Discovery STS-29 – Got a Perfect View

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December 3: STS-29 IUS DAMAGED IN MISHAP – FIRST STAGE CHANGEOUT ORDRED
Replacing the damaged rocket booster for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite may delay Discovery's scheduled Feb. 18 flight by a few days according to Kennedy Space Center spokesman George Diller. On December 1, during processing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the nozzle of the Inertial Upper Stage was damaged when a worker accidentally bumped into the $842 million part causing a 4-inch crack. An Air Force official said that a Boeing Aerospace technician "slipped, and as his feet went out from under him, he kicked the thing accidentally." Sid Saucier, Manager of the Space Systems Project Office at Marshall Space Flight Center said, "The nozzle is definitely going to be scrapped. It's gone." A replacement part is on hand at the Air Force Station. Diller said, "We are putting together a recovery plan that, at least on paper, will preserve the launch date." The mishap will be investigated by the Air Force. (Florida Today, Dec. 4, 1988)

December 6: DISCOVERY LAUNCH: FEB. 18, 1989
Damage to Discovery's next payload the upper-stage rocket of a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite identical to the one launched by Discovery on Sept. 29 - may prevent the Feb. 18 launch of the Shuttle. Processing for Discovery is well in hand, according to John "Tip" Talone, who is in charge of processing for the orbiter. He said that Discovery could be moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building as early as Jan. 14. "That looks feasible without having to work anybody over Christmas" he said. The thermal protection system's tiles will continue to be closely monitored. "Tiles were within the parameters of what we predicted for a normal turnaround," Talone said. (Florida Today, Dec. 7, 1988 - edited)

December 13: STS-29 CREW PATCH RELEASED
NASA has officially released the STS-29 crew patch. It was designed to capture and represent the energy and dynamic nature of the space program as America continues to look to the future. The folded ribbon border, the first of its kind in the shuttle patch series, gives a sense of three-dimensional depth to the emblem. The stylistic OMS burn symbolizes the powerful forward momentum of the shuttle and a continuing determination to explore the frontiers of space. The colors of the U.S. flag are represented in the patch’s basic red, white and blue background. In the border, the seven stars between the STS-29 crew names are a tribute to the crew of Challenger. (Description on STS-29 decal – edited)

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December 31: STS-29 PROCESSING MILESTONES DURING 1988
Solid Rocket Motor segments began arriving at KSC in September, and the first segment - the left aft booster - was stacked on Mobile Launcher 2 in VAB high bay 1 on Oct. 21. Booster stacking operations were completed by early December and the External Tank (ET-36/LWT-29), which had been stored inside the VAB since January 15, 1986, was mated to the two boosters on Dec. 16.

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Inside OPF bay 1 Discovery’s right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System pod was removed in late October and transferred to the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility where a small internal leak was repaired. At the beginning of November the orbiter underwent a number of systems checkouts, including tests on the Ku-band antenna, the Power Reaction Storage and Distribution (PRSD) system and the Auxiliary Power Units. On November 8 technicians installed new nose wheels and tire assemblies. Mid-month tests included water spray boiler checks. Gaseous oxygen flow control valves and the Forward Reaction Control System were removed to clean and flush internal plumbing. The FRCS was transferred to the Hypergolic Maintenance facility, while the payload bay was reconfigured for STS-29. On November 18 Discovery was powered down in order to replace the Flash Evaporator System. STS-26 post-flight inspections had revealed that the system was clogged with foreign material. At the end of November checkouts of the new FES began, while preparations were made to install two of the three Space Shuttle Main Engines.

Discovery's number one main engine (2019) was damaged during STS-26 when a weld failed in a cooling line at the bottom of the combustion chamber, where liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen burn to create the hot gases which power the orbiter's launch. Lee Solid, Launch Operations Director for Rocketdyne (Canoga Park, CA), explained initial suspicions that the leak was caused by the unbonding of copper and nickel metals in the area were “erroneous.” Solid reported that "a couple of design changes" are being considered to correct the problem. He said that unusual protrusions in the area may have caused hot gas to recirculate around the area, which might have contributed to the failure of the weld.

The damaged main engine was shipped back to the vendor where repairs could be made and a new engine (2031) was shipped from the Stennis Space Center, Miss. By mid-December all of Discovery’s three main engines were installed – engine 2031 in the number one position, engine 2022 in the number two position and engine 2028 in the number three position. At the same time the FRCS and the right-hand OMS pod had been reinstalled for flight. The third week of December saw testing of the main propulsion system, the fuel cells, the environmental control life support system and thermal protection system, as well as checkout of the right OMS pod and the FRCS. On December 16 filling and bleeding of the hydraulic system was completed.

Meanwhile the payload bay was configured for STS-29. The OASIS payload was installed in Discovery's payload bay for flight on December 9. Flight crew members came to KSC to perform the Crew Equipment Interface Test on December 11 to become familiar with Discovery's crew compartment and equipment associated with the mission. The repaired Inertial Upper Stage (IUS-9), having been equipped with a new first stage, arrived December 27. TDRS and IUS were joined together on December 29. (Florida Today, Jan. 5, 1989, Countdown, January, February and March 1989, STS-29 Press Kit - edited)

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January 1, 1989: WHAT’S (GOING) UP IN ’89 – AND BEYOND?

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January 3: DISCOVERY PREPPED FOR ROLLOVER
Discovery will be rolled from the orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Jan. 14. Following a week during which the Shuttle will be connected to its External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters, the orbiter will be rolled out to the launch pad on Jan. 21, according to Kennedy Space Center spokeswoman Lisa Malone. Launch of the shuttle, with its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite payload, is expected Feb. 18. That launch may be delayed until NASA officials learn what caused a turbopump on Atlantis to crack. "There is a tremendous amount of interest in what happened to the pump. They want to know what the cause is," said Malone.

Repair of Atlantis's thermal protection system continues, meanwhile. Approximately 200 of 700 reported "dings" have been repaired and 92 of the heat-resistant tiles have been removed. A report on damage done to Atlantis during liftoff is expected later this month. Columbia continues to undergo preparation for its July launch and is occupying the time and talents of 175 technicians and tile workers; 120 of these are assigned to Atlantis, according to Lockheed Space Operations Co. spokesman Stuart Shadbolt. (Florida Today, Jan. 4, 1989)

January 4: DISCOVERY LAUNCH SLIPS
Technicians require more time to work on Discovery before its rollout and that fact has caused the launch date to slip from Feb. 18 to Feb. 23. Officials said that Discovery could stay on the pad into March before impacting the expected launch of Atlantis in April. Meanwhile, NASA continues to investigate the cracked bearing housing on one of Atlantis's main engines and the damage done to the Orbiter's heat-resistant tiles. Officials have said that they believe insulation ripped away from the Shuttle's External Tank and booster rockets and impacted the tiles. (The Orlando Sentinel and Florida Today, Jan. 5, 1989)

January 5: ASTRONAUTS AT KSC FOR TDRS CHECK
Astronauts James Bagian and Robert Springer arrived at Kennedy Space Center today for tests of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Discovery will carry into space next month. The mission sequence test, which simulates all payload events from launch to deployment of the satellite, was scheduled to conclude Jan. 6. The five-day launch delay from Feb. 18 to Feb. 23 has allowed technicians to modify Discovery so it could handle launching both the Galileo and Ulysses probes if that became necessary. (Florida Today, Jan. 7, 1989)

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January 9: KSC CONSIDERS NEW FACILITY
Kennedy Space center may build a space station processing facility with private money, according to NASA sources. KSC would look to a third-party lender - like a bank or mortgage company - to finance construction of a facility which would eventually become NASA property. NASA Administrator James Fletcher said that NASA managers want to finance some $208 million worth of projects through the private sector. NASA's new budget proposal shows $52.6 million for construction projects at KSC: An upgrade of the Orbiter Modification and Refurbishment Facility to an Orbiter Processing Facility for $26 million; roof replacement at LC 39 for $11 million; replacement of the cooling towers at LC 39 for $4.6 million and $3.5 million to fix a spacecraft assembly facility. (Florida Today, Jan. 10, 1989)

PRESIDENT REAGAN’S FINAL BUDGET REQUEST TO CONGRESS
President Reagan’s final budget request to Congress will allot $2.05 billion for the Space Station, which would be twice the 1989 levels approved by Congress, should lawmakers approve the request released today. All totaled, Reagan’s request tags $13.27 billion for NASA. J.R. Thompson, Marshall Space Flight Center director, says that the proposal will not be enough for NASA to get “everything we believe we need over the next decade.” NASA administrator James Fletcher says that the budget request for NASA is extremely tight. “Any further cut would require a complete re-examination of the entire NASA program,” Fletcher tells reporters. “We were just barely able to shoehorn in this year.”

Bob Walker, co-chairman of the House committee that authorizes NASA spending, says that according to some of the people he has talked to, “some people in very high places,” the Bush administration is going to allow “a very healthy increase for space overall, and in particular the Space Station.” Walker says no specific dollar figures have been disclosed, but officials “told me they’ve taken good care of space.”
Meanwhile the new head of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee says she wants to know specific plans concerning Space Station Freedom before her committee can consider allocating more money needed to finance the project. Senator Barbara Mikulski said, “We’re going to ask, and the Congress of the United States is, if you get the money, first of all, what the hell you are going to do with it?”

Outgoing Commerce Secretary William Verity, commenting on NASA, says the agency has grown into a bloated bureaucracy and should hand over all of its space activities to the private sector, with the exception of science and exploration activities. NASA chief James Fletcher and U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) are quick to leap to the agency’s side. Fletcher responds by defending Space Station Freedom, while Nelson stresses that NASA “should be given the opportunity to pursue that goal (spaceflight) without constantly having to protect its flanks from bureaucratic turf fight where other agencies are trying to elbow NASA aside. (Countdown, March 1989 – edited)

BUDGET KIND TO KSC
President Ronald Reagan's proposed 1990 budget provides $169 million more for KSC over the previous year's budget. The space center would get $934 million for shuttle programs, including launch, landing, production, equipment, operation and upper-stage boosters for Spacelab and other payloads. The center would get $279 million for research and program management; it would receive $63 million for construction and $21 million for other programs. The total KSC budget proposal is $1.2 billion, up from the previous year's $1.05 billion. (Florida Today, Jan. 11, 1989)

PAD 39A TO BE MODIFIED
Pad 39A, which launched Saturn rockets to the moon and the first shuttle flight will undergo $12.3 million worth of modifications, numbering more than 100, to ready it for launches beginning in 1990, according to NASA spokeswoman Barbara Selby. Among other modifications planned are an orbiter weather protection system, improvements to the launch tower's emergency escape system, the installation of a sheet-metal floor on the walkway that connects the launch tower and the Shuttle, refurbishment of the walls and elevators of the payload change-out room and improved lighting to better illumine the area at night. Launch Complex 39A was originally built between November 1963 and October 1965. All shuttles launched in 1989 will lift off from pad 39B. (Florida Today, Jan. 16, 1989)

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January 10: ENGINE STAINS ON DISCOVERY
Stains have been found on the inside of one of Discovery's engines, but no launch delay was expected because of it. The bearing assemblies on the high-pressure liquid oxygen turbopumps in each of the Shuttle's main engines were checked today for unexplained moisture stains. According to space center spokeswoman Lisa Malone, two of the three engines were found to be clean. NASA officials think the stain may have been caused by a lubricant rather than unexplained moisture. Similar discoloration has been seen previously. The crack in one of Atlantis's turbopumps is still being investigating and Discovery is not expected to launch till the cause of the crack is ascertained. Launch is still expected to occur on Feb. 23. (Florida Today, Jan. 11, 1989)


`PRIVATIZATION' KEEPS THIOKOL IN SHUTTLE BUSINESS
The Reagan administration's insistence on "privatization" of government programs wherever possible may delay the start of production of the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor and thus keep Utah's Morton Thiokol Corp. in the shuttle booster business longer than planned.

James Fletcher, head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told reporters Monday (Jan. 9) that the White House cut from the budget $60 million to begin building a NASA-owned advanced booster plant in Mississippi. The reason he gave was that the president's Office of Management and Budget objected to having the government replace private-industry ownership of such an industrial operation. Rocky Raab, who manages external affairs for Morton Thiokol, said Fletcher's announcement reaffirms the position Thiokol officials have always maintained - that "the space business is one of private industry and should not be a government-owned proposition."

Because Morton Thiokol will be building the redesigned solid rocket motors until the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor plant is completed, any substantial delay or cancellation of the program "would mean that Morton Thiokol will build the rocket motors indefinitely," said Raab. "As it stand now, we'll be building rocket motors through 1997. "We've proved we can build the safest, most reliable solid rocket motors in the world and we've pledged to continue that performance."

Thiokol has said it would not bid on producing the new motor, after its part in the shuttle disaster three years ago. NASA still wants a government-owned, contractor-operated plant. To resolve the question, a Source Evaluation Board is looking at both options. Plans had been for the motor to power shuttle launches after 1992, but unless the present standoff is solved it could be longer. Meanwhile the Thiokol plant at Brigham City remains the only U.S. shuttle booster producer. With nine shuttle launches planned for 1990 and possibly more in future years, the delay could mean orders for from eight to 10 additional booster motors from Brigham City. (Deseret News. Jan.10, 1989)


January 11: STS-29 BACKGROUND BRIEFINGS AT JSC
A series of pre-flight background briefings and a press conference with the STS-29 astronaut crew are scheduled for January 11 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Background briefings will include an overview of the flight given by lead flight director Charles W. Shaw as well as briefings on the primary payload, TDRS-D, secondary payloads, and other mission objectives. The briefings will begin at 8 a.m. CST and should be completed by 4 p.m. Round robin interviews with the flight crew will be conducted the following day (NASA News, JSC, Release No. 89-01, Jan. 4, 1989)

COATS & CO. ANTICIPATE SMOOTH RIDE
The crew members for STS-29 say they anticipate a smooth ride to orbit aboard Discovery in February, and they’re confident NASA’s sharp focus on safety hasn’t blurred following the agency’s past two successes. “I think NASA’s gone out of its way to keep the Astronaut Office informed of anything that comes up,” STS-29 Commander Mike Coats said Wednesday (Jan. 11). “We’re confident right now that NASA is doing everything it can, and we’re doing everything we can, to have as safe a flight as possible for the foreseeable future. We’re going to see some problem as long as we fly the shuttle. It’s inevitable with spaceflight,” Coats said. “But the other side is that when you find a problem, they’re going to make a design change and solve it. The learning curve is continually going up. One of the things we learned in military flying is that the more you fly, the fewer problems you have,” he added. “I think the same thing is true with the space program.”

STS-29 will be the first trip to space for three astronauts – Blaha, Springer and Bagian. Each is looking forward to launch, although their current levels of excitement differ. “Everybody works on a big team here, supporting everybody who flies,” Blaha explained. “And, honestly, right now I don’t have any different feelings than I’ve had prior to any launch. But I may feel differently when the Solid Rocket Boosters start to light up on the pad.” – Coats, a shuttle veteran, reassured him, “You will.”

Springer said he has spent years sharing in the tremendous buildup that goes into every shuttle flight. He is looking forward to “a chance to experience what we’re going to experience and share that with all the people who have participated so much.” Years of intensive preparation could, at times, appear to lessen the newness of a first flight aboard the shuttle, Bagian said. “But I’m sure it will be quite a thrill when it lights off and gets going. That’s something you can only experience,” he added. “The simulator can’t do that for you.”

Flight controllers at JSC also are excited about the first flight of 1989, the first full year of resuming regular missions. “Everyone is really upbeat. This is a super operation to be involved in,” said Chuck Shaw, lead flight director. “We’re gearing up for a multi-flight environment. It’s nice to be able to do that again. It’s good to have your plate full.” (James Hartsfield/JSC Space News Roundup, Jan. 13, 1989 – edited)

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NO DELAY IN DELIVERING PAYLOAD
Problems with a computer aboard the Inertial Upper Stage will not delay the delivery of Discovery’s payload to the launch pad nor the launch on Feb. 23. The IUS will be used to boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite carried by the Shuttle. Recent tests showed that the IUS computer had failed and officials are unsure whether the problem is with the hardware or the software used to run the computer, according to Air Force Col. Robert Bourne, commander of the group preparing the IUS for flight. "We see no threat to the launch date due to this problem," said Bourne today. The computer may be replaced once the satellite and its IUS booster arrive at the launch pad. (Florida Today, Jan. 12, 1989)


January 12: ASTRONAUT LOUNGE AT FIT
Two-time Shuttle veteran astronaut Mike Lounge told students, faculty and guests at Florida Institute of Technology that "America needs to lead or get out of the way." He said that America's future in space depended on the nation's ability to produce quality engineers, pilots, doctors and technicians. He said that efforts similar to those which followed the launch of Sputnik are needed if the United States is to maintain its place among spacefaring nations. "It's absolutely vital that we continue with this while we still have the capability to do so. I'm worried about the casual attitude in this country.', Lounge also showed the audience a new NASA film about the first post-Challenger flight, STS-26 aboard Discovery. (Florida Today, Jan. 13, 1989)


January 13: DEMONSTRATORS AT KSC
A two-week march of some 100 peace activists from West Palm Beach is expected to culminate with a rally at Kennedy Space Center on January 28, the third anniversary
of the Challenger tragedy. Bruce Gagnon, coordinator with the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, said that "by protesting at KSC, we're saying that we're concerned about military influence in the civilian space program. It will be our last chance over the next two to three years to stop the use of weapons in space." Gagnon expects some 2,000 persons to participate in the rally at KSC. Gary Wistrand of the space center's Protective Services Office, said, "We don't mind if they stop at Spaceport USA. As long as they don't interfere with guests or operations, they will be treated like any other visitor.,, [Lancaster, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, p. D-
1, Jan. 14, 1989.]


NASA TRIMS LIST OF POTENTIAL PASSENGERS
Congressmen, teachers and Saudi princes will no longer be invited by NASA to be passengers on the space shuttle under a new policy that emphasizes completing the recovery from the Challenger accident in which two non-astronauts were killed. The space agency announced a new category of "space flight participants" and said, at the same time, that flight opportunities for them "are not available at this time."Before the Challenger exploded on liftoff Jan. 28, 1986, NASA had given minimum training to a senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a Saudi Arabian prince and Christa McAuliffe, the first "Teacher in Space." Mrs. McAuliffe was killed along with industrial engineer Gregory Jarvis and five astronauts.

"The Challenger accident marked a major change in the U.S. outlook and policies with respect to the flight of other than NASA astronauts," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in the policy statement Thursday. At the time of the Challenger explosion, the process of choosing a reporter to fly on the shuttle was in its final stages. Committees had winnowed down thousands of applications to 40.

When the shuttle does begin flying non-essential passengers again, NASA said, a teacher will be the first. The agency said that for now, flight opportunities generally will be limited to professional astronauts and payload specialists essential for mission requirements. Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, flew on the shuttle in April 1985 and Rep. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was aboard in January 1986, at the invitation of NASA's administrator. In 1985, shuttle passengers included Sultan Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and Rodolfo Neri Vela, a Mexican. They were aboard, NASA said, to "observe" the launches of the Arabsat and Morelos-B communications satellites for their countries. (Deseret News, Jan. 13, 1989)


January 15: DISCOVERY READIED FOR MOVE
Discovery underwent last-minute leak and landing gear checks in the OPF today in preparation for a scheduled Jan. 19 move to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with its solid rocket boosters and the External Tank. Its payload bay underwent final cleaning before its doors were closed for the ride to the launch pad, now scheduled for Jan. 26. Launch remains scheduled for Feb. 23. (Florida Today, Jan. 16, 1989)

January 16: SHUTTLE STILL ON SCHEDULE
Work on Discovery and Atlantis continue on schedule and for that reason, a NASA plan to switch cargoes will not be implemented. "That was a fallback plan that was always on the book," said James Harrington, Shuttle operations Director at Kennedy Space Center. Richard Kohrs, Deputy Director of the National Space Transportation program office at Johnson Space Center, referring to the cargo switch plan, said, "Where we are today there is no need to do it." (Florida Today, Jan. 17, 1989)


FIRING UP UNDER CHILLY CONDITIONS
The rocket booster that is chilling in a Morton Thiokol test bay may mark the end of the redesign program that has preoccupied NASA, the aerospace industry and space watchers for the past three years. The booster rocket is set for firing Thursday. In a sense, the test is the final verification of design changes ordered in the wake of the shuttle Challenger accident three years ago. But J.R. Thompson, who is head of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, which oversees propulsion systems, repeatedly has said the testing will not end with successful flights. "It's the end of what we call the qualification program," Royce Mitchell, Solid Rocket Booster program manager at Marshall, said in a phone interview from Huntsville, Ala. "The biggest challenge we face right now is to keep people alert, keep people as conscious as possible," fight complacency and continue putting a "tender, loving feeling" into the boosters, Mitchell said. "Eventually we will turn it over to a subroutine program," he said. "We are careful in this business - we may turn too much over to the routine."

Motors of the design that flew - and were destroyed - on Challenger still are hanging around. And those motors will be used for testing new gadgets and improvements NASA and Thiokol engineers develop, Mitchell said. "The pre-Challenger motors give us an opportunity to do a certain amount of testing - take advantage of trying a new tire on an old car." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also requested in its budget two flight support motor tests each year, Mitchell said. "It's like Zenith pulling a TV off the line and really wringing out the thing." NASA and the aerospace industry hailed the redesigned solid-fuel rocket boosters that successfully carried two shuttles into space in 1988 as the safest ever flown. A third flight is set for next month. But the presidential commission that investigated Challenger ordered six tests to be conducted to verify design changes would prevent a repeat of the gas leak that doomed the Challenger flight.

The cold-firing test this week will show whether the propellant in the booster will safely fire after being subjected to a month of temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Challenger was destroyed Jan. 28, 1986, when hot gases leaked through seals on a booster rocket. Subfreezing temperatures and the flawed design of booster O-rings led to the disaster that put shuttle flights on hold until the Discovery launch last Sept. 29. Morton Thiokol postponed the test one day to allow the rocket fuel to cool to 40 degrees in the refrigerated Bay T-97, at the aerospace firm's Wasatch Operations plant west of Brigham City. The rubbery, eraser-like rocket fuel cools at a slower rate than its outer shell, so it could be zero degrees outside while the propellant could be just a few shades cooler than when it was first exposed to the elements. The 40-degree temperature of the rocket fuel is lower than considered acceptable for a shuttle launch under stringent guidelines adopted after Challenger.

"By chilling this whole motor, we've shown a great margin," Mitchell said, "that cooling the motor down is not a problem. Cooling down this steel robs it of some strength. It tells us something about the cool strength of this steel." The two-minute test is scheduled at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

More than 600 instruments will measure acceleration, pressure, thrust, strain, temperature and other conditions during the two-minute firing. More than 1 million pounds of propellant has been chilled to 40 degrees for the test. Design changes incorporated to enhance safety include:

- An additional O-ring seal, a liplike "capture feature" and a J-shaped deflection slit at each joint reduce stresses and increase sealing action.
- Joint heaters, mounted around the motor case at each field joint location, maintain joints at 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heaters maintain a 66-degree temperature at the igniter. The igniter sparks a flame sent down the rocket nozzle to light the propellant.
- 100 radial bolts were added in the joint that connects the nozzle to the case, along with beefed-up insulation and an additional O-ring.

(Deseret News, Jan. 16, 1989)

THIOKOL PLANS TO LAY OFF 60
About 60 people in Morton Thiokol's testing division will lose their jobs before the end of February following the completion of tests on redesigned space shuttle booster rockets, a company spokesman says. Rocky Raab said the layoffs were announced in a memo posted Saturday to alleviate rumors about layoffs that have been circulating throughout the company. When the final full-scale qualification test-firing of Thiokol's redesigned space shuttle booster rocket is completed, Raab said the corporation's testing division in its plant west of Brigham City will have about 120 employees it doesn't need. He said Thiokol will be able to place only about half those employees in other positions within its operation. (Deseret News, January 16, 1989)


January 17: SECURITY TIGHTENED AT KSC
Kennedy Space Center security officials have erected two 7-foot-tall fences at the space center to more clearly mark restricted areas where "peace" activists plan to trespass on January 28. KSC official s expect between 1,000 and 2,000 persons to attend a demonstration on the third anniversary of the Challenger tragedy. Referring to the new fences, KSC's deputy director of protective services Gary Wistrand said, "We've had several protesters in the past who have come over an imaginary line into our restricted area, and we just wanted to define that boundary better." The chain-link barriers cost $30,000, which will come from the KSC budget. Wistrand and other KSC security officials - who have met several times with Florida Coalition of Peace and Justice members to help plan the demonstration - said they expect little trouble. Wistrand said, "I think we'll see less than 1,000 people. And I think we'll have a peaceful demonstration." He also said that security forces would rope off an area for the protestors and provide portable toilets. (Florida Today, Jan. 18, 1989)


January 18: FEB. 23 STILL ON FOR LAUNCH
Kennedy Space Center Director Forrest S. McCartney said today that there is still a fighting chance to make the February 23 launch date for Discovery. He said that the damaged thermal protection system and the crack in a main engine turbopump no longer threatened the launch. Rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building has been postponed from Jan; 19 to Jan. 22 to allow workers more time to finish prepping Discovery. Launch Director Robert Sieck said that the schedule is "tight, but doable." (Florida Today, Jan. 19, 1989)


January 20: REDESIGNED BOOSTER FIRES SUCCESSFULLY IN FREEZING CONDITIONS
Morton Thiokol had another winner Friday (Jan. 20) as it successfully fired a redesigned rocket booster in subfreezing temperatures. Dust and debris were kicked up as the 5,000-degree flame from the rocket consumed part of the foothill. A river of snow flowed down the hillside."The nation has a new president today and a new success in the space program," said Royce Mitchell, solid rocket motor program manager. The 120-second firing culminated a three-year redesign effort that shook up the space industry and the way the nation views manned missions. "Now we are prepared to launch at any condition" either at Cape Canaveral, Fla., or Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., said Gerald Smith, NASA's Solid Rocket Booster program manager.

The booster consumed more than 1 million pounds of rubbery propellant in the cold-fire test. To test the booster, engineers cranked up the refrigeration in test bay T-97 at Morton Thiokol's Wasatch Operations plant for more than 30 days. The rocket fuel's mean temperature at firing was an estimated 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while skin temperature of the booster was 20 degrees. "That is by far the coldest motor ever fired in the manned space program and provides us considerable margin" in determining both safety and stress factors, said Mitchell.

Sub-freezing temperatures on Jan. 28, 1986, allowed gases to flow through flawed O-ring seals on a right-side booster rocket and ignite the shuttle Challenger's huge external fuel tank. The disaster put America's space program on hiatus while commissions and NASA revamped the boosters and made the program more cost-efficient. "This test is somewhat of a landmark because this is the final test" required in the redesign program, Mitchell said, describing the redesign as a "long, hard and arduous test program."

"We will not stop testing today, however," he said. A test using Challenger-style hardware is scheduled next month and includes some design changes in the rocket's nozzle area. The tests using boosters on hand "will enable us to continue to test . . . to show we are continuing to build high-quality motors." The six tests conducted jointly by Thiokol and NASA were ordered by the presidential commission that investigated Challenger. Although there have been two successful missions, and another is set for February, the cold-fire tests were required to ensure the changes will work in cold weather as advertised. "The bottom line is we didn't see any indication of any anomalies" in the rocket, Mitchell said. "We do see many indications of a good motor. It's a good day for us."

Heaters positioned on the joints and igniter maintain temperatures above 66 degrees. "It's a very good test for the functional temperature of those heaters," said Allan McDonald, Space Operations vice president of engineering for Morton Thiokol. Aside from testing the heaters, loads similar to the stresses at launch were introduced on the 126-foot rocket that is anchored horizontally on the Promontory foothills, about 25 miles east of Brigham City. "What we're trying to duplicate is the worst structural loading those rockets will see," McDonald said.

The test was delayed 90 minutes while weather watchers waited for upper-level winds to improve. The state Air Quality bureau requires winds of at least 15 mph for the open-air burn. Winds were clocked at about half that at 11:30 a.m. so the test was pushed back. Additionally, freezing temperatures at the test site caused icing on the tracks over which the test bay is moved to expose the booster. Thiokol spokesman Rocky Raab also announced Friday that analysis of the rockets launched on the shuttles Discovery and Atlantis last year showed a near-perfect performance. (Deseret News, Jan. 21, 1989)

ANOTHER BOOSTER TEST IS PLANNED
The final qualifying test of a redesigned solid rocket booster is being hailed as a success, but NASA and Morton Thiokol engineers are planning another full-scale firing later this month to see just how much they can fine-tune the booster. The Jan. 20 test at Morton Thiokol's Wasatch Operations plant west of Brigham City was the final hurdle required to make the boosters fully certifiable for flight.Utah-made boosters successfully flew on two shuttle missions. But the test, in which the rocket fuel was chilled to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, was required by the presidential commission that investigated the Challenger disaster. "So far everything looks great," Royce Mitchell, NASA solid rocket motor project manager, said Monday. "We got the first joint apart late Friday night. We didn't get any gas anywhere. Everything is cool." The 125-second test verified the more than 100 design changes on the booster would hold up under extreme cold conditions, either at Cape Canaveral, Fla., or Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The test tentatively scheduled Feb. 23 will use a leftover motor that is the same design that flew, and was destroyed, on Challenger. It allows engineers to tinker with design changes and improvements to the rockets. "It's a good evaluation tool for us try these kinds of design improvements," said Mitchell. The shuttle exploded three years ago because a faulty O-ring seal on a ride-side booster rocket allowed gases to leak through and ignite the huge external fuel tank. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and industry officials hailed the boosters as the safest ever flown following the $450 million redesign project.

"We're making some modifications of the nozzle" on the test motor, Mitchell said. Specifically, engineers are toying with the vent holes on the nozzle to equalize pressure endured during ignition. "Another trick we're going to try is putting a Teflon kind of liner that tends to erode away and keep slag from building up" in the holes of the rocket nozzle. (Deseret News, Feb. 7, 1989)

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PLAYALINDA BEACH ROAD PLANS OK'D
Officials agreed today on preliminary design plans for a road to Playalinda Beach that would keep the popular area open most of the year. SR 402 is closed when shuttles are on the pads because the road is within NASA's three-mile security perimeter. The new road, for which construction could start as soon as September, would be closed on launch days. Officials from NASA, the National Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Highway Administration and National Park Service agreed on the plans for the road. Congress has approved $6.6 million for the road. (Florida Today, Jan. 21, 1989)

NEW SOUTH ACCESS ROAD PLANS
Plans first developed in the mid-1960's for a new southern access road to Kennedy Space Center have been dusted off for reconsideration by the space center and the Brevard County Commission. The reconsideration was prompted by an indefinite delay in Florida-funded improvements to North Courtenay Parkway, also known as SR 3. The proposed road will be the subject of discussion at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Brevard County Commission which will include District II Commissioner Roger Dobson, the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Transportation Task Force and representatives from KSC and the Florida Department of Transportation.

The proposed road would begin at KSC's south gate, have a bridge over the Barge Canal, and end at a new interchange with SR 528 or be connected with North Banana River Drive, which already connects with SR 528. Plans call for the road to be built along the west boundary of KSC property on land donated by NASA. The space agency would also contribute $1.9 million to widen the road to four lanes beyond the KSC gate, according to Jim Phillips, Director of Engineering Development at KSC. Since estimates for the road range from $12 million to $24 million, money for the project is the major stumbling block. The county had planned to include $8.7 million in an upcoming gas tax-backed bond issue to pay for widening another section of North Courtenay, but Dobson said some of that money may now be diverted to the new road. (Florida Today, Jan. 21, 1989)

COUNTY REJECTS NEW ROAD PLAN
Faced with opposition to a new southern access road to Kennedy Space Center, the Brevard County Commission returned to the County's plan to widen part of North Courtenay Parkway, despite Florida's decision to postpone indefinitely its funding for the project. The Department of Transportation had previously earmarked $9.4 million for the project to widen the Barge Canal drawbridge and widen the road to four lanes between the canal and KSC's south gate. Commissioner Roger Dobson said money from gas tax-backed bonds in the amount of $8.7 million could enable the county to begin construction by the end of 1989 and complete the project within two years.

Aneta Oft, President of the North Merritt Island Homeowners Association, said she could "guarantee there will be a lot of trouble from residents. This certainly will not help the value of our property. Some county officials claim that long-term plans call for the eventual six-laning of North Courtenay by the year 2010. Even the four-lane plan will conflict with existing development. Widening it further also "would be a very expensive, messy project," said Bob Kamm, the county's interim Transportation Director. (Florida Today, Jan. 24, 1989)


ULF MERBOLD VISITS KSC – AND MAY FLY AGAIN ON A 1991 SHUTTLE MISSION
Eight astronauts from West Germany toured Kennedy Space Center today as part of their training and they expressed confidence in the Space Shuttle program. "What I think is very important is the fact that NASA is flying again," said Ulf Merbold, one of the visiting scientists and a mission specialist aboard Columbia's Spacelab 1 mission in 1983. He went on to say that "the fact that we have had two successful flights gives us a very strong boost because that means we can expect that scientific missions soon will be flying also." Merbold's visit to KSC gave him a chance to see Columbia again and he said, "We have just seen it, and I had tears in my eyes."

On November 28, 1983, Ulf Merbold made space history during Columbia STS-9, when he became the first non-American to be launched aboard a U.S. spacecraft. And maybe the West German physicist will make a second Space Shuttle trip into orbit – that again would be a first for a representative from a foreign country. On January 12 NASA selected two Canadians, one American and the German space veteran to participate in preparations for the April 1991 International Microgravity Laboratory IML-1 mission. The four candidates will begin training at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in April of this year. Merbold will represent the European Space Agency. He will be joined by Roger Crouch, a scientist specializing in microgravity studies at NASA Headquarters in Washington, and Canadians Roberta Bondar and Kenneth Money for the opportunity to fly aboard the shuttle. Bondar is a physician specializing in neurology and Money a pilot and scientist specializing in the study of motion sickness. According to NASA, one of the Canadians and either Merbold or Crouch will be selected to join five NASA astronauts on the mission.

IML-1 will be the first in a series of flights which will investigate the use of weightlessness in scientific experiments. The experimentation will take place in the Spacelab module to be carried in Columbia’s cargo bay. The mission is tentatively scheduled for nine days. NASA says IML-1 will be followed every 17 to 25 months with additional flights using a module and experiment facilities built by the U.S., European, Canadian and Japanese space organizations. (Florida Today, Jan. 21, 1989 and Countdown, March 1989 - edited)

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January 23: DISCOVERY MOVED OUT OF OPF – COLUMBIA MOVES IN
A balky OPF door briefly delayed the move of Discovery over to the Vehicle Assembly Building this morning, but the twenty minute trip was begun at 1:53 a.m. Discovery will occupy a bay in the VAB for about a week before its rollout to the launch pad. In the VAB, Discovery will be mated with its External Tank, boosters and will have all electrical connections checked before rollout. Columbia will be moved to the OPF hangar occupied till today by Discovery; the shuttle will remain in the OPF till late May in preparation for its launch in July. (Florida Today, Jan. 23, 1989)

Discovery's rollout to Pad 39B is expected to begin just after midnight Jan. 30; this represents a one-day slip due to rain having delayed the rollover from the OPF to the VAB. Launch is still scheduled for Feb. 23. Post-rollover inspections of Discovery showed a nick in the right-outside main landing gear tire and damage to a few heat protection tiles. KSC spokeswoman Lisa Malone said that the tire will be replaced and the tiles will be repaired. Discovery will be hoisted upward Jan. 24 in preparation for mating with its External Tank and its Solid Rocket Boosters. Columbia was rolled into the OPF in Discovery's spot on Jan. 23. Atlantis is in the other hangar in the OPF and officials plan to have it moved to the VAB before Discovery returns from its California landing. Some post-flight work on Discovery may be done in California if Atlantis is not ready to be moved, according to Malone. (Florida Today, Jan. 24, 1989)

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RENAMED WESTAR TO BE LAUNCHED BY CHINESE LONG MARCH ROCKET
AsiaSat Telecommunications Co., a Hong Kong consortium formed in February 1988, has acquired the refurbished Westar VI, which was recovered from space by shuttle astronauts during Discovery STS 51-A in late 1984. Westar VI has been renamed AsiaSat 1. The 24-transponder C-band communications satellite is the central figure in a $120-million investment by the AsiaSat consortium, which is made up of Cable and Wireless, CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corp.) and Hutchinson Whampoa. The multimillion dollar investment will cover the cost of purchasing Westar VI, insurance, launch and the establishment of two ground control stations, which will be built later this year.

The consortium plans to begin services with only the single satellite in 1990. It is hoped that the profits from the leasing of AsiaSat 1 will be enough to purchase a second satellite, one that’s larger and more productive than the Westar VI. The AsiaSat consortium lists Japan, China, Thailand and Pakistan as possible customers for their first-ever satellite endeavor. AsiaSat has signed a deal with the state-owned China Great Wall Industrial Corp. to launch their second-hand satellite aboard a Long March 3 rocket from its Xichang launch site. This will be the first time communist China launches a foreign-built satellite. (Countdown, February and March, 1989 – edited)

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January 24: PLAYALINDA BEACH ROAD CLOSING
Portions of the Canaveral National Seashore and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge will close at noon Jan. 25 in preparation for the launch of Discovery. Kennedy Space Center gates at the SR 406 causeway near Titusville and on SR 3 south of the Haulover Canal will be closed till sunup Jan. 29 and the road leading to Playalinda Beach will remain closed till after Discovery is launched in late February. KSC spokesman Dick Young said the "early closure may be attributed to threats of penetration onto NASA property connected with the demonstration to be held at KSC by the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice on Jan. 28."

DISCOVERY LAUNCH DATE RECONSIDERED
Delays in preparing Discovery for its trip to the launch pad have caused a two-day slip and forced NASA to reconsider its Feb. 23 launch date. Launch Director Bob Sieck said recently that a delay in moving Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building would use contingency time scheduled to make a Feb. 23 launch. "We're not there yet, but we're Close to running out of contingency time," he said. Rollout has been rescheduled to Jan. 31. (Florida Today, Jan. 25, 1989)

January 26: LEAK DELAYS DISCOVERY ROLLOUT
A leak thought to be near a 2-inch-diameter hydrogen line in Discovery will delay the shuttle's rollout to the launch pad for at least a few hours, according to Kennedy Space Center spokeswoman Lisa Malone. The leak, combined with the turbopump crack which has not yet been explained, threatened to delay or scrub Discovery's mission. "It all depends on the reason for the leak. It's too early to speculate," said Malone. The extra work required to evaluate the leak has forced managers to delay by a few hours a critical test of connections between the shuttle's various parts. A similar leak was found before Discovery's first post-Challenger mission. The orbiter experienced no problems during flight. (Florida Today, Jan. 27, 1989)


ARIANE ALREADY OFF AND RUNNING IN ‘89
The latest launch of an Ariane rocket, V28, on January 26 brought with it the close of an era, according to Frederic d’ Allest, chairman of Arianespace, Inc., but it also signaled the beginning of a new year for the European launch company . At 8:21 p.m. EST, from launch complex ELA-1 in Kourou, French Guiana, South America, the thundering sound of an Ariane 2 signaled that the Ariane year had begun. Riding atop the fiery stack towards space was the 15th and last model of the Intelsat V satellite series, headed for its final position at 60 degrees east at an altitude of 22,188 miles. Although the F15 is the last of the Series V satellites, Arianespace officials say that the Intelsat program is not over. According to d’ Allest, the launch company is “preparing to launch the sixth generation of Intelsat spacecraft, as well as the seventh generation at the beginning of the next decade.”

With the first 1989 launch behind them, Arianespace is looking forward to at least eight more launches this year, including the final launches of the Ariane 2 and Ariane 3 launch vehicles. The final launch of an Ariane 2 will take place near the end of March, as it carries the Swedish Tele-X direct broadcasting and telecommunications satellite to orbit. The Ariane 3 will bow out of the program in May after launching the European Space agency’s Olympus satellite into space. Arianespace has announced plans to order 50 Ariane 4 rockets, worth about $3 billion. The order will be placed in February.

The next launch is scheduled for February 28. Using the ELA-2 launch complex, an Ariane 4 is to place the Japanese JC-Sat 1 telecommunications into geostationary transfer orbit. Also aboard will be the Meteosat Operational meteorological satellite MOP-1, built for the European Space Agency and Eumetsat. (Countdown, March 1989 – edited)

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January 28: CHALLENGER ANNIVERSARY OBSERVED
Traffic and work at Kennedy Space Center halted at 11:28 a.m. today so employees could pay tribute to the crew of Challenger. Flags at the center were lowered to half-staff; other NASA centers across the country also honored the astronauts. Kennedy Space Center Director Forrest S. McCartney commemorated the Challenger tragedy with remarks to employees of the space center. He told employees to remember the dreams of the Challenger crew for the space program. "Their dream is our dream. We will achieve it together dedicating ourselves to excellence in pursuit of national space goals," he said. "We will not forget the sacrifice made by our seven fallen heroes."

A Challenger memorial ceremony took place at Alan Shepard Park (Cocoa Beach, FL) and as the ceremony proceeded, two jets unintentionally marked the disaster in another way. The contrails of the two jets crossed and Eric McNair, brother of Challenger crew member Ron McNair called attention to the occurrence by saying, "Right there, where that 'X' intersects, is just about where Challenger went down." Eastern Space and Missile Center Commander Lawrence Gooch said, "These seven astronauts - we would have done them wrong if we had folded up the tent and gotten out of space. They were pushing forward, and as a nation we have to honor their cause and continue it." (Florida Today, Jan. 29, 1989)

73 SECONDS OF SILENCE IN MEMORY OF CHALLENGER
Space workers and tourists stood silently Saturday for 73 seconds, the length of the fatal Challenger flight, to remember the seven astronauts who died in the fiery shuttle explosion three years ago. About 350 peace activists marked the anniversary with a rally outside a Kennedy Space Center gate to protest the launch of Defense Department payloads aboard space shuttles. Four women were arrested for trespassing when they deliberately walked into an off-limits area. Tour buses stopped in their tracks, and engineers, technicians and support crews halted activity as flags at the Kennedy Space Center were lowered to half-staff at 11:38 a.m., the moment Challenger lifted off on Jan. 28, 1986.

"It's an appropriate way to mark the occasion, leaving it to the individuals on how they want to remember it," said Forrest S. McCartney, the center director. Only about 1,000 of the center's 17,000 employees were at work Saturday, but hundreds of tourists joined them in the tribute. Meanwhile, a Challenger memorial was dedicated Saturday in downtown Miami. "It wasn't until we lost Challenger that the American public realized space travel is dangerous," said Rep. Bill Nelson, speaking at the Challenger Seven dedication at Bayfront Park. Nelson, a Florida Democrat, rode on a shuttle mission just two weeks before the Challenger disaster. The 105-foot white sculpture, shaped like a twisting girder, was designed by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi, who died in December.

Killed in the Challenger tragedy were Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. McNair's brother, Eric McNair of Atlanta, said at a ceremony Saturday in nearby Cocoa Beach that it is important to remember the Challenger explosion "so we will not forget what happened, thus lessening the chances of it happening again." In Concord, N.H., McAuliffe's hometown, Mayor Elizabeth Hager said no special events were made to mark the anniversary. "I don't think we need to continue to call attention to it," she said. "We were low-key about it just after it happened and I think we can continue to be low-key about it. Clearly we don't have to do anything to remind the McAuliffes of it." Christa McAuliffe's husband, lawyer Steve McAuliffe, still lives in Concord with his two children. (Deseret News, Jan 29, 1989)

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ASTRONAUT MITCHELL SPEAKS AT RALLY
Former Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell spoke today to some 700 persons gathered at Spaceport USA for a rally sponsored by the Florida Coalition of Peace and Justice. KSC spokesman Dick Young said that Mitchell is "retired and is a free agent" and that he is not aware of any NASA effort to keep Mitchell from speaking. Mitchell said he had received some pressure from an unnamed source after he accepted the invitation to speak. His speech came at the end of the four-hour demonstration next to KSC's Gate 3. As the protestors approached the gate, KSC patrol major Jim Morris warned over a loudspeaker: "If you enter the non-public areas of the center you will be arrested for trespassing. Four protestors crossed into the secure area beyond near Gate 2 and were arrested. Three were charged only with trespassing; one with both trespassing and resisting arrest. (Florida Today, Jan. 29, 1989)

ONE TRESPASSER REMAINS JAILED
Three of the four women arrested Jan. 28 for trespassing have been released from jail. The three were Judith Ann Vaughn (Chicago); Dorothy Scott Smith (St. Augustine, FL) and Roz Marovitz (Cocoa, FL). Beth Ehrlich (Osmond Beach/ FL) remained at the Brevard County Detention Center (Sharpes, FL) where she is held on a $500 bond and is charged with trespassing on restrict Kennedy Space Center property during a rally against the military use of space. (Florida Today, Jan. 30, 1989)


Challenger remembered under foreign skies

By Dixon P. Otto, Publisher and Editor of Countdown Magazine

Evening was approaching in India as my turn came to speak. In America, the day – January 28 – was just beginning. I was in a situation far removed from Space Shuttles and outer space. I was member of a six-person exchange team sponsored by the Rotary International. I was about to speak to a Rotary Conference of a district in northern India. Our task in touring India concerned international good will, not space – yet space was on my mind. I was not certain the Indian audience could empathize with me; I was breaking the golden rule of speaking to a topic that involved the audience, yet I had something I wanted to say. I said it:

“It is just after dawn on the eastern seaboard of the United States. The banks of powerful xenon light illuminating Discovery, which is being prepared for a February 23 launch, have been switched off now. Work is continuing 24 hours a day now, but in five and a half hours, all the workers will stop. The engineers and administrators will come out of the buildings and gaze skyward for 73 seconds of silence.

Precisely at that moment, 11:38 a.m., three years ago, the Space shuttle Challenger was launched. In the first few seconds, puffs of black smoke escaped from the side of one of the rockets. The soot sealed the leak. The launch appeared to proceed perfectly. Sixty seconds into the flight, the shuttle hit the area of greatest air pressure against it. By then, vibrations were opening up the leak, which began eating a hole in  the side of the rocket. By 73 seconds, the rocket broke free of its struts and crashed into the fuel tank, which burst. For a moment, Challenger appeared to ride above the spreading cloud of fuel like a ship riding an ocean wave. Then it disappeared into the cloud of fuel, never to be seen again.

Seven lives were lost – but doesn’t that happen every day in every part of the world? Don’t airplanes crash just as tragically as Challenger? What made this one event so devastating?

Being in India has given me a clue. India’s flag and national symbols all show the wheel, symbolizing the circular nature of life. In America, the same symbolism stands behind the space program, I think. We are all formed from matter created in the hearts of stars, which later exploded. We are made of star stuff. With the space program, we attempt to complete the circle and return to the stars. We both seek the source from whence we came. That is the unity and fellowship I have found and felt in India…”

I know; I had made a mistake – Discovery was not yet on the launch pad. We had not been getting much news of shuttle delays in India. That exact fact was not important – only the mood was. Afterwards, a member of the audience commented that they had felt the emotion with which I had spoken. I had succeeded!

Later, I observed my 73 seconds of silence in private. Night had come to India. I could gaze into the clear night sky and see the stars Challenger had been aiming to reach. Challenger was there, even in the foreign skies of India.

(Dixon P. Otto, “CapCom” Editorial, Countdown, March 1989)

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New Beginnings

Two days before the Challenger anniversary, June Scobee, the widow of Challenger Commander Francis “Dick” Scobee, publicly announced she would remarry June 3, 1989, to Army Lt. Gen. Don Rodgers. “The real worth in life is loving and learning that the light of love will guide us on our journey, no matter how rough the terrain or how difficult the storm,” June Scobee Rodgers tells in “Silver Linings” (Peake Road Publications, 1996). “After the darkest of nights come the dawn and a new tomorrow to offer a new beginning. My children had learned that lesson well by the second year after their father’s death. Rich completed his final semester of college, graduated from the Air Force Academy, went on to pilot training, and then married his high school sweetheart. My daughter Kathie had carved out a beautiful career as a public relations director for colleges and created a lovely home for her family. Both had overcome their grief and moved forward to new beginnings in spite of their mother’s inability to overcome the sorrow and loneliness in her life.”

But an Easter sunrise service in April 1988, held at Arlington National Cemetery, also brought a new man into June Scobee’s life. “This new friend’s name was Don Rodgers. He had lost his wife, Faye, to a sudden heart attack as she was driving home on a crowded freeway in Washington, D.C.,“ she remembers in her book. “Walking alongside each other, remembering and talking but mostly listening, we understood the other’s loss and appreciated each other more, knowing the sorrow that filled our hearts. Don’s loss was not public like mine, I thought, but just as tragic for those who loved her. (…) Our conversation was a comfort for both of us.”

June Scobee Rodgers describes in “Silver Linings” how this friendship grew. “Two lonely people, survivors whose paths had each ended abruptly with the one we loved, had taken a turn on different journeys, and now had come together. We each needed a friend – someone who cared, someone who would call, someone who would understand. Month later we admitted to each other that we both knew then that our friendship would grow to love and possibly marriage. (…) As we healed, we learned to laugh more and to appreciate each other. Our paths had met and stretched out before us as one. I was forty-six years old, and Don was fifty-four. He and Faye had lived a beautiful life together for thirty-two years. Dick and I were married more than twenty-six years. Could we possibly begin a new life together? We wondered, but not for long.

The tables turned as my children seemingly took on the role of my parents. Don, the perfect gentleman, asked my daughter if he could call on me. Kathie giggled at the thought of her mother dating. He asked my son if he could marry me. Rich answered, ‘Well, that’s up to my mom.’ When Rich and I talked later, with a grin on his face and twinkle in his eye, we laughed and embraced each other’s new joy, new beginnings.”