Scobee was born May 19, 1939, in Cle Elum, Washington, to Francis William Scobee and Edlynn (Miller) Scobee. He attended North Auburn Elementary School (Later named Dick Scobee Elementary after him), Cascade Jr. High School, and Auburn Senior High School, from which he graduated in 1957.[2]
Scobee was assigned commander for the ill-fated STS-51-L mission, after having previously flown Challenger in STS-41-C as a pilot. The mission, designed to deploy a satellite to study the approaching Halley's Comet and to inaugurate the Teacher in Space Project, was delayed numerous times due to bad weather and technical glitches. When the mission finally did lift off the pad, a solid rocket booster O-ring seal failure destroyed the shuttle 73 seconds into the flight, killing Scobee and the other six crew members; the disaster, viewed live on national television, prompted several days of national mourning, as well as a major shakeup at NASA. He died a lieutenant colonel. At T+68 into the mission, the CAPCOM Richard Covey informed the crew that they were "go at throttle up", and Scobee confirmed the call—his last recorded words were his response, "Roger, go at throttle up." The shuttle broke up at an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.6 km).[3]
Some experts, including one of NASA's lead investigators, Robert Overmyer, who was closest to Scobee, believed most if not all of the crew were alive and possibly conscious during the entire descent until impact with the ocean. After the investigation, Overmyer stated, "I not only flew with Dick Scobee, we owned a plane together, and I know Scob did everything he could to save his crew. Scob fought for any and every edge to survive. He flew that ship without wings all the way down."[4]
On July 9, 1994, the San Antonio College Planetarium was rededicated The Scobee Planetarium. In 2004, Scobee was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. After the Challenger disaster, a number of schools, streets, and municipal facilities in the U.S. were renamed in his honor. North Auburn Elementary School in Auburn, WA was renamed Dick Scobee Elementary, and Auburn Municipal Airport became Dick Scobee Field.[7] Dick Scobee Memorial Airfield is a radio-controlled and model aircraft facility located at George Bush Park in western Harris County, Texas.
Scobee Road in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,[8] along with Ronald McNair Boulevard and Christa McAuliffe Street, commemorate Scobee and his fellow Challenger crew members. In Houston, Texas's George Bush Park, there is a R/C (Remote Controlled) Flying Field named in Scobee’s honor.[9] He was portrayed by Barry Bostwick in the 1990 TV film Challenger. Scobee also made an appearance in the 1985 IMAX documentary The Dream is Alive, shot during the STS-41C mission.[10] In April 1986, Dick Scobee Elementary School in the Auburn School District was dedicated in a ceremony attended by his spouse, June.[11] The Cygnus NG-21 spacecraft was named S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee in his memory.[12]
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