Judy Resnik

Classroom Power Point

2. The future doesn't belong to the
fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.
-Ronald Reagan

3. Judy Resnik was born on
April 5, 1949 in Akron,
Ohio.
She attended Fairlawn
Elementary School,
Perkins Middle School,
and Firestone High
School.
She graduated from
Firestone High School in
1966.
Education

4. JUDITH A. RESNIK
COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER

5. Career
Judy received a Bachelor of Science
degree in electrical engineering from
Carnegie-Melon University and a
doctorate in electrical engineering from
the University of Maryland.
Dr. Resnik was a design engineer
conducting support for NASA sounding
rocket and telemetry programs.
She was also a biomedical engineer at the
National Institution of Health.

6. Judy in her office at
NASA.

7. NASA
Dr. Resnik was
chosen to be an
astronaut and
qualified to be a
mission specialist.
Her first mission
was the maiden
voyage of the space
shuttle Discovery.

8. Discovery
Judith Resnik was the second American
woman to go into space.

10. Dr. Resnik was a
well respected
eye doctor in
Akron. (pictured
on the far left)

11. CHALLENGER
Judy was chosen to fly on a
historic mission on the
Space Shuttle Challenger.
This mission would include
the first civilian to go into
space, an American school
teacher.
The shuttle launch was
planned for January 28,
1986.

13. A Diverse Crew
RON MCNAIR
CHRISTA MCCAULIFFE
MICHAEL SMITH
JUDY RESNIK
GREGORY JARVIS
ELLISON S. ONIZUKA
RICHARD
SCOBEE

15. Christa McCauliffe
This flight was special because it
included a high school science
teacher named Christa
McCauliffe.
She had been chosen from
thousands to become the first
civilian in space.
More media attention was paid to
this flight than had been in many
years.
Space shuttle flights had become
commonplace.

16. January 28, 1986 was the coldest day NASA
ever attempted to launch a space shuttle.

17. Photos taken on the day of the launch.

18. Traditional Breakfast
It is tradition that the astronauts have a breakfast
together before the launch.

19. The flight had been delayed five times due to weather
so despite the conditions they proceeded with the
launch.
This was the 25
th
Space Shuttle mission and the 10
th

flight for Challenger.

20. Heading for the Launch Pad

21. Video: Boarding the Space Shuttle

22. As family and friends watched from Cape
Canaveral and school age students watched on
television across the country, the space shuttle
lifted off.

25. Seventy-two seconds after lift-
off a catastrophic explosion
occurred.

26. Click on picture to start video.

28. Dark smoke can be seen 0.678 second after ignition.

29. A small flame appears in the area of the leaking joint. The plume of hot
exhaust spills across the bottom of the shuttle’s main fuel tank.

31. Mission Control

32. The two rocket boosters, still firing, fly onward until they are destroyed
by radio command.

36. Wreckage found on the beach.

37. Ronald Reagan was informed of the accident as he sat in a
meeting to prepare for his State of the Union address that was
planned for that evening.

38. Click for video.
Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union Address.

40. NASA Investigates

41. O-Ring
It was determined by the NASA investigation
that the Challenger disaster was caused by
a frozen O-Ring.
The O-Ring is a rubber ring that uses
moisture to keep its seal.
When the ring became frozen on that fateful
day it became brittle and broken.
The seal failure caused a breach in the SRB
joint it filled, allowing a flare to reach the
outside and impinge upon the adjacent
attachment hardware and external fuel tank.

43. Many memorials were held after the
accident.
The memorial service for Judith A.
Resnik was held at Firestone High
School on February 3, 1986.

44. John Glenn Eulogy
We have come here today not just to mourn Judy
Resnik's death, but even more to celebrate her life.
And in my judgment, there is no better way to
celebrate her life than to celebrate the cause for which
she died.
-John Glenn

45. Judith Resnik Scholarship
•A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a
young woman graduating from a public or
private high school in the greater Akron
area.
•This scholarship is designated for a
student accepted into a baccalaureate
degree program in the physical sciences,
engineering or mathematics at an
accredited college or university.

46. Judy Resnik Award
Judith A. Resnik Award was
established by the IEEE Board
of Directors in 1986 to
recognize outstanding
contributions to space
engineering, within the fields
of interest of the IEEE. This
award is presented to an
individual or team, with
preference given to an
individual

47. Carnegie-Melon Memorial

48. Fresco that hangs in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

49. Arlington National Cemetery

50. A historic marker has
been placed at
Firestone High
School to recognize
Judy Resnik’s
contributions to the
space program.

51. Every year during the
week of the anniversary
of the accident flowers
are delivered by an
anonymous person.
People have speculated
throughout the years
who sends the flowers
but nobody knows for
certain.

52. Judy Resnik was known to wear a ILY necklace that displayed “I
Love You” in sign language. It was one of the few personal items
recovered from the wreckage.

53. Other Accidents in the history
of the U.S. Space Program

54. APOLLO 1
On January 27, 1967 Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil
(Gus) Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Edward White
were killed in a flash fire during a simulated launch.

55. The astronauts were already
strapped into the capsule and
sealed in with bolts when the
fire broke out. There was no
way to escape.
The capsule is seen at the left.

60. The space shuttle
Columbia burned up on
re-entry into the earth’s
atmosphere.
It was later determined
that a missing tile on the
belly of the shuttle
allowed excessive heat
to get into the vessel.

61. The shuttle is moved from
one side of the country to
the other by a piggy back
ride on a specially
designed plane.