Netflix documents, “Challenger: The Final Flight,” tell the tragic story of the space shuttle Challenger disaster.
On January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds into his flight, the shuttle exploded, killing all seven crew members aboard the ship in the horrific conditions of the world.
The crew consisted of five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists: Commander Francis R. Skob B, pilot Michael J. Smith, mission experts Ronald McNair, Alison Onizuka and Judith Resnick, payload experts Gregory Jarvis and Krista McCliff, who was also a teacher.
In the four-part series, the audience learns who these brave people were, what the defect caused by the fatal incident, and how the Challenger’s story serves as a cautionary tale of space travel and exploration.
Challenger Explosion Between Deadly Space Disasters
“Telling the stories of astronauts and their families was really the creative force behind the series,” executive producer Glenn Zipper told Fox News.
“Some of the things in our recent history that have brought us together are our vision for space exploration,” he said. “And we thought that telling this story now might remind us, that we have commonalities … and the privatization of space where we have Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and SpaceX go to the next frontier and the fear still exists. So the series also serves as a cautionary tale not to repeat the same mistakes. “
Dick Scooby’s widow June Schubb Rogers is also featured in the series and hopes the audience sees that “Challenger astronauts were real people.”
“They were husbands and wives, parents, children,” he told Fox News. “They were a wonderful crew of people representing all religions and cultures.”
Artifacts from the 1986 Challenger Disaster for action
Keeping those memories alive is painful for Scooby Rogers, she also feels that “it’s a pleasure to see my husband at the height of his career as the commander of that shuttle launch and flight.”
Since the death of her husband, she has been able to forgive the “people responsible for the accident” for moving on with her life.
Challenger 7 Crew (LR): Allison S. Onizuka; Barbara Morgan, Dick Scooby; Christa McLaughlin; Judith Resnick; Mike Smith; And Ronald McNair.
(Public domain / NASA)
“If you don’t forgive, you can’t move on in your life. You’re stuck in a place of anger or grief … So I started turning that grief into a creative energy vacation, so that I can work with families, at the Challenger Center, which continues. Is [their] “Mission,” he said. “We want children to rejoice that our loved ones are risking their lives.”
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“Challenger: The Final Flight” is now available on Netflix.
Ashley Dwarkin of Fox News contributed to this report.
