6 Applying to NASA and the Challenger Disaster

In 1985, Mae Jemison returned to the United States after her time in the Peace Corps. She moved back to Los Angeles, California. Los Angles is a vibrant and diverse city. In Los Angeles, Mae worked as a general practitioner (family doctor) and took more university classes in engineering. Her medical skills continued to grow, but she still had a dream to become an astronaut³.

While Mae was in the Peace Corps, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. The first human in space was a Soviet astronaut (cosmonaut) named Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The first white American man in space was Alan Shepard later that same year.  The Soviet Union sent Valentina Tereshkova to space in 1963. She was the first woman in space. It took twenty more years before America sent the first white American woman (Sally Ride) into space in 1983. That same year, the first African American man was also sent to space, Guion Bluford⁴.

Historically NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) only hired white male pilots usually from the military. Pilots had to be under 5 feet 11 inches tall to fit inside the small space capsule. However, in the 1980s the capsules were bigger and astronauts could be as tall as 6 feet 4 inches. In addition, NASA wanted more highly educated people³. Mae did not have any flight experience, but she was very highly educated. Inspired by Sally Ride and Guion Bluford, Mae decided to apply for the astronaut program.

Around two thousand people from all over the country also applied. Although many people applied, Mae believed in herself and her abilities³.

Unfortunately, three months after Mae applied for NASA, there was a disaster. The space shuttle Challenger took off from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida on January 28, 1986. Five astronauts and two [pb_glossary id="327"]civilians were on the shuttle. One astronaut was Judy Resnick, the second white American woman in space. One of the civilians was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe³.

The shuttle took off into space, but after only 73 seconds in the air it exploded[/pb_glossary]. It dropped 65,000 feet in two minutes and forty-five seconds into the Atlantic Ocean at a speed of 204 miles per hour.  All seven people were killed. There was a great gloom in NASA and the nation because of the loss of life. NASA investigated what happened and why the shuttle exploded. They found that an O ring seal broke because of the cold temperatures that morning. While they investigated, the space program was closed³.

In 1987, NASA wanted to continue their space exploration and reopened the program. In February of that year Mae got a phone call. The call was from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. NASA accepted her into the program!  Her hard work paid off, Mae was going to become an astronaut, and her training was about to begin.

Mae headed to the Johnson Space Center. She started rigorous astronaut training. Her training included learning how to operate spacecraft, conducting experiments, and even preparing for spacewalks. Mae’s training was challenging, but she was determined to succeed³.