Challenger (TV film)
Encyclopedia
Challenger is an ABC
TV-movie based on the events surrounding the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
. Its production was somewhat controversial as the families of the astronauts generally objected to it. The film concentrates on the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the O-ring
s that ultimately were blamed for the breakup of Challenger. While doing this, it also aims to show the personal humanity of the seven crew members. Generally, the film supports the Space Shuttle program and the dedication of NASA personnel in general while criticizing NASA management.
On the human side, an interesting scene involves Christa McAuliffe talking with the designer of the "Teacher in Space" program, who enthusiastically describes to her his conception of a teacher performing experiments in space, while her students following along perform the same experiments on Earth and observe completely different results. He envisions this capturing their curiosity to stimulate an interest in science. Christa appreciates the vision, and the two have a very friendly, informal collegial conversation. He describes the complexity and great amount of effort that has gone into developing the "Teacher in Space" program, giving the example that an original plan involved a magnetism experiment with iron filings, but that that plan had to be changed due to risks: "What if those iron filings got out of their container? They could get into the equipment..." and cause a serious, dangerous equipment problem on board the shuttle. Everything has to be checked and planned and reviewed again; it's hard work, much harder than planning a regular daily lesson for a class on the ground. Christa understands and appreciates this, and is happy and excited to be a part of it.
The end of the movie shows Challenger lifting off from the launch pad. The credits start to roll when the orbiter is out of frame.
portrayed Christa McAuliffe
, Kristin Bond portrayed Christa McAuliffe's daughter, Caroline (who was 6 when her mother died), and Kale Browne
played the role of McAuliffe's husband, Steven. (Allen and Browne were married in real life.)
Peter Boyle
played the role of Roger Boisjoly
, the Thiokol engineer most vocal about the danger of launching at extreme low temperatures because of the risk that the O-ring seals in the shuttle's rocket boosters would fail at those temperatures.
The film also examines the personal lives of the other members of the crew - Barry Bostwick
as Commander Dick Scobee
, Brian Kerwin
as Captain Michael Smith, Joe Morton
as Dr. Ronald McNair
, Keone Young
as Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka
, Richard Jenkins
as Gregory B. Jarvis, Julie Fulton
as Dr. Judith Resnik - and their families - Angela Bassett
as Cheryl McNair, Elizabeth Kemp as Jane Smith, Jeanne Mori
as Lorna Onizuka, Debbie Boily as Marcia Jarvis, Melinda Ann Austin as June Scobee, Melissa Chan as Janelle Onizuka, Gavin Luckett as Reggie McNair, Naoka Nakagawa as Darien Onizuka, Thomas Allen Jr. as Scott Smith - before they boarded Challenger.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
TV-movie based on the events surrounding the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
. Its production was somewhat controversial as the families of the astronauts generally objected to it. The film concentrates on the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the O-ring
O-ring
An O-ring, also known as a packing, or a toric joint, is a mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; it is a loop of elastomer with a disc-shaped cross-section, designed to be seated in a groove and compressed during assembly between two or more parts, creating a seal at the interface.The O-ring...
s that ultimately were blamed for the breakup of Challenger. While doing this, it also aims to show the personal humanity of the seven crew members. Generally, the film supports the Space Shuttle program and the dedication of NASA personnel in general while criticizing NASA management.
Plot
In the film, NASA managers and Thiokol engineers argue back and forth about whether the data Thiokol has is adequate to support the risk they claim. In a teleconference, Morton Thiokol engineer Roger Boisjoly describes to the NASA team the soot from prior O-ring "blow-by" incidents on prior launches as "black", trying to communicate the severity of the malfunction, and says "it looked bad". A NASA director challenges him, asking "What does the black color mean?" Boisjoly, played by Boyle, is unable to put into words a concrete logical argument for concern about what is to him obviously a serious problem, and he just replies with something like, "I'm telling you, if you'd seen it, you'd know it isn't good." The NASA manager demands proof before he will ground the shuttle, and the call ends leaving Boisjoly frustrated and baffled at their attitude. Unable to prove their case with certainty, Thiokol managers cave in to direct pressure and reverse their recommendation, finally recommending launch.On the human side, an interesting scene involves Christa McAuliffe talking with the designer of the "Teacher in Space" program, who enthusiastically describes to her his conception of a teacher performing experiments in space, while her students following along perform the same experiments on Earth and observe completely different results. He envisions this capturing their curiosity to stimulate an interest in science. Christa appreciates the vision, and the two have a very friendly, informal collegial conversation. He describes the complexity and great amount of effort that has gone into developing the "Teacher in Space" program, giving the example that an original plan involved a magnetism experiment with iron filings, but that that plan had to be changed due to risks: "What if those iron filings got out of their container? They could get into the equipment..." and cause a serious, dangerous equipment problem on board the shuttle. Everything has to be checked and planned and reviewed again; it's hard work, much harder than planning a regular daily lesson for a class on the ground. Christa understands and appreciates this, and is happy and excited to be a part of it.
The end of the movie shows Challenger lifting off from the launch pad. The credits start to roll when the orbiter is out of frame.
Cast
Karen AllenKaren Allen
Karen Jane Allen is an American actress best known for her role as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
portrayed Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster....
, Kristin Bond portrayed Christa McAuliffe's daughter, Caroline (who was 6 when her mother died), and Kale Browne
Kale Browne
David Charles "Kale" Browne is an American actor. He was born in San Rafael, California. Browne was the first to play the roles of Michael Hudson on Another World and Sam Rappaport on One Life to Live . Browne has a son, Nicholas, with former wife Karen Allen...
played the role of McAuliffe's husband, Steven. (Allen and Browne were married in real life.)
Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
played the role of Roger Boisjoly
Roger Boisjoly
Roger M. Boisjoly is a mechanical engineer, fluid dynamicist and an aerodynamicist who worked for Morton Thiokol, the manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle program...
, the Thiokol engineer most vocal about the danger of launching at extreme low temperatures because of the risk that the O-ring seals in the shuttle's rocket boosters would fail at those temperatures.
The film also examines the personal lives of the other members of the crew - Barry Bostwick
Barry Bostwick
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...
as Commander Dick Scobee
Dick Scobee
Francis Richard "Dick" Scobee was an American astronaut. He was killed commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger, which suffered catastrophic booster failure during launch of the STS-51-L mission.-Early life:...
, Brian Kerwin
Brian Kerwin
Brian Kerwin is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kerwin won the Theatre World Award in 1988 for the off-Broadway play Emily. His Broadway theatre credits include the 1997 revival of The Little Foxes and the Elaine May comedy After the Night and the Music in 2005...
as Captain Michael Smith, Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as Dr. Ronald McNair
Ronald McNair
Ronald Ervin McNair, Ph.D. was a physicist and NASA astronaut. McNair died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L.-Background:...
, Keone Young
Keone Young
Keone J. Young is an American character actor. His father is Chinese and his mother is Japanese.He has been prolific in his character work and has made numerous guest appearances on such varied television series as Diff'rent Strokes, The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Family Matters,...
as Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka
Ellison Onizuka
was a Japanese American astronaut from Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C, before losing his life to the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, where he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L...
, Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
as Gregory B. Jarvis, Julie Fulton
Julie Fulton
Julie Fulton is an American actor, perhaps best known for playing several characters in the Summer variety Dave Thomas Comedy Show consisting of comedy sketches and shown on Second City Television debuting May 28, 1990....
as Dr. Judith Resnik - and their families - Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
as Cheryl McNair, Elizabeth Kemp as Jane Smith, Jeanne Mori
Jeanne Mori
Jeanne Mori is an actress and voice-over artist known for her voice of Zoe Nightshade in James Bond 007: Nightfire.-External links:...
as Lorna Onizuka, Debbie Boily as Marcia Jarvis, Melinda Ann Austin as June Scobee, Melissa Chan as Janelle Onizuka, Gavin Luckett as Reggie McNair, Naoka Nakagawa as Darien Onizuka, Thomas Allen Jr. as Scott Smith - before they boarded Challenger.