- 5 months ago
Disaster Transbian episode 105
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00:00I saw a meteor in space. I kicked a meteor. I broke my toe. I walked and saw a...and saw something.
00:16Well, I, too, am glad to be here one more time, and I am hoping that the affliction that Steve Hawley had from the 41D mission, mission specialist of the delays, hasn't rubbed off on me, and I think the guys behind me are hoping that it hasn't also, otherwise they might throw me off the flight.
00:41And I will now introduce El Onazuka.
00:51Let me say that it's really a pleasure to be back. I'm looking forward to going to fly this one. I think we got some real interesting payloads. The mission is a great mission. We're looking forward to it, and I think we're ready to go fly. Thanks for being out here today.
01:11I forgot the one thing I was supposed to do. Let me introduce Ron McNair, who is going to be doing a lot of work with the Spartan Halley mission, and carrying on a lot of the experiments that will be going on in the crew compartment.
01:26Again, I'd like to echo the opinions of my crew members that we look forward to returning, launching from the Cape, first of all, and returning here a few days later.
01:41I had the privilege of being a part of the crew a couple of years ago that made the first landing here at the Cape, and I intend to be a part of the crew to make the first return landing to the Cape in about a week.
01:52Growing up in Lake City, South Carolina, alongside his older brother, Carl S., as well as his younger brother, Eric Ronald Irwin McNair, grew up in a low-income household, his home having lacked both electricity and running water.
02:07The United States of America, land of freedom, 48 different states from which to choose, each with its own particular beauty and charm, the state of South Carolina.
02:2028th in size, 27th in population, but second to none in wealth of interest and warmth of hospitality.
02:30Highways that traverse the northwest upcountry, where the Blue Ridge Mountains drop away into the green of gently rolling foothills, transport you swiftly back through the stirring and colorful days of history,
02:42back to colonial days, to old plantation roads, and the great plantation houses, mellowed by the passing of the years, the fabulous days of colonial prosperity when Carolina planters made fortunes from the growing of silk and indigo and rice.
03:01The days when each great plantation was like a little kingdom within itself.
03:06When you mention the South, most people think of cotton scenes like this were as familiar then as they are now.
03:13But planters of those days would look with astonishment at King Cotton's empire today, one of the most beautiful capital buildings in the nation.
03:22Open to visitors, both the state house and the park-like grounds display many historic relics and mementos.
03:32One of them is the huge bronze equestrian statue of one of South Carolina's heroes, military leader, governor, and United States Senator, General Wade Hampton.
03:52First of all on the national
03:57If you have any Δ 1 scenerr, close all one of his嗎?
04:01One different step
04:10These are very Roast Catholic buddies with göt up on the floor too, where you will pay attention to what you want.
04:14Remember what you likeisus catnameist is when a pledge was in love each other, but I would like to give you space for time.
04:18And now the womenitaried cliff queen was a little special reading story this year, once they arrived with the fluorescent belt,
04:23The family later moved into a better, though still poor quality, household
04:28following the death of McNair's grandfather.
04:31His older brother, writing an oposthumous biography about McNair,
04:35described how the family, quote,
04:37covered the floor and furniture with pots and pans
04:40to catch the water dripping through the roof, unquote, when it rained.
04:44When he was nine years old, Ron, without my parents or myself knowing his whereabouts,
04:50he decided to take a mile walk from our home down to the library,
04:54which was, of course, a public library, but not so public for black folks
04:58when you're talking about 1959.
05:01So as he was walking in there, all these folks were staring at him
05:04because they were white folk only, and they were looking at him and saying,
05:07you know, who is this Negro?
05:09So he politely positioned himself in line to check out his books.
05:13Well, this old librarian, she says, this library is not for coloreds.
05:18He said, well, I would like to check out these books.
05:21She says, young man, if you don't leave this library right now,
05:24I'm going to call the police.
05:25So my mother, meanwhile, she was called.
05:27She comes down there praying the whole way there.
05:29Lord Jesus, please don't let them put my child in jail.
05:31When Ronald McNair was nine, the police and his mother were called
05:35because he wished to check out books from the segregated Lake City Public Library.
05:41He said, I'll wait, to the lady, and sat on the counter
05:44until the police and his mother arrived.
05:46And the officer said, why don't you just give him the books?
05:50Which the lady behind the counter reluctantly did.
05:53He said, thank you, ma'am, as he got the books.
05:56The building that housed the library at the time is now named after him.
06:01A children's book, Ron's Big Mission, offers a fictionalized account of this event.
06:06In 1971, McNair received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics, magna cum laude
06:16from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.
06:23At North Carolina A&T, he studied under Professor Donald Edwards,
06:28who had established the Physics Curriculum at the University.
06:32In 1978, McNair received a Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
06:40under the guidance of Michael Feld, becoming nationally recognized for his work in the field of laser physics.
06:46That same year, McNair won the AAU Karate Gold Medal.
06:52He would subsequently win five regional championships and earn a fifth-degree black belt in karate.
06:58This guy's so cool.
07:01In 1978, McNair was selected as one of 35 applicants from a pool of 10,000 for the NASA Astronaut Program.
07:10He was one of several astronauts recruited by Nichelle Nichols as part of a NASA effort
07:16to increase the number of minority and female astronauts.
07:21I actually got to meet her once. I wish I had a picture.
07:24A show came on TV called Star Trek.
07:26Now, Star Trek showed the future where there were black folk and white folk working together.
07:32And I looked at it as science fiction, because that wasn't going to happen, really.
07:36But Ronald saw it as science possibility.
07:38You know, he came up during a time when there was Neil Armstrong and all of those guys.
07:44So how was a colored boy from South Carolina, wearing glasses, never flew a plane,
07:48how was he going to become an astronaut?
07:51But Ron was the one who didn't accept societal norms as being his norm.
08:02Strong interference on subspace, Captain.
08:04The planet must be a natural radio source.
08:06Hi, I'm Nichelle Nichols.
08:17NASA's Enterprise is a space shuttle built to make regularly scheduled runs into space and back,
08:24just like a commercial airline.
08:27The shuttle may even be used to build a space station in orbit around the Earth.
08:32This would require the services of people with a variety of skills and qualifications.
08:38Average good health is required, and candidates will train right here at Johnson Space Center,
08:44just outside Houston, Texas.
08:46Astronaut Alan Bean has agreed to show me some of the training and evaluation
08:51that new astronaut candidates will be undergoing.
08:54You're Apollo, right?
08:56Apollo, I flew on Apollo 12, and I flew on...
08:58Skylab 2.
08:59Skylab 2.
09:00You know a lot.
09:01I know a lot about you, Alan Bean.
09:03It looks pretty much like the real shuttle orbiter.
09:06Captain, at last.
09:08Since you're sitting in the commander's seat, Michelle, let me show you how you might fly
09:12it if we were in space.
09:14Oh, boy.
09:15Between your knees there is what we call a hand controller, the rotation controller.
09:19It operates just like a conventional airplane stick.
09:23And if you pull back on the stick, or the hand controller, it'll raise the nose of the orbiter.
09:28And then if you push forward, it'll lower the nose.
09:30If you wanted to bank left for a left turn, you'd push the cam controller left, just like
09:35a regular old airplane.
09:37Oh, it really is.
09:38One thing that's different about this vehicle is you notice we've got some what we call cathode
09:42ray tube displays.
09:43We've got three of them.
09:45You don't see those in conventional airplanes because the need to display a variety of information
09:50with limited space isn't quite so critical as here.
09:53Minorities and women alike, if you qualify and would like to be an astronaut, now is the
09:59time.
10:02This is your NASA.
10:04A space agency embarked on a mission to improve the quality of life on planet Earth right now.
10:16The Suffolk's candidate is primarily a formality.
10:22Thirty-five people were chosen to serve as space shuttle astronauts, as scientists, or pilots.
10:26And we entered a two-year training program, which at the end of the two-year, the official,
10:31the title candidate will be moved.
10:34It is a means for one to discontinue the program if he or she desires, or let's say, be discontinued
10:43if he or she so desires.
10:44But in fact, thirty-five people will be space shuttle candidates.
10:47That's more of a formality than any other significance.
10:50How significant is it that you are at Black Sciences, going into the NASA program?
10:58From a historical point of view, I'd say that has lots of significance in that it's the first time,
11:03or it has not been a part of the NASA program in the past.
11:09It has significance in the point of view that it gives black people, it adds a touch of pride
11:16that we are moving into other areas, and moving up into more attractive areas where we can make broader impact.
11:25However, from an operational point of view, it has zero significance,
11:29because when it's time to fly a multi-billion dollar spacecraft,
11:35NASA will not put a dummy at the controls, regardless of what color he is.
11:40It's a qualification that matters.
11:43And when it's time to function in space capacity, in space,
11:47then what color you are, what sex you are, has nothing to do with anything.
11:51McNair flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-B aboard Challenger from February 3rd to 11th, 1984,
12:01becoming the second African American to fly in space.
12:05And the night before launch, going out, launch morning, after breakfast,
12:15everybody anxious to get strapped into the vehicle.
12:17The pad 39, beautiful scene, the orbiter launch morning, coming up to thrust,
12:28three main engines igniting, a million and a half pounds of thrust roughly here,
12:34then plus the SRBs, 4.4 million pounds of vehicle pushed by roughly 7 million pounds of thrust.
12:44We have solid rocket booster ignition and flip-flop of Challenger and attempt to space shuttle flight.
12:51The shuttle has cleared the tower.
12:52Tower, 34 over here.
12:55Houston now controlling, roll maneuver, roll maneuver confirmed.
12:5915 seconds.
13:00Good roll confirmed by mission control.
13:02One minute, 45 seconds.
13:10Velocity, 3,400 feet per second.
13:13Altitude, 17 nautical miles.
13:15Downrange distance, 17 nautical miles.
13:22Roger, PC.
13:22Solid rocket booster separation confirmed.
13:39Titans converging is programmed.
13:41Challenger, Houston.
13:42First stage performance nominal.
13:44Roger, Houston.
13:45Brian will show you a little bit here of what Zero-G is like, as you've seen before.
13:52I might add, that's a North Carolina Aggie, not a Texas Aggie.
13:56Oh, bro.
13:59Sevilla,
13:59Houston.
14:00I might add, that's aishment of you've seen before.
14:01But of course, if you come back,
14:02it takes to go down,
14:03but a link to keep going up within a hole.
14:05Then we'll see.
14:06You have one minute.
14:07This is aDOхе.
14:12You have a 1 swine.
14:13One minute.
14:14Aéš,
14:15don't go down.
14:16We noticed that theோ is being mounted to be a topiri move.
14:1835-foot self-tending tether right above the hatch, the task you see me doing here and
14:37then separated left and right to start on our respective tasks.
14:44My first task was getting the report-side MNU ready to fly and checking it out and starting
14:51into a Czech flight, followed by some translations up and down the polar bay and some hunger in
14:57the translations.
15:14The communication between Bruce and myself and Bob and it was necessary to be quite precise
15:28and understand exactly what we both intended but it was in fact very simple as long as
15:35that communication was well established.
15:37This was a pretty unusual maneuver here going to the forward bulkhead of the payload bay
15:43and it took some little acrobatics to see those guys when they're positioned that far forward
15:50in the payload bay.
15:51But it worked out quite smoothly and we were able to get them positioned exactly where they
15:55wanted to go.
15:56And that manipulator foot restraint turns out to be a very convenient, useful workstation.
16:03These are live, live pictures now.
16:04Yeah, you see Bob Stewart on the left-hand side just outside the hinge line of the door and
16:10you saw Bruce McCandless in his easy chair there.
16:12Callender, Houston, the President of the United States.
16:13Commander Brands, I'd like to say arthritis, say hoot, I understand that you're
16:19going to have to be a very convenient, useful workstation.
16:20It's got to be a very convenient, useful workstation.
16:21These are live, live pictures now.
16:22Yeah, you see Bob Stewart on the left-hand side just outside the hinge line of the door.
16:27And you saw Bruce McCandless in his easy chair there.
16:31Callender, Houston, the President of the United States.
16:34Commander Brands, I'd like to say arthritis, say hoot, I understand that you're going to
16:41have arthritis, your wife, do you have any tips?
16:48That's true, Mr. President.
16:53I can understand that.
16:54Do you think she'll enjoy it?
16:56Material processing.
17:00Mr. President, the experiments are working out very well.
17:05We're very pleased with the results we're seeing.
17:09And there's a lot of promise being demonstrated in all the areas you just mentioned.
17:14Well, well, the space shuttle Challenger, I think, are an inspiration to all of us.
17:23And I know that you have arthritis.
17:26Let me just say to you, have a safe journey home.
17:30Ugly people need to be destroyed.
17:32Thank you very much for calling, sir.
17:35We really appreciate that.
17:37Goodbye.
17:38Coming down at a very high rate.
17:54Hydraulic landing gear valves are open.
17:58APU performance still nominal.
18:01All APUs running at roughly 106%.
18:04That's several thousand feet a second.
18:07About 12,000 to 15,000 feet a minute is how they're flying.
18:10The only person I know at this table who decided at that rate was Gene Sennett aboard Apollo Treventino way back in the moon.
18:16That's history.
18:17This is the future we're looking at now.
18:20No, this is the present and the future.
18:23Now less than 200 feet per second.
18:27What a beautiful sight.
18:29It's like a painting.
18:30It's like controlling automatic mode.
18:33And he's slowing down using ailerons and spoilers just like any commercial airliner would.
18:40Vans should be lined up about this point on final approach about 22 degree glide animal.
18:4512,000 feet.
18:47Seven miles through the...
18:49Challenger Houston.
18:50Looks good rolling out on final calm surface wind.
18:53Under a minute until touchdown.
18:55Then it never fails to impress.
18:57Even sitting here watching it on television.
18:59It's a very, very predominant, impressive feeling you get watching the Challenger come back on.
19:05Especially after seeing those spacewalks.
19:07It's the same vehicle, remember.
19:10And this, Gene, this is very much like the landing of Columbia in California.
19:15Because it is new.
19:16It's never been done here before.
19:17He is really coming in smoothly now.
19:20The landing gear will be the next major event here.
19:23There it is.
19:24There's a deer.
19:25Not bad timing.
19:27Oh, is that beautiful.
19:29Looks like he's got the runway made.
19:32He is right on top of it.
19:34Right down the center line.
19:37That's a 1,000 foot marker.
19:39He's landed about 3,000 feet.
19:40Touchdown.
19:41Perfect.
19:42Touchdown.
19:43Six seconds ahead of time according to the clock.
19:45A lot of happy people back there.
19:48You can see the humidity come off the wings as he's rolling out.
19:52It's still foggy here, Gene.
19:53A little bit.
19:54Very humid.
19:55Looks like he's going to have to hit.
19:56Right in front of us.
19:57Start braking momentarily.
19:58Around 150 knots or so.
19:59Range was really rapid.
20:00Hold on the runway.
20:01He really makes it look easy.
20:02Makes it look just like a landing at any old airport.
20:04Probably show you lots more pictures and tell you more about it when our coverage of the space shuttle Challenger continues in a moment.
20:12Be sure everything is okay and they should get their land legs back.
20:16If you'll recall the last time Challenger landed when the
20:35It's a typical Florida morning.
20:37Be sure everything is okay and they should get their land legs back.
20:41You'll recall the last time Challenger landed, when the guys came down, the stairs afterwards, they looked a little bit shaky.
20:47I think they want to give them a chance to get back to Earth for real.
20:54Gene, you have seen Challenger, Jules, you have seen Challenger.
20:57Dabei entstanden unter anderem auch diese Bilder.
20:59Die ersten übrigens...
21:01Die Raumfähre Challenger, wenige Stunden nach dem Start.
21:03Im geöffneten Laderaum wird ein Sonnenschutzschild aufgeklappt.
21:08In 304 Kilometer Höhe schraubt sich der Nachrichtensatellit Weststar 6 ins Weltall.
21:33McNair was a member of the Bahá'à Faith, which emphasizes the unity of humanity and harmony between science and religion.
21:46He first encountered the religion in Lake City, South Carolina, in the 1960s and remained a lifelong adherent.
21:55McNair even carried a book of Bahá'à prayers with him on the Challenger mission, reflecting his commitment to the faith.
22:03McNair was an established saxophonist and jazz enthusiast, like a fucking boss.
22:09Before his final fateful space mission, McNair worked with French composer and performer Jean-Michel Jaure on a piece of music for Jauret's then-upcoming album, Rendezvous.
22:24It was intended that McNair would record his saxophone solo on board the Challenger, which would have made McNair's solo the first original piece of music to have been recorded in space.
22:37Although the song Jingle Bells had been played on a harmonica during an earlier Gemini 6 spaceflight.
22:44The final track on Rendezvous, Last Rendezvous, has the subtitle, Ron's Peace, and the liner notes include a dedication from Jauret.
22:54Ron was so excited about the piece that he rehearsed it continuously until the last moment.
23:00May the memory of my friend, the astronaut, and the artist, Ron McNair, live on through this piece.
23:06McNair was supposed to have taken part in Jauret's Rendezvous Houston concert through a live feed from the orbiting shuttlecraft.
23:15I am happy to join you this morning for this auspicious summer commencement of the University of South Carolina.
23:26I am pleased and very honored to accept this honorary degree bestowed upon me this morning.
23:36I feel that it is a very warm gesture, particularly coming from home.
23:44To go around the world 128 times at 17,500 miles per hour.
23:54Aboard the Rolls Royce of spaceflight is one experience.
23:58But to come home amidst warmth and appreciation is an experience of equal magnitude.
24:08I shall eternally be grateful for this recognition.
24:13The road between South Carolina and spaceflight is not a very simple one.
24:21Nor is it one filled with guarantees.
24:25In fact, the only guarantees to be found are those that reside in the unchallenged depths of one's own determination.
24:36The true courage of spaceflight is not strapping into one's seat prior to liftoff.
24:43It is not sitting aboard six million pounds of fire and thunder as one rocket itself away from the planet.
24:50But the true courage comes in enduring, and as Colonel Boulder said, persevering the preparation and believing in oneself.
25:04I recall when I was a young student in Lake City, South Carolina, I had some difficulties with the bold business of confidence.
25:12Now, I didn't know what it was, but I said I want to be a physics major anyway.
25:18Well, I showed up, and they put me in a group with all the other physics majors from the big schools up north in New York, Chicago, and Washington.
25:27And I heard all the guys talking about all of the great physics courses they'd taken.
25:31They'd taken these great courses in thermodynamics and classical mechanics and modern physics.
25:38And I knew that the only physics that I knew anything about was the theory of propagation of tobacco leaves.
25:47I see somebody else is familiar with that theorem.
25:50And I knew that the only experiment I ever performed was mixing water with Kool-Aid, and almost blew it.
26:01So I figured physics was perhaps a bit more than I can chew.
26:04So I went over to the music department.
26:06I figured I could intimidate a few other folk over there, because I could blow that saxophone.
26:11Well, after a week in the music department, I decided, well, I figured that perhaps I'm running away.
26:17It's no doubt I am running away without even giving it a try.
26:21You know, it really worked on me. It bothered me.
26:23So I went to the guidance counselor to see what advice she may be able to give me.
26:28Well, she gave me piles and piles of standardized tests.
26:32I took them for about three days.
26:34Finally, the test results were in, and I went back to talk to her to see what she had to say.
26:38Again, I sat across the desk, and she looked up at me, and she looked down at that power standardized test.
26:50She kind of shook her head, looked back up at me, and she said,
26:54I think you ought to go ahead and try physics, because I think you're good enough.
27:03Well, that's all I needed, some authoritative figure.
27:07You're good enough.
27:09Well, as I graduated from North Carolina A&T and went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
27:15to begin work on my doctorate,
27:18and what turned out to be a prize fight,
27:22with each round lasting one year long, a five-round prize fight,
27:28when I stepped into the ring, armed with the gloves of eagerness,
27:35cheered on by a great crowd of hope,
27:39when after two days into the first round,
27:40I was caught by a devastating uppercut from the entry qualifying exam.
27:45As I watched the birds around my head,
27:51I could still hear the voice of my goddess confler saying,
27:56get up and fight because you're good enough.
28:00On the second round, I thought perhaps the first round was a fluke.
28:05I got up and moved in for the kill,
28:07when out of nowhere came this tremendous right cross from a doctoral qualifying exam.
28:13Well, as I lay there with my back pinned to the canvas of the feet,
28:20wondering if I even wanted to get up or not,
28:23I heard from the sidelines a thesis supervisor saying,
28:28I know where you're from, I know what you're made of,
28:31get up and fight because you're good enough.
28:36On the third round, I began to move with finesse.
28:39I began to bob through classes and weave through exams.
28:44I opened up the fourth round with devastating jabs of knowledge.
28:48I followed through with tremendous crosses of hard work.
28:53By the end of the fifth round,
28:54that great giant ledge stretched out across the canvas.
28:57I pulled off my gloves, walked across the ropes,
29:02grabbed my diploma, and I cried out,
29:04I am better than enough.
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