The Space Shuttle – 30 years on.
April 11, 2011
I’m rather dating myself, but I’m a child of the Shuttle era, and so the combination of the 30th anniversary of the first Shuttle flight with the upcoming final Shuttle flight is making me rather nostalgic.
I remember the first flight surprisingly well given that I was only 5 years old at the time. The launch was big news, given that it was not only the first flight, but the also first American space flight in 6 years. RTE covered the launch and landing live (unthinkable today), with the peerless Leo Enright providing the commentary. I was already space obsessed, so the launch of STS-1 was manna for me.
The early Shuttle program was amazing, racking up first after first – large crews, high flight rate, satellite launches and the first untethered spacewalks. It really was the barnstorming era of space flight. Of course, the warning lights were blinking red – the system was under strain, and eventually gave way with the loss of Challenger.
I remember the day of the Challenger disaster well. I just had walked out the door when the accident happened, missing the news flash on RTE. When I got home later in the evening, I didn’t believe my Mum when she told me – to idealistic 10 year olds, space shuttles simply don’t explode. When the Nuacht came on at 7, I saw the footage for the first time, and even then really didn’t believe it. (My Mum also broke the news of Columbia to me, 17 years later, in a rather odd replay of history).
Of course, the Shuttle program never really recovered from Challenger. NASA became very risk adverse, and became very conservative in the goals of the Shuttle program (until the corporate memory of the Challenger accident was forgotten – leading to the loss of Columbia 17 years later). The program did have its great successes – the Hubble repair flights, Shuttle-Mir, ISS construction – because it is a superb and highly capable vehicle. Yet due to those same capabilities, the inherent weaknesses of the Shuttle also lead to its terrible lows – the strained Shuttle development budget and political compromises involved led to the issues which led to the loss of Columbia, along with poor management both within NASA and from the White House. The Shuttle is a flawed vehicle – but development vehicles always are.
When I lived in the US, I was lucky enough to attend the launch of a Shuttle, STS-124. It was a fantastic experience, and despite the risks, I’d have gladly swapped seats with those on board. I was also fortunate enough to visit Arlington, and paid my respects to the crew members of Challenger (Dick Scobee and Mike Smith) and Columbia (Laurel Clark, Mike Anderson and Dave Brown) who are buried there. The two experiences sum up the Shuttle program for me. Triumph and tragedy. But a necessary step for us to becoming a true space-faring civilisation – and I consider myself lucky to have lived through an amazing piece of history.
