WIND CHILL FACTOR

WIND CHILL FACTOR

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Its one of those events that effect you so much that you always remember where you were when it happened. I was in the parking lot of the Big Boy restaurant in Fairfield, Ohio getting a late-morning cup of coffee. I was making sales calls in the area. The liftoff was carried on the radio. We had become a little complacent about space travel by that time. We had done it so much. I think the inclusion of a school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, in the crew made this one more newsworthy. More than a thousand teachers nationwide had applied to be the first teacher in space. She was the winner.

The mission had been scrubbed several times because of unseasonably cold weather in Florida. This morning, a bright beautiful one, it was about to be scrubbed again. The shuttle needed to liftoff prior to noon and the temperature needed to be safely above freezing. It got to 38 degrees and the go ahead for takeoff was given. The rubber o-rings in the solid fuel canisters wouldn't seal below 32 degrees F. Unlike people in the north, Floridians are unaccustomed to worrying about wind chill factor. It is a real thing - don't ever forget it.