The 1986 Kennedy Space Center Mystery

I have had this tendency of late to produce trip reports. I visited the Kennedy Space Center for the first time since 1986. So, even though I’m away from home, and my archives are a bit disorganized, I figured I’d reflect on my first visit, for a moment.

I was able to locate these images from that visit.

 

 

 

 

 

I also apparently saw an IMAX movie. The dream is alive was released in June of 1985 and prominently featured the Challenger. I do not remember much of that trip clearly.

Attempts to narrow down when I was there exactly have intrigued me, because January of 1986 also marked the Challenger disaster. I wonder how close I was to one of the sad chapters in American Space Exploration.

The Challenger was scheduled to depart the 22nd of January, but it ultimately didn’t happen till the 28th due to a combination of factors including a prediction of inclimate weather for January 26th. In the pictures, I am carrying an umbrella.

Martin Luther King Day was observed nationally for the first time on Monday January 20th, 1986. From recollections of the other parties, we left Florida after that and were back in New York when the disaster occurred.

That would put the trip sometime in the range between Monday, January 6 and Friday, January 17th.  We know the previous mission, STS-61C, operated by the Columbia, had an aborted launch on the 6th, and was cancelled on the 7th due bad weather at the contingency landing sites in Senegal and Spain. There was a mechanical problem on the 9th, and  on the 10th there was heavy rainfall at the launch area at KSC. It finally launched on the 12th and it later didn’t land at Kennedy Space Center on January 18th due to inclimate weather, ultimately landing at Edwards Airforce Base.

If there had been a launch attempt any day we were there, it would be something that would likely stick in our minds. There is a vague recollection of the shuttle being on the launch pad. But it was most likely the Columbia, not the Challenger as suggested. But who knows?

The final clue is a trip to Disney, taken as part of the same trip, which shows a sunny day. So, we need two days together, one inclimate, one nice…not hard in Florida weather. But lacking concrete historical weather data for 1986(anyone have access to that information?), or more clues, it seems unlikely I can narrow is down further.

The Columbia, which operated STS-61C, disintegrated on February 1, 2003 on reentry. The two shuttle disasters claimed the lives of 14 dedicated men and women.

The search is ongoing for additional visuals from this trip. The mystery remains.