June Scobee Rodgers Keeps Challenger Memory Alive

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) –The 28th of January marks 40 years since the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster that claimed the lives of seven astronaut crew members.

It was supposed to be a routine mission. The crew was to release a commercial satellite into orbit and observe haley’s Comet as it passed by.

It was the first mission to have a civilian onboard. Teacher Christa McAuliffe received special training for the mission, which ultimately ended in disaster due to a mechanical failure.

We spoke to Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of mission commander Dick Scobee. She told us, “They were taking a risk. I’ve often said that the greatest risk in any venture is to take no risk. Because you don’t grow. You don’t advance. You don’t make a difference.”
After witnessing the explosion at Kennedy Space Center, she walked to her husband’s dormitory. She says “…And there I saw his briefcase. I opened it and sitting on top of his manuals, his astronomy charts, all of his paperwork for his mission, was a Valentine card. I opened the envelope was a card: “to my wife on Valentine’s”.

That valentine’s card and Dick Scobee’s Congressional Space Medal of Honor are on display at the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center here in Chattanooga.

Ms. Rodgers founded the Challenger Center, first in Houston and then at UTC.

As coming space missions take Americans back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years, this display exemplifies the sacrifices that got us there and beyond.