Challenger explodes seconds after liftoff
By HOWARD BENEDICT
AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A
catastrophic explosion blew apart the
space shuttle Challenger 74 seconds
after liftoff yesterday, sending
schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe and
six NASA astronauts to a fiery death
in the sky eight miles out from Kenne
dy Space Center.
"We mourn seven heroes," said
President Reagan.
The accident defied quick explana
tion, though a slow-motion replay
seemed to show a flame or other
abnormality on one of two peel-away
rocket boosters followed by the deto
nation of the shuttle's huge external
fuel tank.
The tank-turned-fireball destroyed
Challenger high above the Atlantic
while crew families and National
Aeronautics and Space Administra
tion officials watched in despair from
the Cape.
Other observers noted that the
boosters continued to fly crazily
through the,'.4ky after the explosion,
indicating chat the problem might
have originated in the giant tank
itself.
"We will not speculate as to the
specific cause of the explosion based
Horror . . . and mourning
Family members of Christa McAuliffe (above) sister Betsy and Grace and
Ed Corrigan console each other as the horror of the tragedy unfolds.
Below, Katharyn Hok (left) and Carina Dolcino mourn the death of
McAuliffe in a memorial service at St. Peter's Church in McAuliffe's
hometown of Concord, N.H.
- - .
inside
• Additional coverage of the
explosion of the space shuttle
Challenger Page 2
index
comics..
opinions
weather
This afternoon, increasing
clouds and some snow flurries
with a high of 24. Tonight, flur
ries ending and clear by morn
ing, low of 15. Tomorrow, a bit
warmer with early morning sun
shine accompanied by a few
afternoon clouds. It will be
pleasant with a high of 29.
Heidi Sonen
on that footage," said Jesse Moore,.
NASA's top shuttle administrator.
The space agency's officials are orga
nizing an investigating board and
Moore said it will take a "careful
review" of all data "before we can
reach any conclusions."
It was the first in-flight disaster in
56 manned space missions. John
Glenn, the former astronaut, recalled
that three astronauts died in a
launch-pad training accident 19 years
ago and said the history of pioneers is
often one "of triumph and tragedy."
The explosion followed an appar
ently flawless launch, delayed two
hours as officials analyzed the danger
from icicles that formed in the frosty
Florida morning along the shuttle's
new launch pad.
"There were no signs of abnormali
ties on the screens" as flight control
lers monitored Challenger's liftoff
and ascent, a source said. The source,
at the Johnson Space Center in Hous
ton, said the blast occurred "unex
pectedly and with absolutely no
warning."
"We have a report from the flight
dynamics officer that the vehicle has
exploded. Flight director confirms
that," said NASA's Steve Nesbitt.
The cheers at McAuliffe's Concord
(N.H.) High turned to sorrow.
the
daily
USG senator calls for unity with black student coalition
By STEVE WILSON
Collegian Staff Writer
An Undergraduate Student Govern
ment Senator said last night the USG
should join a black student coalition
in obstructing the University's mi
nority recruitment efforts as a pro
test to the Board of Trustees' decision
not to divest from corporations doing
business in South Africa.
At the senate meeting, Town Sen
ator John Clisham spoke of the Black
Student Coalition Against Racism
made up of 13 black student organiza
tions which announced plans Mon
day to limit its participation in
University activities.
No action was taken and a verbal
reaction was not made to the
statement, but the senate gave Cli
sham a round of applause.
The University is mandated by a
federal court order to increase mi-
NASA said its computers showed
that all communications with the
shuttle broke off 74 seconds after
launch, marking that as the moment
of the explosion.
Mission Control reported that there
had been no indication of any prob
lem with the three shuttle engines, its
twin solid boosters or any other sys
tem and that the shuttle just suddenly
blew apart 10 miles high and 8 miles
downrange of Cape Canaveral. Nine
ty minutes after the accident, control
lers were still at their consoles,
solemnly examining flight data.
Flags at Cape Canaveral were low
ered to half-staff. The countdown
clock that marks the progress of the
mission continued for hours.
Reagan, in an Oval Office address
after he postponed his State of the
Union message because of the trage
dy, reaffirmed his commitment to the
shuttle program and said, "The fu
ture doesn't belong to the faint-heart
ed, it belongs to the brave."
"We will continue our quest in
space," he said. "There will be more
shuttle flights and more shuttle crews
and, yes, more volunteers, more ci
vilians, more teachers in space."
He added: "Nothing stops here."
NASA delayed its announcement
that there appeared to be no survi-
25'
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 1986
I Vol. 86, No. 119 20 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
©1986 Collegian Inc.
ttciii .(IZ€IIT ii 1] iLI .: .][iTiJi.]4 411 E[li
Jordan, PSU officials object
By DAMON CHAPPIE
Collegian Staff Writer
University President Bryce Jordan
called attempts to obstruct the Uni
versity's minority recruitment ef
forts "misguided" and said it would
hurt minority students who would
otherwise attend Penn State.
A new coalition of black student
groups intends to block efforts by the
administration to reach a court-or
dered black enrollment goal by-1987.
The Black Student Coalition
Against Racism formed in response
to the University's recent decision not
to divest holdings in South African
related companies.
Jordan said when he made his
statement that he hadn't seen
BSCAR's resolution, which calls for
the black community to oppose mi
nority recruitment efforts by discour
aging black students from attending
Penn State.
BSCAR Chairman Carlton Water
house said a copy of the resolution
was left in Jordan's office yesterday
at about 3:30 p.m.
Waterhouse said he attempted to
make an appointment with Jordan
but that Jordan couldn't meet with
him for at least two weeks.
"Based on the reports I have read
in the press," Jordan said, "I can
only say that I believe the pronounced
intention of those students to obstruct
Penn State's minority recruitment
efforts is, in my mind, misguided."
"If successful, they will hurt the
minority students who otherwise
would attend Penn State," he added.
Jordan said the administration will
continue to recruit minorities be
cause "we believe it is in the direct
interest of the Commonwealth and of
society at large."
But the University has relied heavi
ly on enrolled black students to re
cruit potential black high school
students.
"Students are some of the best
recruiters that you can possibly get,"
said Victoria Staples, University di
rector of minority admissions.
"In terms of presenting what we're
doing to the public, minority students
look toward role models, to the people
who are already here as a source of
information," she said.
Since 1983, when Blacks made up
2.5 percent of the student population,
nority enrollment from its current 3.7
percent to 5 percent by 1987.
Director of Admissions and assis
tant vice president Scott F. Healy
said he hoped the senate would not
take action against recruitment, "a
priority in the admissions depart
ment," because of a decision made by
the trustees and added that there
may be other ways to protest divest
ment.
"We can't do it without, them,"
Healy said. "If we don't get their
support it may put us back a step
instead of forward as it should be."
Healy said he would not say the
trustees' decision was either right or
wrong but did not feel it should reflect
on the University's minority recruit
ment effort.
Clisham's statement began with a
clip from the Monty Python movie
"Life of Brian," a parody on the
biblical story of the life of Jesus.
Senate President David Rishel had
Prof says key may be in telemetry
By NAN CRYSTAL ARENS
Collegian Science Writer
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
has already assembled an investigative team to unravel
the cause of yesterday's explosion of the space shuttle
Challenger.
The team will try to piece together circumstances
surrounding the disaster NASA spokesman John Law
rence said yesterday.
Information would be released to the public as soon as it
was available, he said.
Robert Melton, University assistant professor of aero
space engineering, said it was too early to determine
what went wrong with the 25th mission in NASA's space
shuttle program.
"Needless to say I was very upset . . . I just viewed the
tape," Melton said yesterday afternoon.
"If you look at the photograph it appears that one of the
solid rocket boosters exploded, but at this point it is only
speculation, we don't know anything." Melton said.
Lawrence said official NASA reports gave no indication
vors until it had conducted search- Francis R. Scobee, 46, pilot Michael
and-rescue efforts. Even before J. Smith, 40; Judith Resnik, 36; Ron-
Moore's statement, it seemed impos- ald E. McNair, 35; Ellison S. Onizu
sible anyone could survive such a ka, 39; and Gregory B. Jarvis, 41.
cataclysmic explosion. "I regret that I have to report that
The crew included McAuliffe and based on very preliminary searches
six NASA astronauts: commander of the ocean where the Challenger
the University has spent millions of
dollars in an attempt to double that
figure by 1987. That deadline was
imposed as part of 16-year-old legal
dispute between the federal govern
ment and Pennsylvania that required
the state's higher education system to
desegregate.
The University submitted its plan
to recruit and retain black students in
1983. The latest figures show that
minority enrollment has increased to
3.7 percent: -
The goal is 5 percent by 1987. At
stake is the possible loss of millions in
federal funding if the goal is not met.
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People has
pursed the case in court.
In 1970, the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund sued the then Department of
Health, Education and Welfare to
enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act
against 10 states, including Pennsyl
vania, because the state's higher
education systems were segregated.
The court ruled in favor of the
NAACP and ordered the states to
come up with desegregation plans in
1974.
The U.S. Office of Civil Rights,
however, found Pennsylvania's plans
inadequate because they did not cov
er the four state-related universities
including Penn State.
A federal district judge ruled in
1983 that plans to desegregate, which
include Penn State, had to be sub
mitted. Since then, the University has
concentrated on recruiting black high
school students from urban areas as
well as out of state.
The University has relied on phone
a-thons, brochures and black Univer
sity students to visit high schools to
encourage students to attend Penn
State.
The University also has provided
scholarships to attract black stu
dents.
"The University's commitment to
minority students is strongly re
flected in the progams and consider
able financial support that we
already have in place," Jordan said.
Staples said she wouldn't comment
on BSCAR's threat because she
hasn't seen the written resolution.
She said she would meet with mem
bers of the group to discuss the issue.
shown the clip to the senate earlier to
illustrate an observation about the
nature of organizations.
The clip showed a fictitious group
meeting when someone ran in
screaming that the Romans were
about to nail Brian to a cross: "It's
happening, Reg! It's happening right
now!"
Towards the end of the meeting
Clisham asked Rishel to rerun that
quote and added: "It's happening
now. Every two minutes in South
Africa a black person is arrested for
violating the pass laws."
Clisham said American corpora
tions supply the South African gov
ernment with the computers that
allow them to enforce this law.
"If (BSCAR) is willing to make a
courageous commitment towards di
vestment," Clisham said, "I think
other organizations should align
themselves with it."
He also cited the senate's policy of
"The maneuver is called 'return to launch site,' "
Melton said, adding that if the boosters are jettisoned, the
shuttle will glide back to Earth.
"Even if they had, say 30 seconds warning, they might
not have been able to do anything. We just don't know,"
Melton said.
Black students to oppose recruit.
By NANCY FUNK
Collegian Staff Writer
The University administration will
be forced to reconsider its decision
not to divest business holdings in
South Africa, said members of the
newly established coalition of black
University students who are taking
an aggressive course of action
against the University's efforts to
recruit black students.
"We believe our organization will
have a very definite effect on the
decision," said Carlton Waterhouse,
chairman of the Black Student Coali
tion Against Racism.
In hopes of pressuring the Universi
ty administration into reversing its
decision not to divest, BSCAR has
united 13 black campus organizations
for the cause.
BSCAR announced Monday their
intentions to actively oppose minority
recruitment efforts because of the
recent decision by the University
Board of Trustees not to divest.
In addition, BSCAR member and
Black Caucus President Larry Pat
rick said the organization will boycott
University activities including
freshman and transfer student orien
tations, which in the past have includ
ed programs sponsored by black
student organizations welcoming
Blacks to the University.
BSCAR also plans to meet with
lawyers from the University and
State College to discuss the possibilty
of resorting to civil disobedience, said
Katrina Scott, BSCAR member and
president of the Committee for Jus
tice in South Africa.
These measures demonstrate the
anger felt by black students who
believe the University administra
tion's actions do not reflect a genuine
concern for Blacks, said James B.
Stewart, adviser to the Committee for
Justice in South Africa.
Now, with an alliance of as many as
400 students, BSCAR will voice their
dissatisfaction with the University's
"actions and attitudes toward the
Black community," Patrick said.
In reference to University Presi
dent Bryce Jordan's comment that
the BSCAR's efforts to oppose minori
ty recruitment are "misguided" Pat
rick said, "We are being misguided
by the president and the Board of
Trustees who believe that investment
`I think other
organizations should
align themselves
with (BSCAR's
decision).'
—John Clisham
supporting divestment, adding di
vestment could be more than a black
issue if other organizations joined
with BSCAR.
James B. Stewart, adviser to the
Committee for Justice in South Afri
ca, said last night that USG backing
of the coalition would "send a mes
sage to the community at large."
"The impact would suggest to the
community that (divestment) is not
just a concern of (BSCAR) but one
shared among the student body."
whether the explosion occurred in the solid boosters or in
the main engines.
During launch, the shuttle's main engines fueled by
526,000 gallons,of liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the
main tank fire while still on the launch pad, Melton
said. Seconds later, the solid rocket boosters lashed to the
side of large orange fuel tank fire, providing enough lift to
propel the shuttle into the sky.
"The onboard computers monitor the launch and give
the command for firing the solid boosters," Melton said.
Once the solid rocket boosters fire, the shuttle is
committed to launch, Melton said. The solid boosters
cannot be shut down and can only be jettisoned under
certain circumstances.
impacted this morning, these
searches have not revealed any evi
dence that the crew of Challenger
survived," Moore, NASA associate
administrator, told a midafternoon
news conference.
Please see CHALLENGER, Page 20
is prudent on a business, moral and
educational level."
Scott added, "Sure, the entire black
population is misguided all of the
black people in South Africa are
misguided and Bishop Tutu is mis
guided."
On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth
day, several leaders of black student
organizations decided that the Uni
versity administration would not se
riously consider divestment unless
united Blacks took more drastic mea
sures, Waterhouse said.
With that thought in mind, 13 black
campus organizations were con
tacted to meet and confer about what
action should be taken to protest the
decision.
"They all came out wholeheartedly
and gave their support," Waterhouse
said.
BSCAR leaders said yesterday they
believe they can make a difference
through the strong actions of the
organization, which will also include
appealing to the National Organiza
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People and the Rainbow Coalition for
financial support of educational driv
es against apartheid.
"If nothing else, this will say that
students are in disagreement with the
trustees and the University does have
a responsiblity to its consumers,"
Patrick said.
Others agreed including Scott,
who said the actions of the BSCAR
will force the University administra
tion to study the issue of divestment
sooner than was planned.
Lawrence Young, director of the
Paul Robeson Cultural Center, said
although he was not involved in orga
nizing BSCAR, he supports its efforts.
"I believe this is a valid and posi
tive step this is a large group of
people who want their feelings
known," he said.
Harold Cheatham, president of the
Forum on Black Affairs, also en
dorses the efforts of BSCAR, saying it
is important for the students to stand
up for what they believe in.
"This institution is unchanged and
unchanging we all ought to be
prepared to endure frustration," he
said.
Members of the minority commu
nity and socially conscious Whites,
Cheatham said, should support
BSCAR.
He also said non-participation was
a first step and that obstruction was a
last resort.
Katrina Scott, president of the
Committee for Justice in South Africa
said of Clisham's suggestion: 'Won
derful. I'm very glad."
She said the coalition was trying to
get other organizations, including the
Interfraternity Council and Panhelle
nic Council, to join them and "if USG
takes a first step, that's wonderful."
The trustees voted earlier this
month not to divest the University's
$5.5 million invested in corporations
that have operations in South Africa
but to maintain a policy of investing
only in Sullivan Principle signatory
corporations.
The board also appointed a com
mittee to devise criteria for monitor
ing corporations' improvement in
minority treatment in the work place
and left the possibility of selective
divestment open.
Please see SHUTTLE, Page 2