Editing Gregory Jarvis (section)

==Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster==
In June 1984, Jarvis was one of two Hughes Aircraft employees selected as candidates for the [[Space Shuttle program]].<ref name="Nordheimer">{{cite news |last1=Nordheimer |first1=Jon |title=2 Space Novices with a Love of Knowledge; Gregory Jarvis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/10/us/2-space-novices-with-a-love-of-knowledge-gregory-jarvis.html |access-date=February 23, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 10, 1986}}</ref> He planned to conduct experiments regarding the effects of [[weightlessness]] on [[fluids]]. Jarvis was initially scheduled to make his shuttle flight in April 1985, but Jarvis was replaced on that flight by [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] [[Jake Garn]]. Jarvis' flight was rescheduled for early January 1986, but he was again replaced – this time by [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] [[Bill Nelson]].<ref name="Thornton"/><ref name="Nordheimer"/>

Jarvis was payload specialist 2 on [[STS-51-L]] which was launched from the [[Kennedy Space Center]], [[Florida]], at 11:38:00 EST on January 28, 1986. The crew on board the Orbiter ''Challenger'' included Commander [[Dick Scobee]], pilot [[Michael J. Smith (astronaut)|Michael J. Smith]] (USN), mission specialists Dr. [[Ronald McNair]], Lt. Col. [[Ellison Onizuka]] (USAF), Dr. [[Judith Resnik]], and fellow civilian payload specialist [[Christa McAuliffe]]. The entire STS-51-L crew died when [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|''Challenger'' broke up during launch]].{{fact|date=July 2024}}

The remains of all seven astronauts from the ''Challenger'' disaster were discovered in the crew decks on the ocean floor. Jarvis' body was discovered in the lower mid-deck along with McNair and McAuliffe. During salvage operations to raise the crew deck from the ocean floor, Jarvis' body escaped from the wreckage, floated to the surface, and disappeared back into the sea. On April 15, 1986, on the last scheduled attempt to recover wreckage, his body was rediscovered and returned to shore.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3078060 |title=Chapter 6: Raising heroes from the sea |last=Barbree |first=Jay |publisher=[[NBC News]] |website=NBC News|date=January 25, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=Painful Legacies of a Lost Mission |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1075046,00.html |url-access=subscription |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=June 21, 2005}}</ref> Jarvis was cremated and his ashes scattered in the [[Pacific Ocean]].{{fact|date=July 2024}}