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"If you've ever lost somebody you like, that's what it feels like," Scobee told CNN this month, as the company approached. anniversary. "I just shared my loss with the country.I think it's my responsibility to share some of that – because that's part of our story."
On January 28, 1986, Scobee was about to graduate from the Air Force Academy when he joined his mother and the other crew members' families in Florida to see his father, mission commander Dick Scobee, and six other astronauts take off aboard Challenger.
He remembers getting up on the roof of NASA 's Mission Control at the Kennedy Space Center and being excited at the prospect that the crystal clear sky would offer a perfect view of the separation of the powerful Challenger rocket propellants.
A few seconds after take-off, "I knew something was wrong immediately," Scobee recalls. "I looked at my mother and she understood that too."
Looking at his mother, June, getting through it was a horrible memory that never left him.
"After all these years, it is still difficult to remember – the sadness in his eyes."
Her career as an English teacher helps her close ties with the Challenger crew member, Christa McAuliffe.
The world remembers McAuliffe as NASA's first "teacher in space". Students in many classrooms watched in horror as disaster struck on live television.
After an investigation, the explosion was attributed to a seal placed inside a rocket booster that had fled because of the cold weather. The hot exhaust gases escaped through the seal and broke the outer fuel tank of the shuttle, causing an explosion.
Commander Scobee lost his life with McAuliffe and five other teammates: Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik and Mike Smith.
The horrible public aspect of the tragedy sometimes eclipses the rest of Dick Scobee's life. "Everyone has seen my father's death and the end of his career," said his son. "What they did not see, it's his life – which was amazing."
From Mechanic to Astronaut
Dick Scobee began his career in the Air Force as an engine mechanic and continued his education. and the army to become an officer, fighter pilot and test pilot before gaining a place in NASA's astronaut corps.
"Passing from one key to the other on a vanishing line to a space shuttle command – no country in the world could do it, except for this one", said Rich Scobee.
Dick Scobee's leadership qualities were legendary among his colleagues. "This guy would make you feel good with you," recalls his son. "He just had a way to make you feel successful."
Rich Scobee boarded it alone after Challenger. military career as an F-16 fighter pilot. Eventually, he will attend fights in the Persian Gulf War, become squadron commander and later commander of the Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq.
Scobee says that his father has taught him important life lessons that have been useful to him throughout his career. Along the way, Rich Scobee and his wife Janis had time to raise their own family, including two sons and one daughter.
Last fall, Rich Scobee was promoted to General Three-Star Air Force and assumed command of the Air Force. Force Reserve.
"The Reserve was created to capture the talent of trained airmen who leave the active air force, but still want to serve part-time," said Scobee. It allows the Pentagon to quickly increase its air power by using Reserve units.
"We are always ready," said Scobee. "72 hours, that's all the notice we need" to launch fighter jets, bombers, tankers, freight transport to all destinations. All this is about one-sixth of what it would cost the Air Force full-time, Scobee said. In addition, the Air Force Reserve provides 20% of the total Air Force capacity for only 2% of the total Air Force budget.
The Future of American Space Exploration
Properly, Scobee's command will be indirectly intersecting with NASA later this year. Air Force Reserve units should provide support for the first launches of astronauts from Florida since the end of the shuttle program in 2011.
Rescue teams from 920 Air Force Reserves Reserve Squadron, "Guardian Angel" Air Force Reserve, will be assigned to these missions to deal with potential emergencies during launches or landings.
Scobee, who often grew up discussing this topic with his father, believes that space exploration is important and that the United States should play a leading role.
"We have to take our rightful place as space leaders, we can not let that go," said Scobee.
He supports the idea of sending astronauts on Mars. "Although space is dangerous – as explorers, we have to go because we do not fully understand everything that one of us has touched," he said. .
"Manned spaceflight is really important to who we are."
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