Of monkeys, mice and men

Abstract

For years, an unusual piece of artwork hung in Don Lind’s house. Painted by the astronaut himself, he gifted copies to his children, hopeful that they (and their children) would comprehend its message. Through Lind’s mind’s eye, Challenger launched from Earth on 29 April 1985 on STS-51B, the first ‘operational’ Spacelab mission, with 15 experiments across five disciplines—materials science, life sciences, fluid mechanics, atmospheric physics and astronomy—from the United States, France and India. In Lind’s painting, the Shuttle is cradled by two great celestial hands, as if God himself was guiding the mission to success. Lind titled his piece as ‘Three-Tenths of a Second’. When Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff in January 1986, killing all seven crewmembers, the tragedy hit Lind hard. For when he flew that same vehicle, nine months earlier, his own mission was almost lost for the same reason. Rubberised O-ring seals in the SRBs, meant to stop a catastrophic leak of hot gases, had failed, cracked and come within a hair’s breadth of burning through.