The Challenger Disaster Viewed at Pittsburgh’s Buhl Planetarium
A Personal Remembrance From 20 Years Ago By Glenn A. Walsh 2006 January
buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com...
(scroll down to read statement by Clark C. McClelland)
The following remembrance of the Challenger Disaster comes from an eyewitness, an employee at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, who had a close
affiliation with Buhl Planetarium in the 1940s as a member of the Amateur Astronomers' Association of Pittsburgh. Clark C. McClelland worked as a
SpaceCraft Operator (ScO) at Cape Canaveral from 1958 to 1992.
SpaceCraft Operators are responsible for the pre-checkout of Space Shuttle missions, as well as other rocket launches. Through his career, Mr.
McClelland was involved in 623 rocket launches! SpaceCraft Operators actually "fly" the mission in simulation to be certain all systems are
operating correctly.
SpaceCraft Operators were also considered for actual mission status until the U.S. Congress cut the shuttle budget. Mr. McClelland says, "I came
within a hair of having my dream come true. At least my student, Astronaut Jay Apt flew. I and others taught Jay astronomy at Buhl."
Mr. McClelland was born on Pittsburgh's North Side and was a Boy Scout in Troop 56 at the Community House; he later moved to the Pittsburgh northern
suburb of Millvale. He moved to Cape Canaveral in 1958.
[edit on 9-5-2006 by moog synthesizer]