Space Shuttle Challenger--William Harwood

I witnessed the launch from the Kennedy Space Center press site just 4.2 miles from Pad 39B. It was my 19th shuttle launch but my first without the comforting presence of UPI Science Editor Al Rossiter Jr., a space veteran with all of the experience I lacked.

I arrived at the UPI trailer around 11:30 p.m. Monday night, Jan. 27. I always came to work before the start of fueling on the theory that any time anyone loaded a half-million gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into anything it was an event worth staffing.

It was bitterly cold that night. I remember turning on the drafty UPI trailer's heaters in a futile attempt to warm up while I started banging out copy. I was writing for afternoon newspapers that would hit the streets the following afternoon. Because Challenger's launch was scheduled for that morning, the PM cycle was the closest thing to "live" reporting that print journalists ever experience... I had written my launch copy the day before and, as usual, I spent most of the early morning hours improving the story, checking in periodically with NASA public affairs and monitoring the chatter on the bureau's radio scanner. I would occasionally glance toward the launch pad where Challenger stood bathed in high power spotlights, clearly visible for dozens of miles around. Off to the side, a brilliant tongue of orange flame periodically flared in the night as excess hydrogen was let out harmlessly into the atmosphere.

As night gave way to day, the launch team was struggling to keep the countdown on track. Problems had delayed fueling and launch, originally scheduled for 9:38 a.m., for two hours, to make sure no dangerous accumulations of ice had built up on Challenger's huge external tank. Finally, all systems were "go" and the countdown resumed at the T minus nine-minute mark for a liftoff at 11:38 a.m. Battling my usual pre-launch nervousness, I called UPI national desk editor Bill Trott in Washington about three minutes before launch. I had already filed the PM launch story to UPI's computer and Trott now called it up on his screen. We shot the breeze. I reminded him not to push the SEND button until I confirmed vertical motion; two previous launches were aborted at the last second and we didn't want to accidentally "launch" a shuttle on the wire when it was still firmly on the ground. But there were no such problems today. Challenger's three main engines thundered to life on schedule, shooting out blue-white fire and enormous clouds of steam. Less than seven seconds later, the shuttle's twin boosters ignited with a ground-shaking roar and the spacecraft rose skyward.