![]() Serna described her father as a very generous man with a great sense of humor. "It was his way of trying to make things right," she said.Ī few years later he was awarded a prestigious award by then President George H.W. Serna said he and his wife devoted hundreds of hours to rebuilding a bird refuge located near him. He soon shifted his focus to conservation work. ![]() "My dad just started shaking and weeping," she said.Īfter about two decades working for NASA, Ebeling retired a few months after the disaster. She said Ebeling leaned over to her and said, "It's not over." About 20 seconds later the shuttle exploded. On the morning of January 28, 1986, what was meant to. She and her father watched live video of the Challenger clearing the launch pad on January 28. The explosion that doomed the Challenger space shuttle remains one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking moments in American history. Serna said his guilt reached such intense levels that he told her the only way he could have gotten them to postpone the flight was if he had brought a gun to work and held them hostage. ![]() The morning of the launch, Ebeling picked her up and beat his hand on the dashboard, angry he had not convinced NASA to postpone the launch. Serna said she also worked for NASA at the time and would carpool to work with him. He collected data that illustrated the risks and spent hours arguing to postpone sending it and its seven astronauts into space. He and a handful of his colleagues worried that the cold temperatures the night before the Challenger was set to launch would harm the rubber O-ring seals and allow burning rocket fuel to leak out of booster joints, NPR reported ( n.pr/1ReHbmR).Įbeling warned his boss the morning before the launch of the dangers that could face the Challenger if it was sent into space that day. "It was like the world gave him permission, they said, 'OK, you did everything you could possibly do, you're a good person,'" Serna said.Įbeling was a booster rocket engineer at NASA contractor Morton Thiokol in 1986. She said they tried to ease Ebeling's guilt, and he was soon able to let go. She said he was finally able to forgive himself thanks to the hundreds of supportive phone calls and letters he received following a January NPR story about the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. ![]() Ebeling's daughter Leslie Serna told The Associated Press that her father died Monday at the age of 89 in Brigham City, Utah. ![]()
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