Watch CBS News

Thoughts On Challenger: From Someone On The Inside

Facebook users: make Kent Shocknek your friend

Twitter: follow KentShocknek

Literally.  I did more than poke my head inside the hatch of Challenger a couple of times, while they were prepping it for flight, back at Kennedy Space Center. And Columbia, before it.  I know the shuttle fleet was built here in Southern California; but I was my Florida TV station's space shuttle reporter, before the first flight even launched.  NASA was a bit more lax about letting you get up-close in those days: as long as you didn't stray off the metal walkways. Think of that: getting to go inside a space shuttle!

After reporting from the first 8 launches  --the most spectacular things I have ever witnessed-- I came back to SoCal, initially as an aerospace reporter. And when I began morning anchoring, I pushed to continue covering launches and landings, because the shuttle was so important to our local economy (from Downey to the high desert).  And so, on January 28, 1986, I was the only  person covering Challenger's launch live on Los Angeles TV, from a tiny studio at a station, in Burbank.

Long-time viewers --25 years-worth-- still talk to me about our shared experience. Make no mistake, I have never felt that 'narrating' the launch, the explosion, or the immediate aftermath was about me. I just happened to be on TV. I tried to keep my emotions out of that broadcast. Yes, I said "My God, there's been an explosion"  (no exclamation point, believe me); but after that, all I could do was talk about what I saw on screen, and various emergency options for getting the crew back to the ground. Of course, there were none.

People say 'That must have been a tough day for you.' My pre-canned response is "Not as tough as it was for the astronauts."  I knew Ellison Onizuka ("El"), and Judy Resnik. Not well, but we'd run into each other at press briefings or training drills in the years before. I didn't even think about the fact that two people I knew were onboard, until several minutes after I was off the air. The networks all interrupted programming pretty quickly after the blast, and I remember being frustrated at the misinformation they were putting out there.  That night, I was on a plane to Orlando, to descend on KSC for the aftermath.

25 years is more than half a lifetime for most people who remember that day. I'm glad when people want to talk to me about where they were: it was an important day in our history; even if, for all the wrong reasons.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.