Almost 40 years ago, the Challenger space shuttle broke apart, claiming the life of Concord High School teacher Christa McAuliffe. She was one of seven crew members who were killed.
Roger Wood was working as a radio news reporter and he covered the disaster in January 1986 for WOKQ.
As part of our series Remembering Christa, we asked Wood to share his memories of meeting McAuliffe, and traveling to Florida for the launch of the Challenger.
We highly recommend listening to this story.
Transcript
Note: All of the WOKQ archival tape used in this piece was provided courtesy of Roger Wood.
Roger Wood: When I learned that Christa McAuliffe was picked to be the first teacher in space, I went to Concord. They had a kind of a congratulations parade.
WOKQ archival tape: This is most certainly Christa McAuliffe's weekend in her hometown of Concord, the photogenic 36-year-old teacher, wife and mother of two riding in an open car through downtown capitol city Concord in the Lions Club parade, the photographers and citizens alike acknowledging her newfound celebrity status.
WOKQ archival tape: America's first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, social studies teacher from Concord High School.
Roger Wood: I got one quick question.
WOKQ archival tape: Do you ever think you'd be like an instant media celeb?
Christa McAuliffe, WOKQ archival tape: Well, I had thought about that when I was one of the ten. We got a lot of attention, so I knew it was probably going to increase, but I'm enjoying it.
Roger Wood: Then her car pulled away. I decided that it would be good to actually be there in Florida at Cape Canaveral during the liftoff of the challenger spacecraft. I also traveled with my friend Jim Van Dongen. Jim was the news director at NHPR. On that flight were a number of people that were involved with the Concord schools.
NHPR archival tape: I'm Jim Van Dongen for WEVO. Concord School superintendent Mark Beauvais says... "Just by looking at the palm trees and feeling the heat, it's become a lot more real. When the airplane was landing, I looked out the window on my left and I saw this giant structure to my left, and I assume that has something to do with the NASA center down here. Uh, that made me excited."
Roger Wood: We checked into the hotel and figured that the next morning would be the launch day.
WOKQ archival tape: On the weather front. Arriving here at the Cape is going to determine whether the shuttle can go off on time.
Roger Wood: But it wasn't. It was postponed.
WOKQ archival tape: Grace and Corrigan are Christa McAuliffe parents. But this weekend, just two of the thousands of New Englanders getting ready to watch the shuttle launch of the first teacher in space, their daughter Christa. They told reporters they're not concerned about their daughter's safety and that she isn't worried either. "She's fine. She's very comfortable with the whole thing. She's not concerned, worried or nervous. She's just anxious to go."
Roger Wood: It was postponed on a day to day basis for several days. We went back and the weather forecast was bad.
WOKQ archival tape: It's very cold, especially for Florida, 25 degrees. WOKQ's Roger Wood is with me live. Roger?
WOKQ archival tape: Weather expert Colonel Robert Nicholson is calling for only light winds and scattered high clouds with cold, subfreezing temperatures at launch time.
Roger Wood: So I wandered into the, uh, the actual media center, and, uh, there was a NASA weather person. So I asked this person on tape.
WOKQ archival tape: Have you seen temperatures ever this cold for a shuttle launch, though? "Well, we had, uh, temperatures about this low last year at this time when the first DoD payload, uh, shuttle went up, uh, we lost the launch date by one day then because of freezing conditions on the pad. It looks like they're ahead of that problem this year. And, uh, that we're, uh, go for launch."
Roger Wood: And basically dismissed my question.
WOKQ archival tape: The sky is bright and blue and not a cloud in it as far as, uh, would interfere with the shuttle launch. And it looks like right now all systems are go.
Roger Wood: We traveled over to grandstand, which had some audio connectors on it, and we plugged our recorders into that. We were hearing the chatter from the space center. We just sat there, and they were counting down. Suddenly it launched.
WOKQ archival tape: And look, it's pouring out the bottom. Brilliant. We have yellow. Clear the tower. Control program. Shuttle Challenger. Roger, roll. Can now start to hear the roar at the grandstand. Confirmed. And the Challenger down range. Smoke billowing out from below.
WOKQ archival tape: Sound was unbelievable. And with five miles away from the actual space shuttle.
WOKQ archival tape: The ground is literally shaking with the power that's coming out of that engine. Smoke of white brown. You can still see a small bit of flame from our position. Jim, the sound is starting to die out, but the spectacle is amazing. You can still see quite a bit of flame coming off the back of it. Now we've lost it in the in the smoke. There's sort of an orange flame in the middle of that cloud. So it's happened, Jim. New Hampshire's Christa McAuliffe is on her way.
Roger Wood: We were off the air because we had made an announcement that the shuttle was aloft.
WOKQ archival tape: Copy. Flight. Fido. Go ahead. RSO reports vehicle exploded. Copy.
Roger Wood: We walked over to the media center. We walked in, and I observed other reporters weeping and one reporter from New Hampshire said, "I can't go on."
WOKQ archival tape: Describe the scene as best you can. "Well, when, uh, the countdown began reaching zero, the crowd showed signs of smiles and happiness. Because the delay had taken such a long time, everybody thought they were going to go back to Concord without seeing the shuttle launch. The rocket took off, and I don't think the crowd knew what was going on right away. It took a while when they didn't notice that the shuttle had continued to go up. And then, uh, I think the first person who noticed what was going on was Christa's mother. Her, uh, I, I was focused on the parents and the brother and sister, and I noticed that she showed the first signs of fear and looked towards her husband. And by then everybody had realized what had happened."
Roger Wood: So it was extremely, extremely sad in there.
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