A Million Children Observe Silence : Southern California Honors Fallen Astronauts

Under skies darkened by rain clouds, Southern Californians joined the rest of the nation Friday to honor with ceremonies and private moments of silence the seven Challenger astronauts who died this week on their way to space.

More than a million Los Angeles area school children fell silent in classrooms and on playgrounds in memory of those who died when the shuttle Challenger vanished in a boil of flames and smoke over the Atlantic on Tuesday.

Many classes quieted at 8:21 a.m.--the time at which Concord, N.H., teacher Christa McAuliffe was to have taught her first lesson by television from the spacecraft for students all over the country.

Others quieted at 8:39 a.m.--just 72 hours after the stunning explosion.

Services at Crystal Cathedral

In Garden Grove, more than 800 people of various faiths gathered for memorial services at the Crystal Cathedral, where Jewish, Roman Catholic and Protestant clergy offered tributes to the Challenger crew.

Many in the congregation wept as they watched on a giant television screen the official ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston, where President Reagan eulogized each of the seven in touchingly personal terms.

The Rev. Robert Schuller, senior pastor of the big glass church, pointed out that the nation had not been so galvanized by shock since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “We are holding this interfaith service to share a common suffering, “ he said.

Sees Faiths in Unity

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahoney, representing Roman Catholic churches of Southern California, said the gathering of Jews, Catholics and Protestants demonstrated that “the beauty of our faith is coming together . . . in a real unity of our belief, especially at times like this.”

There were scriptural readings by Msgr. John F. Sammon of the Catholic Diocese of Orange and by Rabbi Hershel Brooks of Temple Shalom in Anaheim.

Brig. Gen. W.A. Bloomer, commanding general of El Toro Marine Air Station, said the explosion of Challenger was “but a reminder to us all of our own mortality, and that good will come of this tragedy.”

An 85-foot-by-54-foot American flag hung from the cathedral’s glass ceiling. Seven candles burned and seven folded American flags lay on the altar.

At UC Irvine, about 150 students and faculty members attended a memorial service sponsored by the Interfaith Center. The UC Irvine Gospel Choir and representatives from all faiths took part in the ceremony.

Bradley Reads Names

In homes, in offices and in stores as well as other public places, small groups stood around television sets to watch the Houston ceremony silently.

In the Los Angeles City Council chambers, Mayor Tom Bradley somberly read the names of the seven Challenger astronauts and then paused as council members and the audience stood for in minute in silence.

“Let us continue our quest for knowledge in space with these seven who died always in our minds,” Bradley said. “May we never forget the sacrifice they have made. May the space program continue to give us the kind of heroes such as those who gave the ultimate sacrifice this week.”

At the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park, Judith A. Resnik, the other female crew member aboard the Challenger, was among those honored at the opening of an exhibit on women scientists called “My Daughter, the Scientist.”

The exhibit includes a taped interview with Resnik in which she spoke of her excitement about her work and how training for the shuttle had made the crew “a very close family.”

McNair Honored

At Compton Airport, an aerospace and technology center for students interested in aviation was dedicated in honor of Challenger astronaut Ronald E. McNair. County Supervisor Deane Dana said that McNair “gave Compton a personal glimpse of the space age.”

At Edwards Air Force Base, about 400 workers crowded into the base chapel for a memorial service. Two of the Challenger astronauts had trained at the Air Force flight research and test center before entering the space program. After the service, four F-4 Phantom jets flew overhead in the missing-man formation.

At Hughes Aircraft Co. in El Segundo, where Challenger astronaut Gregory Jarvis had worked, employees observed a moment of silence.

And at various facilities of Rockwell International Corp., which built the shuttle, excerpts of the Houston ceremony were broadcast on loudspeakers.

And almost everywhere, flags hung limply at half-staff in the gray morning.

Times Staff Writer Cathleen Decker contributed to this story.