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This account was published in the Miami Herald on Jan. 29, 1986, a day after the Challenger exploded over Cape Canaveral.
It was their moment of triumph, a moment any parent could understand. Ed and Grace Corrigan’s daughter, teacher Christa McAuliffe, was on her way into space, into the history books.
So they stood in the sunshine Tuesday, Ed and Grace Corrigan, arm in arm in the bleachers at Cape Canaveral, and they watched in triumph. And then in disbelief. And then in horror.
Something terrible had happened. And now, a NASA official was making his way to them. He was walking up the bleachers, slowly, row by row. And with every step, he was sealing their fate.
Finally, he arrived, as they knew he must. “The vehicle has exploded,” he said. Mrs. Corrrigan looked back at him, and after a moment, she could find only these words, an echo really:
“The vehicle has exploded?”
The man nodded, and he was silent.
It was unthinkable. It was impossible....