Astronauts filled with courage, heroism

On March 10, 1986, the U.S, Navy officials announced that the crew members of the USS Preserver had located the remains of the space shuttle Challenger, which had exploded and plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 28 of that year.

Crew members of the USS Preserver located the remains of the shuttle's crew members March 8. Officials released the information two days later to the media. 

Navy divers located the compartment that held the remains of the Challenger's crew resting about 100 feet below the surface. Divers noted that the compartment was little more than a pile of rubble, having hit the ocean at over 200 miles per hour, according to experts. 

It took an additional month of recovery missions to locate the remains of all seven Challenger crew members, who tragically had died on the heroic exploration mission. My guess is that to this day, people going up in these shuttles have to be very nervous on takeoff and also have to be brave souls, men and women.

Roger Gregory served as captain in the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam. He is a Priest River businessman.