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Challenger

by Mark Benis

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about

On the morning of January 28th, 1986, there was a palpable air of excitement and anxiety around the United States as coverage of NASA's 25th space shuttle launch was broadcast across the country. The shuttle Challenger had seen nine previously successful flights, but on this fateful day a catastrophic failure one minute into the mission resulted in the destruction of the spacecraft and the deaths of all the crew members. Millions of Americans watching were left stunned and distraught, everyone expecting a vastly different outcome in which on-board school teacher Christa McAuliffe was to give her students their very first lesson from space.

The Challenger disaster is a moment remembered by many today, and my work seeks to capture the spectrum of emotions that still linger all these years later, from the euphoria of scientific triumph to the pain of irrevocable tragedy. I use recordings from live coverage of the mission and communications among flight control operatives to recreate the launch sequence and the critical seconds leading up to the explosion. In the aftermath the piece offers a eulogy for the crew, one that is despairing yet hopeful. The crew's courage to board that shuttle and NASA's drive to attempt the impossible -- even when the odds are stacked against them -- are at the heart of this tragic event, and they show just how limitless and indomitable our determination can be.

Challenger is dedicated to the seven crew members of mission STS-51-L: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.

credits

released January 2, 2017
Recordings include the voices of Mission Control spacecraft communicator Richard O. Covey, launch commentator Hugh Harris, Mission Control spokesman Steve Nesbitt, and Challenger astronaut Dick Scobee among other Mission Control operatives.

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Mark Benis New York, New York

composer / game dev 💀

Rosewater, AiliA, Once Upon a Jester, Everybody Wham Wham, Lamplight City

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