I'm pretty busy and don't have time to write anything particularly profound about it (I'm about to get on a flight to the Great White North, where we may have a mini bloggerbash in Edmonton), but as I mentioned on The Space Show a couple hours ago, tomorrow will be the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, in which Gus Grissom, Roger Chafee and Ed White were suffocated and burned. Saturday will be the twentieth anniversary of the loss of the Challenger. Here were my memories of that event from a post four years ago. Jim Oberg takes advantage of the anniversary to explode (so to speak) several myths about the disaster.

And of course, next week will be the third anniversary of Columbia's breakup over Texas. I may have more to say on that when the date arrives.

Happy birthday, Rand.

As I recall James M. Beggs, the former NASA administrator, was watching the preflight coverage and realized that it was to cold to launch. He tried to call NASA but was told everyone was to busy with the launch to come to the phone.
This chould be a myth. I am no longer sure of the source but it is what I remember.

Frank,

I can't imagine that being true. If you ignore the eventual outcome of STS-51L, which is fair when considering the situation prior to launch, then it seems highly inappropriate for a retired Administrator to tell current Flight Managers, Directors, and Controllers how to do their jobs at a critical point in the launch process.

However, maybe he did try to call his old office (NASA HQ) to advise his replacement. After all, he recently had resigned. If he thought his opinion would be relevant at that time, I would think he was arrogant. Smart and concerned... but arrogant.

My late father, who was involved a bit with the local republican party organization in Maryland, knew and admired Beggs. He was appalled when Beggs was indicted, forcing his resignation from NASA, and not surprised when the indictment was dismissed (and the U.S. Attorney General apologized.)