Riding Rockets

The wives were exhausted. Besides being Prime Crew spouses and wanting to see their men in the few opportunities remaining, they were also family entertainers for the week. Relatives and friends who were on a normal sleep schedule sought them out for KSC tour information, weather forecasts, and information on launch-day bus schedules. Cheryl Thuot and Chris Casper also had young children to deal with. If our wives were getting three hours of sleep a night, I would have been surprised.

They certainly didn’t get much sleep this night. We met them again at the beach house for an L-2 barbecue dinner…at 8A.M . Each of us was allowed an additional four health-screened guests, so this was a real crowd. In fact the gathering was too much. Introductions consumed a significant part of our time. The guests were also frantic to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get photos in every imaginable permutation: the STS-36 crew alone, the crew with wives, the crew with parents. All of this was being done on the outside deck so a billion no-see-um bugs also wanted to be in the picture. Photos were delayed while we slapped and danced and scratched them away. Inevitably we would pose for one shot and be into the next permutation when some old lady would scream, “I forgot to take off my lens cap. We’ll have to pose that one again.” Or, “I need to change film, so hold on.” Or, “I left Aunt Betty’s camera inside. Wait while I get it.” Meanwhile I was thinking,This is bullshit! I had no patience for the extended families of the others and, no doubt, the other crewmembers were thinking the same thing as my mom jumped into firing position and started fiddling with her camera. I just wanted to be alone with my mom and children and Donna. I didn’t want to share this time making small talk with people I had never met before.

During our first break from the Kodak moments I pulled my family to the beach. I would see Donna again, so I devoted my time to my mom and children. The kids were now old enough to make the beach house visit after being cleared by the flight surgeon. As I had been in previous launch good-byes, I was honest with them now about the risks. I didn’t talk up the danger, but neither did I paint a Potemkin village for them. SinceChallenger ’s loss I was even more determined to keep them informed. I had heard that one of the older children watchingChallenger ’s destruction from the LCC roof had screamed, “Daddy, you said this could never happen!” I wanted my children and mom to know it could happen and to be prepared as much as possible.