Thursday, Jan. 28 marks the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 that claimed the life of Kona native Ellison S. Onizuka and six other American astronauts.
On that fateful day, the astronauts launched at 11:39 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Seventy-three seconds later, the shuttle exploded, claiming the lives of all seven aboard. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed because of cold temperatures during the morning.
Two events are slated this weekend in remembrance of the tragedy — one each in Kona and Hilo. On Thursday, the state Senate and House will issue a joint certificate to the Onizuka family. Gov. David Ige will also proclaim Jan. 28 “Ellison S. Onizuka Day” in Hawaii.
On Saturday, the public is invited for a day of science and space exploration during Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Science Day at 8 a.m. at University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200 W. Kawili St., Hilo. It is free. Online registration is open to students in grades 4 through 12, parents, and teachers of any grade level.
Info: www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/OnizukaDay/, Art Kimura, 934-7261, art@higp.hawaii.edu.
On Sunday, the Onizuka Space Center in Kona invites the public to a free event to commemorate the 30th year since the loss of the Challenger Space Shuttle. The event is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
NASA Astronaut Michael Fincke will present video footage of his Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz spaceflights to the International Space Station. Claude Onizuka will also share comments on his brother’s life and legacy.
The Onizuka Space Center is at Kona International Airport and can be reached at 329-3441. It will be the last public event at the museum that’s scheduled to close this year.
Onizuka was born on June 24, 1946, in Kealakekua, according to Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial. He graduated from Konawaena High School in 1964 and attended the University of Colorado, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1968, and a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering in 1969. He joined the United States Air Force in January 1970, and attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California in August 1974.
Onizuka was selected in 1978 as one of 35 astronauts for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. On Jan. 24, 1985, Onizuka first successfully entered space as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
He was the first Japanese American selected to participate in America’s space program and the first Asian astronaut to venture into space, according to the memorial.
Soon after, Ellison was selected for the ill-fated Challenger flight.
In addition to a scholarship, buildings and other memorials named in his honor, the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center was established by the state of Hawaii after his death. Located at Kona International Airport, the center opened to the public in 1991. It is an educational facility dedicated to Onizuka’s memory.
SIDEBAR
Words to live by
Ellison S. Onizuka gave this speech to the 1980 graduating class of Konawaena High School:
If I can impress upon you only one idea … Let it be that the people who make this world run, whose lives can be termed successful, whose names will go down in the history books, are not the cynics, the critics, or the armchair quarterbacks.
They are the adventurists, the explorers, and doers of this world. When they see a wrong or problem, they do something about it. When they see a vacant place in our knowledge, they work to fill that void.
Rather than leaning back and criticizing how things are, they work to make things the way they should be. They are the aggressive, the self-starters, the innovative, and the imaginative of this world.
Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds … to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.
Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but by what your mind can imagine. Many things that you take for granted were considered unrealistic dreams by previous generations. If you accept these past accomplishments as commonplace then think of the new horizons that you can explore.
From your vantage point, your education and imagination will carry you to places which we won’t believe possible.
Make your life count – and the world will be a better place because you tried.
