would literally have boiled due to the absence of emergency pressure suits.
Back row, left to right: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik. front row, left to right: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair.
In an article making fun of NASA, TheOnion.com crossed the line of humor with its disrespectful jokes about the 1986 Challenger disaster. There is nothing funny about dead Astronauts.
