Editing Dan Rather (section)

=== Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster ===
{{Main|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}}
In January 1986, [[NASA]] faced repeated delays in the preparations to launch the [[Space Shuttle]]s [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']] and [[Space Shuttle Challenger|''Challenger'']] in close sequence. Rather described the January 10 delay of ''Columbia'' as: 
<blockquote>star-crossed space shuttle ''Columbia'' stood ready for launch again today, and once more, the launch was scrubbed. Heavy rain was the cause this time. The launch has been postponed so often since its original date, December 18, that it's now known as mission impossible.</blockquote>
This was considered an example of the "biting sarcasm" the media used related to NASA's scheduling.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahler|first=Julianne G.|title=Organizational Learning at NASA: The Challenger and Columbia Accidents|year=2009|publisher=Georgetown University Press|location=Washington DC|isbn=978-1-58901-602-6|pages=112–113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHP8dOegz0AC&q=dan%20rather%20%22high%20tech%20low%20comedy%22&pg=PA113}}</ref> ''Columbia'' launched on January 12.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jan. 12, 1986 Early Morning Space Shuttle Launch |url=https://www.nasa.gov/content/jan-12-1986-early-morning-space-shuttle-launch |website=nasa.gov |publisher=NASA |access-date=August 11, 2019 |date=February 19, 2015}}</ref>

On January 27, Rather's reporting of the expected ''Challenger'' launch began as follows:
{{blockquote|Yet another costly, red-faces-all-around space-shuttle-launch delay. This time, a bad bolt on a hatch and a bad-weather bolt from the blue are being blamed.  What's more, a rescheduled launch for tomorrow doesn't look good either.  Bruce Hall has the latest on today's high-tech low comedy.|Dan Rather, January 27, 1986<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson-Freese |first=Joan|title=Space, the Dormant Frontier: Changing the Paradigm for the 21st Century|year=1997|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=88|author2=Roger Handberg |access-date=August 22, 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pASf_x0xnmUC&q=dan%20rather%20%22high%20tech%20low%20comedy%22&pg=PA88 |isbn=9780275958879}}</ref>|title=|source=}}

On January 28, ''Challenger'''s explosion and destruction occurred 73 seconds after launch.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berkes |first1=Howard |title=Challenger: Reporting a Disaster's Cold, Hard Facts |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5175151 |website=npr.org |date=January 28, 2006 |publisher=National Public Radio, Inc. |access-date=August 11, 2019}}</ref>