Eyes on the Stars, An Animated Short About Challenger Astronaut Ronald E. McNair as a Boy

Eyes on the Stars” is an animated short by StoryCorps about NASA Challenger astronaut and physicist Ronald E. McNair. His brother Carl tells Ronald’s story of when he was a boy and was inspired by the racially integrated series, Star Trek. The short was animated and directed by Rauch Brothers Animation.

On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina.

via StoryCorps

Rusty Blazenhoff
Rusty Blazenhoff