The Challenge of ‘Challenger’ : HOW ABC’S SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE FINALLY GOT OFF THE GROUND

On the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, much of the nation tuned into coverage of the Challenger space shuttle launch and watched in horror as the shuttle exploded within seconds of takeoff, snuffing out the lives of its seven astronauts. Among them was Christa McAuliffe, the first private citizen to fly in space.

The lives of those five men and two women and the technical problems that plagued the mission from the outset are the subject of “Challenger,” a three-hour movie premiering tonight at 8 on ABC.

Karen Allen, best known for her starring role in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” plays McAuliffe. Brian Kerwin is featured as shuttle pilot Mike Smith and Barry Bostwick portrays shuttle commander Dick Scobee.

Initially, Allen didn’t want to have anything to do with the project.

“I didn’t think the tragedy was something I’d like to make a film about,” she said.

She was more open to “Challenger” after she read the script written by the film’s co-executive producer, George Englund.

“It was really a homage to the seven astronauts and was not exploitative in anyway,” she said. “The fact that he never showed the accident and concentrated on their lives and who they were -I really found it wonderful.”

But Allen was eventually won over because of McAuliffe, the high school teacher and mother from Concord, New Hampshire.

“I think she was one of those people who makes America great,” Allen said. “She had a real positive outlook on life. She was very dedicated to being involved in the community and in other people’s lives.

“I had a few extraordinary teachers in my life -I feel they really influenced the course of my life. I have a feeling she was that kind of person. She had the ability to make you feel your life counts.”

In preparation, Allen spent hours watching and re-watching videos of McAuliffe.

“I watched her early press conferences and read quite a few interviews with her,” she said.

By studying the tapes, Allen said, she was able to capture McAuliffe’s “rhythm”--how she walked, talked, stood and even how she held her head. By the time Allen arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston last summer to shoot “Challenger,” the actress felt a kinship to McAuliffe.

“You’re entering another person’s life and world and getting to know them,” she said. “You become acquainted with them in a very intimate way as you look into their lives and talk to people who knew them. You get drawn into a world you otherwise wouldn’t get to know.”

At NASA, Allen worked alongside the same people who knew and worked with McAuliffe.

“I think when we were first there,” she recalled, “there was a little tentativeness. They were checking us out and trying to see how serious we were. I think in the process there were some really nice exchanges between the group of actors and the people working there. I think basically they felt that what we were doing was good.”

Allen went through a lot of the same training McAuliffe did, including a pilot training course so she could obtain a special license to fly in the KC-135-the plane that simulates weightlessness. However, she never went up in the plane.

“There was a crack in the wheel joint, and they had to cancel our trip,” Allen said. “There wasn’t time for us to go on it again.”

But she did get the chance to spend time in the decompression chamber.

“We had to experience the symptoms of hypoxia-the lack of oxygen,” she said. “You can pass out, get very dizzy, become belligerent or get hot flashes and cold chills. My first symptoms were hot flashes.

“Everybody’s symptoms are different. Once you discover what yours are, you always have the same symptoms. It’s fascinating.”

Spending a month at the Johnson Space Center was an unforgettable experience for Allen. She admitted that she wouldn’t mind becoming the first actress/astronaut.

“I would be thrilled to go up,” she said “I think I should go up if I have the opportunity to do it. I got such a wonderful taste of the program and their plans for the future. I find it all remarkably interesting.”

It took co-executive producer/ writer George Englund nearly two years to get NASA’s cooperation on “Challenger.”

“I’ve got the scar tissue,” said the veteran producer, whose credits include the acclaimed 1988 CBS movie, “Terrorist on Trial: Salim Ajami.”

“The first people I talked to were the heads of the astronaut programs who said they could not see any possible use in the project. They were real hurt. It was their friends who had perished.

“It was the most devastating thing that had happened in the history of the agency. The future of NASA was unclear. They had a subconscious disposition to think a producer was looking for the exploitable parts and aspects of it. That wasn’t my thought. It took them a while to understand that.”

Englund, though, experienced even more difficulty approaching the families of the Challenger astronauts.

“They above everybody else didn’t want to have anything to do with anything about the accident,” he said. “Eventually, I showed them the versions of the script, and they felt some things were inaccurate. So I corrected those things. My aim in all of this was to get it right. I hope the film lands close to the target.”

“I knew nothing about the astronauts before going into the project,” said Brian Kerwin, who plays shuttle pilot Mike Smith. “I saw the Challenger disaster on the news once and then stayed away from the news for the next two days. It was hideous.”

Like co-star Karen Allen, Kerwin had qualms about “Challenger” because, he said, “the subject lends itself so easily to a tabloidesque exploitation.” But he found the script a sensitive re-enactment of the event.

At the Johnson Space Center, Kerwin found support from NASA employees, especially astronaut trainer Frank Hughes, who had instructed the Challenger crew.

“I don’t know if it was a catharsis for him or not, but Frank ended up writing me and the other actors involved letters saying ‘thanks for sort of helping me put the accident a little more behind me.’ It’s not easy to work with people for 18 months and have them die all of a sudden.”