Dedicated to the seven brave men and women of Challenger STS-51L, along with all heroic pioneers who have lost their lives and “given all, just to lead the way”…
…and to all courageous explorers who continue to “risk their lives upon the challenge of the gods” in order to “bring that knowledge home and teach it to the child.”
They will not be forgotten.
♦ ♦ ♦
Challenger Center for Space Science Exploration
“Challenger Learning Centers were inspired by the seven crew members who flew Challenger space shuttle mission 51-L. Their mission exemplified our noblest and most wondrous qualities—to explore, discover, and teach. Yet it tragically showed the perils at the frontier of knowledge. The Challenger Centers carry on their mission. We honor the courage and conviction of these heroic astronauts with every child we inspire.”
If this song, story and remembrance of the event has touched you in any way, please consider a donation to the Challenger Center for Space Science Exploration www.challenger.org - founded by the Challenger astronauts’ families - they carry on the mission of bringing the challenge and rewards of exploring space and science to children everywhere.
Many of the images used in the video came from these NASA databases. They are a fascinating and endless source of images related to space, the space program, the shuttle program, and the astronauts that make up the missions. (Note: not presented in any particular order.)
Space Program, Shuttle and Astronaut images:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.htmlAstronomy, Space and Planetary images:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/hubble_anniversary/hubbleimages.htmlInspirational quotes used at the end of the video:
The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted - it belongs to the brave.
Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time,
the farther we penetrate the unknown,
the vaster and more marvelous it becomes.
Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a
look at new worlds… to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.
I touch the future. I teach.
Other Inspirational quotes that didn't make it in:
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
The only thing we have to fear...is fear itself.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement
that something else is more important than fear.
Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.
It's not a thing to be waited for - it is a thing to be achieved.
Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.
Courage is a kind of salvation.
You can't test courage cautiously.
History admires the wise, but elevates the brave.
The best hearts are ever the bravest.
It is better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.
We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of
the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.
If I can get some student interested in science, if I can show members of the general public
what's going on up there in the space program, then my job’s been done.
I know how to never have another Challenger. I know how to never have another leak,
and never to screw up another mirror, and that is to stop and build some
shopping centers in the desert.
We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared
for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God’.