Educator: Space travel taken for granted 30 years after Challenger

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy.

Seven members of the crew died the morning of January 28, 1986, when a booster engine failed, causing the shuttle to break apart.

Almost anyone in the country can tell you exactly what they were doing 30 years ago today. Tom Simmons was a teacher at Union Elementary school at the time. He was one of thousands watching or listening to that moment unfold.

Simmons said while space travel has come a long way since this accident, he said Americans do not pay as much attention as they did 30 years ago.

“You don’t hear kids in school, staff, or science classes talking about the possibilities of being an astronaut or even space travel,” Simmons said. “America, even the media, has taken space launches and exploration kind of for granted. It’s just a thing like catching a bus now.”

Simmons said he thinks that will change again though.

“Two years down the road when we send a man to Mars,” Simmons said.

Click here to read more about the future of space travel from NASA.