Prior to the race, they paid tribute to the astronauts who were killed in the Challenger disaster, which was several miles away from the track 19 days ago.
"One of my favourite songs I've written... I have vivid memories of shooting the video in Kakadu National Park after having awoken to see the news footage of the Challenger Space Shuttle exploding during take-off." - Dave Faulkner.
Kutyna is perhaps most famous for his aid in several investigations of NASA launch failures, especially his membership on the Rogers Commission investigating the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Also in 1986, he was also a reporter and chief space correspondent during the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster when he reported about the explosion of the Space Shuttle on the January 28, 1986 episode of NBC Nightly News.
He has had an interest in spacecraft since junior school and in middle school was moved by the experience of seeing the Space Travel Section of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Despite being shocked by the Challenger tragedy, he wanted to someday travel in space.
For example, breakdowns in team coordination, resource and informational exchanges, and role conflicts (all common indicators of poor team cohesion) were mentioned as contributors to both the Challenger and the Columbia space shuttle accidents.
One case saw Dyk arguing for the release to the public of the cockpit recordings of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
In 1986, Mintier was the only TV broadcaster live on-air when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred.
Upon arriving in Concord, New Hampshire in January 1986 to cover the hometown hooplah for the looming Space Shuttle Challenger launch where Concord teacher Christa McAuliffe is among the mission's crew, reporter Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan) decides to call an old college friend, only to discover an apparent suicide.
2011 ATP Challenger Tour | 2012 ATP Challenger Tour | 2013 ATP Challenger Tour | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | International Space Station | Space Shuttle | European Space Agency | Kennedy Space Center | National Air and Space Museum | Space Shuttle Challenger | Chernobyl disaster | Hubble Space Telescope | Marshall Space Flight Center | Lost in Space | Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center | 2001: A Space Odyssey | Goddard Space Flight Center | Three-dimensional space | Space Invaders | 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) | Space: 1999 | Space Shuttle Columbia | Symphony Space | space | Munich air disaster | Euclidean space | space shuttle | Space Shuttle Challenger disaster | Space Jam | Space Shuttle Discovery |
The track "Feinman" features a quote from Richard Feynman, the last line of his report into the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster: "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
Nearly half of the book deals with his involvement on the Rogers Commission investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.