The Challenger-Columbia Wall

Ever since I was a boy, I have wanted to become an astronaut. I’m sure I wasn’t the only kid who dreamed of being an astronaut - Unfortunately only the lucky few ever achieved said ambition. The crew members of these two shuttles - the Challenger and Columbia, who were among those lucky few to become astronauts did not make it safely back to Earth due to the mechanical failings of their shuttles. These accidents are tragedies which shows just how dangerous space exploration can get. However, none of these space shuttle exploding incidents have changed my mind – I would still have liked to become an astronaut. So should the chance to become an astronaut present itself to me, I wouldn’t hesistate to take it. Furthermore, while there have been many monuments honoring these brave explorers and pioneers of space, as an aspiring astronaut I’m submitting my own work in honor of these fourteen astronauts and the two shuttles:

The Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) crew manifest:
- Commander: Francis Scobee
- Pilot: Michael J. Smith
- Mission Specialist: Ronald McNair
- Mission Specialist: Ellison Onizuka
- Mission Specialist: Gregory Jarvis
- Mission Specialist: Judith Resnick
- Payload Specialist: Christa Corrigan McAuliffe

73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded over Texas airspace as a result of the failure of an O-ring seal in the right solid rocket booster (SRB). Cold weather was a contributing factor leading to loss of pliability of the O-ring seal.

The Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) crew manifest:
- Commander: Rick D. Husband
- Pilot: William C. McCool
- Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson
- Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon
- Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla
- Mission Specialist: David M. Brown
- Mission Specialist: Laurel Clark

Columbia exploded at about 9:05 (14:05 UTC). Contact was lost while the shuttle was flying at about 203,000 feet (38 miles or 62,000 metres) above north central Texas, at over 12,500 miles per hour (20,000 kilometres per hour = 6 km/s = Mach 18). At time of the communications disruptions, Mission Control was discussing abnormal sensor readings with Columbia. Columbia began their last message with the words "Roger, uh, buh..." but nothing more was transmitted. Telemetry and tracking data were lost at the same time.

At 14:04 EST (19:04 UTC), a somber President Bush addressed America: "This day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country... The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors. The cause in which they died will continue... Our journey into space will go on." On August 26, 2003, the CAIB issued its report on the accident which confirmed the immediate cause of the accident as a breach in the leading edge of the left wing, caused by insulating foam shed during launch.

On March 26 the United States House of Representatives' Science Committee approved funds for the construction of a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for the STS-107 crew. A similar memorial was built at the cemetery for the last crew of Space Shuttle Challenger.

This project is my own graphical Wall of Remembrance in honor of the dedication of the fourteen crew members of the Space Shuttles Challenger (STS-51-L) and Columbia (STS-107) for their contributions to space exploration.

Signed, this 5th of August, 2004,
-Vernon Conan Chan