Challenger, 30 Years On: ‘I Knew Something Was Wrong’

Photographer recalls one of the greatest disasters in NASA history.

The loss of the space shuttle Challenger is one of the most memorable and tragic disasters in the history of space exploration. The heart-wrenching images of the shuttle’s disintegration over Cape Canaveral were seen by millions live on television. Astronaut Christa McAuliffe was to be the first teacher in space, and the ascent of the shuttle was watched across America by many schoolchildren.

The lift-off appeared normal enough, but 73 seconds later, at 46,000 feet and travelling twice the speed of sound, the shuttle was engulfed in flames. Red Huber, working for the Orlando Sentinel, was one of a number of photographers assigned to the mission. He had just returned to work from a period of paternity leave after the birth of his daughter. In an interview with Poynter, he recalls the day before the launch, when the mission was postponed for 24 hours. “It was like an ice palace out there,” he said. “People even said on the radio, there’s no way we could try to launch tomorrow, everything’s frozen out here.”

However, the launch was confirmed the following morning, to the surprise of many. “We had 50 launches before this one that went flawless. So I think it’s a monumental moment in modern human space flight,” remembers Red.

“It’s still a very, very vivid image in my mind of that moment,” he recalls. “When I saw the boosters separate and go in different directions, I knew there was something terribly wrong, but they didn’t know that.”

But his strongest memory of the day isn’t the one typically associated with Challenger. He had gotten to know the crew over a number of months, and his strongest memory is far more personal than the fiery mid-flight breakup of the shuttle.

“I picture them walking together in unison as they entered the astronaut van, which I was there for. That’s the image that I think about during that time. They were smiling. They were happy. We had the first teacher on board. That was huge.”

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’” — President Ronald Reagan

His photo would be one of the final images taken of the astronauts alive. His memories of the Challenger are not of the shuttle itself, but of those on board. “I think of the astronauts and their families and what those astronauts sacrificed for human space flight,” he said. “When we get around this time, I think about the astronauts joking with us in the media, smiling, laughing, looking serious when they were doing something. I think of them. It was so exciting back then.”

The Orlando Sentinel, where Red still works, has compiled a retrospective of the disaster here.