Posted
on November 22, 2013
One
of the things that the U.S. can be most proud of is space
exploration. I am so excited that many different nations participate
in space missions now, and that private businesses are getting
involved as well, but the United States has been one of the leaders
so far. We currently have no vehicle to reach outer space, with the
retirement of the Space Shuttles, but I hope that changes
soon!Guion “Guy” Bluford can be proud of his contributions to space exploration. He flew on four missions, including a German Spacelab mission with three European astronauts. Bluford was the first African-American in space and the second person of African ancestry (after a Cuban-born cosmonaut who flew for the Soviet Union). All his education in aerospace engineering, laser physics, and business (he has earned B.S., M.S., Ph.D., and M.B.A. degrees!); all his piloting training and flights, including combat training and 144 combat missions in Vietnam; all his training at NASA probably couldn't prepare him for one of his missions:
Returning
a flag to a Boy Scout troop in Colorado.
Perhaps
Bluford was chosen for the task because he had flown on the
Challenger Space Shuttle on two of his missions. Perhaps he was
chosen because he had been an Eagle Scout.
You
see, a Boy Scout troop in Monument, Colorado, had a Scoutmaster who
had been a major in the U.S. Air Force assigned to the Space Command.
The troop ordered a U.S. flag from the Valley Forge Flag Company and
arranged for it to be flown over the U.S. Capitol building in
Washington, D.C., in 1985. Then it was submitted to NASA for possible
inclusion on a shuttle flight. (I didn't realize that you could do
this. It seems like a bit of a waste of precious weight—it would be
better to use that weight for another experiment, wouldn't it?)
At
any rate, the flag was included in the official flight kit of the
Challenger on what ended up being its fateful final flight. The flag
was sealed in a plastic bag. Next to it were several souvenir
medallions. On January 28, 1986, the Challenger lifted off—and 73
seconds after launch the Space Shuttle broke apart, killing all seven
crewmembers.
That
was a sad, sad day. I'm sure Bluford knew some of the astronauts who
died that day very well. The rescuer workers were not able to rescue
anyone, but they did bring up Challenger wreckage from the bottom of
the Atlantic Ocean. And...they found the flag and the medallions. The
medallions had melted into a single lump of metal, but the flag was
just fine. Undamaged. Still sealed in its plastic bag. It wasn't even
wet.
Guy
Bluford was sent to Monument on December 18, 1986, almost a year
after the tragedy, to restore the flag to the Boy Scout troop. Since
then the Challenger Flag, as it is called, has been used for official
ceremonies for the U.S. Constitution's Bicentennial, for the 2002
Winter Olympic Games, and for the 25th anniversary of the
Challenger disaster. It is the first flag to have been returned to
Washington and re-flown above the Capitol.
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