On the morning of Jan. 28, 1986 NASA lost seven brave astronauts when the Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after being launched when the booster engine failed. That day before, a few engineers had raised concerns about the cold weather, which their data had shown would stiffen the rubber O-rings that normally keep burning rocket fuel from leaking.
Despite their warnings and pleas, NASA officials went ahead with the launch and only found out their engineers had been right once the shuttle exploded, killing seven men and woman.
It’s been 30 years since that horrible accident and 89-year-old Bob Ebeling, one of the engineers, has carried the crushing guilt from that night for three decades.
“That was one of the mistakes God made,” Ebeling said in an interview recently. “He shouldn’t have picked me for that job. But next time I talk to him, I’m gonna ask him, ‘Why me? You picked a loser.’ “
After people heard about Ebeling’s guilt, they started writing to the 89-year-old who is dying of prostate cancer to try and lessen his guilt by confirming that he did everything he could possibly do to stop the doomed mission. “But after hearing that, I still have that guilt right here,” he said while pointing to his heart.
While letters began piling up, Ebeling still needed to hear from his former superiors that he did the right thing. “He’s never gotten confirmation that he did do his job and he was a good worker and he told the truth,” Ebeling’s daughter Kathy said.
But then they got a call from Ebeling’s then boss, 78-year-old Allan McDonald who reminded Ebeling that he was, in fact, the person to blow the whistle and raise to question the safety of the launch.
McDonald explained to him that a loser was “somebody that really doesn’t do anything. But worse yet, they don’t care. I said, ‘You did something and you really cared. That’s the definition of a winner.'”
Then, NASA sent Ebeling a statement that read: “We honor [the Challenger astronauts] not through bearing the burden of their loss, but by constantly reminding each other to remain vigilant,” the statement read. “And to listen to those like Mr. Ebeling who have the courage to speak up so that our astronauts can safely carry out their missions.”
“Thank you,” Ebeling said to everyone who had contacted him. “You helped bring my worrisome mind to ease. You have to have an end to everything.”
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[Featured image credit: NASA/AP]
Letters From Across the Country Help This Challenger Engineer Shed 30 Years Of Guilt is an article from: LifeDaily