![]() We sought out a NASA spokesperson for a shuttle update, found out it had been officially postponed until Sunday and settled in for a day of orientation.Īll the major networks and news services have their own permanent buildings or trailers on site. My space next to Jim’s contained our telephone jack, another shared cost for both stations, and an electrical outlet. Inside the domed media center, I got a quick lesson on protocol and located my desk space along the circular rows. Tanned and casually dressed, Jay seemed to know everyone at the spaceport and graciously showed us how to get around the huge facility. There, reporters were picking up their credentials, among them veteran radio correspondent Jay Barbree of NBC, a witness to every manned space flight ever launched from Cape Canaveral. There was no guard posted at the Kennedy Space Center’s outermost gate, but at Gate two, tourists were instructed to turn off the roadway into a designated area while we proceed on to the news media badging center. But that Friday morning as we crossed over the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway, I had no idea how much history I was to witness. Ultimately, it was my assurance that this would be a history-making flight that won the assignment. New England radio reporters seldom go so far for a news story and it took me weeks to convince my station’s management that it was worth spending the money on the project. The busy, crowded avenues of Orlando filled with rental cars taking tourists back and forth to Disney World were replaced with the empty, open expanses of swamps and palm trees as we drove along the expressway to the coast where we knew our work awaited us in an unfamiliar setting. ![]() With our electronic gear packed in the rented Mustang’s trunk, we headed back up the Bee Line expressway through its frequent toll plazas and for a time it seemed out of civilization. ![]() The next morning, Friday, found Jim and I at the hotel restaurant eating a buffet of scrambled eggs and sausage before making the Cape ride. I sent a report by telephone with a clip of the interview and a promotional announcement promising continuing coverage until the big day, now scheduled for Saturday, but threatened with another delay because of an approaching weather front. Beauvais was exuberant upon landing in the warm climate after leaving frigid New England. Beauvais was Christa McAuliffe’s boss before her selection as NASA’s first teacher in space, and he too, along with a large delegation of New Hampshire educators, was sent to Florida to witness the flight. Landing in Orlando, we proceeded directly to the media telephones at the airport after briefly interviewing Concord Superintendent of Schools Mark Beauvais who was on our flight. ![]() The two stations have traded news stories for years, shared news staffs for elections and other events, and saw this opportunity as a culmination of our efforts to provide listeners back in New England with important on-location news coverage. I am employed by 50,000 watt WOKQ FM in Dover, and Jim for WEVO, New Hampshire Public Radio in Concord. We were both assigned by our radio stations to cover the historic event and decided to go together and share some of the costs. 24, 1986, our Eastern Airlines flight delayed about half an hour at Logan International Airport in Boston because of a last-minute mechanical adjustment to the plane. Jim and I landed at Orlando International Airport around 3 p.m. ![]() My associate Jim Van Dongen and I were to make that trek over flat, palm tree-dotted marshes and woodland four times during these five days in the hope of seeing a New Hampshire neighbor turned celebrity make a long-awaited journey into space. The spaceport at Cape Canaveral is huge and spread out, with miles of flat roadbed surrounded by swamps and wildlife areas separating the outermost gate and the space shuttle launch pad. By Roger Wood, įlorida’s Kennedy Space Center is an hour and a quarter drive from Orlando and was to be my temporary home for the week. is reprinting Roger Wood’s journal about covering the tragic events of Jan. 28, 1986, was to be a joyous day for her family and the state of New Hampshire. Months before, I interviewed Christa during a celebration parade in her home town. After the lopsided loss, I said to the other reporters, “At least tomorrow will be a great day for New England.” I was referring to the history-making flight of Concord High School teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had been chosen from a nationwide pool to be the first teacher in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. 27, 1986, I sat in a motel room in Florida watching the New England Patriots get trounced 45 to 3 by the Chicago Bears in their first Superbowl Appearance. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |