The Rebel Black Love Dot Song o' the Day

Nil Lara, "Fighting for My Love" from Nil Lara (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: I know this song from the television series Scrubs.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Lent | Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

Bonus! Song o' Ash Wednesday

Matt Glasser, Jacqueline Schwab, & Jesse Carr, "Weeping Sad and Lonely" from The Civil War: Original Soundtrack Recording (Penitent Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Love Dot Song o' the Day

Ben Folds, "Zak and Sara" from Rockin' the Suburbs (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Yes, "Zak and Sara" was part of Zach & Sarah's wedding.

The Rebel Black Dot Love Song o' the Day

Blink-182, "Josie" from Dude Ranch (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Yeah, my girlfriend takes me home when I'm too drunk to drive,
And she doesn't get all jealous when I hang out with the guys,
She laughs at my dumb jokes when no one does,
She brings me Mexican food from Sombrero just because,
Yeah, just because.

"And my girlfriend likes UL and DHC*,
And she's so smart and independent, I don't think she needs me,
Quite half as much as I know I need her,
I wonder why there's not another guy, that she'd prefer.

"And when I feel like giving up,
Like my world is falling down,
I show up at 3:00 A.M.,
She's still up watching Vacation,
And I see her pretty face
It takes me away to a better place…"

*Unwritten Law & Dance Hall Crashers

The Explorers' Club, № MCXLI

The Centennial Light—An incandescent light bulb in Livermore, California that has been lit almost continuously since 1901; the hand-blown bulb has a thick carbon filament, unlike the tungston-alloy filaments that have been standard since the 1910s, & a high nitrogen atmosphere inside the bulb; the sixty-watt lamp has dimmed to a four-watt lamp; it is connected to an uninterruptible power supply.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: The Centennial Light
Less Than Jake, "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out" from Anthem (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the VI Sunday in O.T.

The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matt Maher, "A Future Not My Own" from Saints and Sinners (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song against Valentine's Day

Caro Emerald, "Black Valentine" from The Shocking Miss Emerald (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Love can't conquer anything
If it's lost without a trace,
You might be tough, you might even be strong,
But not when you're in this place…

"Love can't conquer anything
If it's hurting in the deep,
You'll be awake, you'll twist your fate,
That's not someone you should keep…"

Bonus! Fish Fry Song o' the Day

Bombskare, "Slow Lane" from A Million Ways to Die (Rude Boy Mike Papa Wreckfish)

Skammentary: Today is the "soft open" of the fish fry season, the annual pre-Lenten warm-up.

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

The A-OKs, "Jessiska" from Words Are Not for Eating (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Now, I'm not sayin' she's wrong in her ways,
But she talks for days,
And it's never good.
And I'm not one to doubt that you're Don Juan,
But maybe you're wrong,
And it's her attitude,

"Well, she better be funny and she better be quick,
'Cause she's first in line for the ugly stick,
And in the end the lesson's learned:
You fall in love and you're gonna get burned…"

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

The Ting Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go" from We Started Nothing (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Shut up and let me go!
This hurts, I tell you so,
For the last time you will kiss my lips
Now shut up and let me go!
Your jeans were once so clean, I bet
You changed your wardrobe since we met.

"Now, oh, so easily you're over me
Gone is love, it's you that ought to be
Holding me, I'm not containable,
This time, love is not sustainable…

"Shut up and let me go!
This hurts, what I can't show,
For the last time you have me in bits
Now shut up and let me go!
For fear of living in regret
I've changed since from when we first met.

"Now, oh, so easily you're over me
Gone is love, it's me that ought to be
Moving on, you're not adorable,
I want something unignorable…"

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

Reel Big Fish, "I Dare You to Break My Heart" from Candy Coated Fury (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"My latest dream girl,
My latest nightmare,
Could this be the start of another
Long, long, hateful love-affair?…

"When all is said and done,
And we have had our fun,
You won't have your chains on me,
You won't claim me as your only one.
I've got one thing to say,
As I push you far away:
Do you think someone like you
Could make someone like me love you anyway?
The most important thing
That I have ever learnt
Is if you're not doing the hurtin'
You're the one who's getting hurt…"

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Explorers' Club Special: February 1916

Operation AXIOM: The World War
February 1916 saw the Russian Empire gain the upper hand against the Ottoman Empire in the western Caucasus with a surprise winter offensive & the Germans blunted the British & Imperial invasion of German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) near Mount Kilimanjaro. On the Western Front, the longest battle of the war began, the Battle of Verdun; the "World Blood Pump" would continue throughout 1916.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the World War: February 1916
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXXIII: The Erzurum Offensive (10 January-16 February 1916)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXXIV: The Battle of Salaita Hill (12 February 1916)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXXV: The Battle of Verdun, Part I: The First Day (21 February 1916)

Lest we forget.

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

Beverly D'Angelo, Dan Castellaneta, & the company, "Your Wife Don't Understand You" from The Simpsons: Songs in the Key of Springfield—Original Music from the Television Series (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Even amidst the bitterest week of the R.B.D.S.O.T.D.'s whole year, I want to be fair, even to fictional characters. Lurleen Lumpkins (D'Angelo) does try to seduce Homer Simpson (Castellaneta), to induce him to betray his wife, Marge. That is a wicked act, & to his credit Homer is never seriously tempted by Lurleen & remains faithful to Marge. Lurleen's act of seduction is wicked, but her affection for Homer appears to be genuine; later episodes show her in a series of doomed romances with men who physically resemble Homer.

"Your wife don't understand you,
But I do,
No, your wife don't understand you,
But I do,
I said, no one understands you,
But I do!"

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

Simon & Garfunkel, "Cecilia" from Bridge Over Troubled Water (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Have some self-respect, man! Leopards don't change their spots. She's been unfaithful before; she'll be unfaithful again.

The Explorers' Club, № MCXL

The Space Race—Astronaut Group 4 (the "Scientists"), Part IV
Owen Kay Garriott (22 November 1930-15 April 2019), rank unknown, U.S. Navy—He flew Skylab 3 (1973) & S.T.S.-9 (Spacelab 1, 1983), the only Skylab Science Pilot to fly on the Space Shuttle; he conducted three E.V.A. during Skylab 3; he held an Extra Class ham radio license & pioneered the use of ham radio from orbit during Spacelab 1; he helped develop the I.S.S.'s Destiny lab module.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day!: The Scientists—Owen Garriott
Elvis Costello & the Attractions, "Radio, Radio" from This Year's Model (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Owen Garriott
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXVII: The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 3, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXX: The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 3, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXXIII: The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 3, Part III
"The Explorers' Club," № CMLXXXI: The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 3, Part IV
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXCV: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-9, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXCVII: The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-9, Part II

Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the V Sunday in O.T.

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dan Bremnes, "Where the Light Is" from Where the Light Is (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

Herman's Hermits, "No Milk Today" from the Herman's Hermits Retrospective compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Welcome to the bitterest week of the R.B.D.S.O.T.D.'s whole year: emotions are overwrought, love is a lie, & heartbreak awaits around every corner.

"No milk today, my love has gone away,
The bottle stands forlorn, a symbol of the dawn,
No milk today, it seems a common sight,
But people passing by, don't know the reason why.

"How could they know just what this message means?
The end of my hopes, the end of all my dreams,
How could they know a palace there had been
Behind the door, where my love reigned as queen?

"No milk today, it wasn't always so,
The company was gay, we'd turn night into day.

"But all that's left is a place dark and lonely,
A terraced house in a mean street back of town
Becomes a shrine when I think of you only,
Just two up, two down…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "The Check's In the Mail" from "Weird Al" Yankovic (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXXIX

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Luna 9
31 January-6 February 1966: The Luna 9 probe lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur Cosmo- drome atop a Molniya-M rocket; the Automatic Lunar Station (A.L.S.) lander was released & made the first soft landing on the Moon (3 February), via landing airbags; the A.L.S. transmitted the first photo panoramas & television images from the surface of the Moon & measured radiation levels.

Commentary: Luna 9's images were decoded by the U.K.'s Jodrell Bank Observatory & published throughout the West, long before the secretive Soviet space program intended to release anything.

Ex Luna, scientia.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day the Music Died

Operation AXIOM:The 67th Anniversary of "The Day the Music Died"
Ritchie Valens, "La Bamba" from the The Best of Ritchie Valens compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Groundhog Day

Mustard Plug, "On and On" from In Black and White (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Come on, six more weeks of Winter.

"By now, you think it's over,
Countdown, it's getting colder,
Come on, tell me it's over,
Goes on and on and on and on again…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the IV Sunday in O.T.

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sam Cooke, "Touch the Hem of His Garment" from the Portrait of a Legend, 1951-1964 compilation (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Stars My Destination: The Columbia Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 23rd Anniversary of S.T.S.-107
Twenty-three years ago to the day, 1 February 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102, the first Orbiter to orbit (S.T.S.-1, 1981), disintegrated during atmospheric re-entry, killing all seven of her crew: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mission Specialist 1 David Brown, Mission Specialist 2/Flight Engineer Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 3 Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist 4 Laurel Clark, & Payload Specialist 1 Ilan Ramon. Husband (STS-96), Chalwa (STS-87), & Anderson (STS-89) were spaceflight veterans; McCool, Brown, Clark, & Ramon were rookies. Ramon was the first Israeli in space.

The Columbia suffered the ultimately fatal damage to her heat shielding during launch, a fortnight earlier on 16 January 2003: a piece of thermal insulating foam was shaken off the massive burnt orange External Fuel Tank by the titanic forces involved in boosting a Space Shuttle into low earth orbit & struck the Columbia's left wing, compromising the composite-material heat shield. When the Columbia re-entered the atmosphere on 1 February, hot gases penetrated the wing, leading to the disintegration of the Shuttle & the deaths of all seven on board. The Space Shuttle Atlantis OV-104 had suffered similar heat shield damage during the launch of S.T.S.-27 (1988), but by the grace of God had returned to earth safely, becoming the most-damaged Space Shuttle ever to make a successful landing.

The falling foam phenomenon was common enough to be known as "foam shedding" & had been observed on S.T.S.-7 (1983), S.T.S.-32 (1990), S.T.S.-50 (1992), S.T.S.-52 (1992), S.T.S.-62 (1994), & S.T.S.-112 (2002), but foam shedding was not perceived as posing a danger. Subsequent to the disaster, Space Shuttle missions launched without the foam, suffering no ill effects from its absence. The hideous irony is that the thermal insulation was on the External Fuel Tank to prevent the build up of ice that could be shaken loose during launch, striking & damaging the Shuttle.

The Space Shuttle Columbia suffered a catastrophic loss of structural integrity during re-entry, leading to the deaths of all seven aboard, 1 February 2003, twenty-three years ago today.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Columbia Disaster
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Columbia Disaster
Wayback Machine '25 | Wayback Machine '24
Wayback Machine '23 | Wayback Machine '22
Wayback Machine '21 | Wayback Machine '20
Wayback Machine '19 | Wayback Machine '18
Wayback Machine '17 | Wayback Machine '16

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Bonus! Episode o' the Day
"Errand of Mercy" (season one, episode twenty-six; production code: 027; 23 March 1967): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Errand of Mercy" introduces the Klingon Empire, explicitly called such in the episode. The Klingons were more frequently recurring adversaries than the Romulans because the Klingon make-up was cheaper than all those pointed ears. These Klingons are relatively straightforward militarists, without the honor culture that would be added in the Next Generation-era (though, in practice, the vast majority of Klingons are dishonorable sadists who act as straightforward militarists).

The episode primarily takes place on the planet Organia, strategically important as the only M-class planet in the region disputed by the Federation & the Klingons. The Organians are not the technologically primitive agrarians they appears to be, but as noncorporeal beings with godlike powers, much like Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos" (season one, episode seventeen), but less juvenile. The Organians impose a peace treaty between the Federation & the Klingons, which will be referenced in "The Trouble with Tribbles" (season two, episode fifteen) & ignorned in "A Private Little War" (season two, episode nineteen). The Organians believe they have the right to impose a peace because they have the power to impose a peace; the same "might makes right" attitude is expounded in the feature film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Blues Brothers, "Peter Gunn Theme" from The Blues Brothers: Original Soundtrack Recording (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"The Devil in the Dark" (season one, episode twenty-five; production code: 026; 9 March 1967): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "The Devil in the Dark" has it all: caves, a truly alien lifeform, misunderstanding & violence yielding to understanding & peace, & great character moments for Kirk, Spock, & McCoy.

The Horta is a silicon-based lifeform that lives deep underground on the mineral-rich world Janus VI. The Federation has been mining "pergium" & other valuable commodities on Janus VI for fifty years. A few weeks before the episode, the miners opened a new area for exploitation, disturbing the Horta's reproductive cycle & leading to conflict. Fifty men had died by the time the Enterprise arrived (we see the last one killed in the cold open) & two more—including a redshirt—die before Kirk & Spock solve the mystery. Spock is able to communicate with the Horta using Vulcans' natural telephathic abilities; he mind melds with the silicon-based creature. It turns out that when the miners opened the new area, they broke into the Horta's egg chamber & inadvertantly destroyed thousands of Horta eggs. The Horta's attacks were its attempt to protect the remaining eggs by driving away the miners. Truth & reconcilation: the Horta pardons the miners for destroying an untold number of Horta eggs & the miners pardon the Horta for killing fifty-two men. The newly-hatched Horta start burning tunnels that help the miners extract Janus VI's fabulous mineral wealth. Star Trek at its best.

"The Devil in the Dark" is the first time Doctor McCoy says, "I'm a doctor, not a (blank)," in this episode "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" in objection to being asked how to heal the Horta, which is essentially a living rock & unlike any carbon-based lifeform McCoy has ever treated. To his credit as a healer, McCoy figures out how to heal the Horta of a phaser wound, by applying the silicon-based cement Starfleet uses to erect emergency shelters. However,as early as "The Corbomote Maneuver" (season one, epsiode ten), McCoy had asked, "What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor?"

These were the salad days of The Original Series.

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Bonus! Episode o' the Day
"This Side of Paradise" (season one, episode twenty-four; production code: 025; 2 March 1967): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The Enterprise encounters a group of human colonists who should be dead but aren't, who are thriving despite being bathed by mysterious but deadly Berthold rays. The colonists on Omicron Ceti III are being kept alive by alien spores of unknown origin that thrive on Berthold rays. The spores also have the effect of creating a sense of euphoria & belonging (much like Landru's telepathic control in "The Return of the Archons") that lead to apathy. To understand why Captain Kirk puts an end to all of this lollygagging, I'll simply quote "The Strenous Life" by Theodore Roosevelt:

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.

Once freed from the influence of the spores, the colonists on Omicron Ceti III are disappointed at how little they have accomplished in three years on the planet & agree to be removed, presumably to begin again somewhere else.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

New Found Glory, "Something I Call a Personality" from Sticks and Stones (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Sort this out on your own time…"

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"Space Seed" (season one, episode twenty-two; production code: 024; 16 February 1967): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Khan! "Space Seed" is the only episode of The Original Series with a direct cinematic sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). The force of Ricardo Montalbán's performance is monumental.

A theme throughout the episode is the tension between Kirk's (& McCoy's & Scott's) simultaneous admiration for Khan & opposition to Khan's ambitions. They know he's a brutal conqueror (Khan tortures Kirk in a decompression chamber, & would have killed Kirk had Khan's paramour Lieutenant McGivers not intervened), but they also admire Khan's verve & courage. Spock finds this very human tension contradictory & confusing. In the end, Kirk dismisses all charges against Khan & exiles Khan, his Augment* supermen, & McGivers to the untamed world Ceti Alpha V, instead of returning them to the Federation, where they would have been sentenced to a penal colony. I find all this entirely consistent with Star Trek's opposition to cultural stagnation & endorsement of Theodore Roosevelt's "Strenuous Life."

Khan & the other "tyrants" are said to be the result of "selective breeding," but that doesn't really work with the Eugenics Wars taking place in the 1990s. Later episodes, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" (season five, episode sixteen; 1997) to Star Trek: Enterprise's *three-part arc "Borderlands," "Cold Station 12," & "The Augments" (season four, episodes four, five, & six; 2004) establish that direct genetic engineering was involved in creating these Augments.

I've never seen Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, an alternate-timeline remake of The Wrath of Khan) & I never will. I wish I had never seen the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (season two, episode three; 2023).

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L (№ 25)
28 January 1986: The Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Dick Scobee, Pilot Mike Smith, M.S.1 El Onizuka, M.S.2/F.E. Judy Resnik, M.S.3 Ron McNair, P.S.1 Greg Jarvis, & P.S.2 Christa McAuliffe; payloads were the T.D.R.S.-B & Spartan Halley satellites; 00:00:73 into the flight, the Challenger suffered catastrophic structural failure; all seven souls aboard were lost.

Commentary: S.T.S.-51-L was the tenth & final flight of the Challenger OV-099.

The Challenger did not explode. The O-ring "blow-by" damage that had been observed as early as S.T.S.-2 finally burned all the way through, sending a jet of burning gas into the supports for the External Tank. The flame collapsed the interior structure of the External Tank & the righthand Solid Rocket Booster separated. The stack tumbled out of control & the Orbiter was torn asunder by aerodynamic stresses far in excess of anything it had been designed to endure. Both Solid Rocket Boosters careened away wildly & were detonated by the range safety system. There was a fireball due to the mixing of hydrogen & oxygen escaping from the External Tank, but the Challenger did not explode.

We published two "40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L, Prelude" episodes last year & we aim to publish two "40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L, Aftermath" episodes in the months to come, on the recovery of the crew remains & Challenger debris & on the investigation by the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (the Rogers Commission). But on this fortieth anniversary I feel compelled to say this: Never forget that the night before the disaster, Solid Rocket Booster contractor Morton-Thiokol recommended against the launch & N.A.S.A. managers from the Marshall Space Flight Center browbeat them into changing their recommendation. The responsible aerospace contractor recommended against a launch & instead of demanding proof that launching was safe, N.A.S.A. turned its own safety culture completely upside down & demanded proof that launching was unsafe. That reversal, though unintentional, had lethal consequences.

The rescue of the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 was N.A.S.A.'s finest hour. The deaths of the S.T.S.-51-L crew in 1986 was N.A.S.A.'s darkest hour.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-L
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Requiescat in pace.

The Stars My Destination: The Challenger Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L
Forty years ago to the day, 28 January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) disintegrated during launch, killing her crew of seven: Commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Pilot Michael Smith, Mission Specialist 1 Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist 2/Flight Engineer Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist 3 Ronald McNair, Payload Specialist 1 Gregory Jarvis, & Payload Specialist 2 Christa McAuliffe. Scobee (STS-41-C), Onizuka (STS-51-C), Resnik (STS-41-D), & McNair (STS-41-B) were spaceflight veterans; Smith, Jarvis, & McAuliffe were rookies.

The disaster was caused by the failure of an O-ring on one of the Challenger's two Solid Rocket Boosters. The O-ring contractor had warned N.A.S.A. against launching in the unusually cold temperatures on the morning of 28 January, but N.A.S.A. overruled the contractor, whose senior management then relented, against their own engineers' concerns. The disaster was not only foreseeable, but foreseen. N.A.S.A. violated numerous of its own procedures in going ahead with the doomed launch.

The Challenger's mission, STS-51-L, which was to deploy a communications satellite & conduct observations of Halley's Comet, was more high profile than most Space Shuttle missions as 'twas the first flight of the Teacher in Space Project, with public school teacher Mrs. McAuliffe having been selected as an astronaut specifically for the ambitious educational outreach. She was to teach remotely from space via closed-circuit television. Your humble narrator was among the many schoolchildren around the country watching the launch live on television when the unthinkable happened. The Challenger disaster made a considerable impression on popular culture & was commemorated with an on-screen tribute at the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, released later in 1986. Colonel Onizuka, the first Asian-American astronaut, was the namesake of a shuttlecraft used in several episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which debuted in 1987.

The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated seventy-three seconds after liftoff, killing all seven of her crew, 28 January 1986, forty years ago today.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Challenger Disaster
Lenka, "Live Like You're Dying" from Lenka (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Challenger Disaster
Wayback Machine '25
Wayback Machine '24 | Wayback Machine '23
Wayback Machine '22 | Wayback Machine '21
Wayback Machine '20 | Wayback Machine '19
Wayback Machine '18 | Wayback Machine '17
Wayback Machine '16 | Wayback Machine '11