Heartfelt Tribute to Challenger, 25 Years Later

By Nancy Atkinson - January 21, 2011 02:52 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Twenty-five years ago, the world watched in horror as the space shuttle Challenger blew up before our eyes on that cold January 28,1986. Touched by the tragedy, a musician named Stephen Kay wrote a song within two days of the accident in tribute to the seven crewmembers who died. But he couldn't find any way to get the song out to the public. "You have to remember that this was 25 years ago," Kay wrote on

his website.

"There was no Internet to speak of (not like it is now); no YouTube, personal websites were in their infancy, no FaceBook or MySpace, no blogs etc. - none of those various avenues to release it yourself and promote it yourself." So, the song was put on the shelf for nearly a quarter century. But recently, when Kay realized the 25th anniversary of the accident was approaching, he used every bit of modern technology he could to bring the song back to life, and created a video to go with it. This heartfelt, moving video has been a labor of love for Kay, to honor the brave men and women of Challenger Mission STS-51L.

Watch the video on YouTube.

See more information, including the lyrics, and links to download the song at no charge at the

ChallengerTributeSong website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com