Katharina Buczek
According to one of Christa’s students, Holly Merrow, the teacher’s colleagues immediately knew the damage would be catastrophic.
“I looked at a friend sitting next to me, and I said, ‘I think that’s supposed to happen.’ Then, I looked at my chemistry teacher that was there, and she was just crying and bawling,” Holly recalled.
All seven crew members, including Christa, perished in the Challenger explosion. And in the weeks following the disaster, NASA salvage crews sifted through shuttle fragments and recovered the crew members’ remains.
Christa’s body was eventually transported back to her family in Concord, New Hampshire, and her family conducted a private burial.
What Went Wrong?
The Challenger disaster immediately prompted nationwide grief, and an investigation into the cause of the explosion was launched.
It was later determined that the state of Florida’s uncharacteristic weather pattern had been the culprit. Florida had been experiencing more frigid temperatures than usual, and, as a result, icicles formed on the space shuttle.
The cold weather also caused an O-ring failure on the rocket booster– which ultimately led to the million tons of rocket fuel igniting.
The investigation also uncovered that the disaster could have been prevented if the launch was simply postponed again. However, it is believed that the pressure to launch for both the public and good publicity pushed NASA to undergo the mission in less than optimal conditions.
Christa’s Legacy
Following the Challenger explosion, NASA did not send any more astronauts into space for two years. The Teacher In Space Project was terminated, and the next civilian was not sent to space until 2007.
