Challenger flag

The Challenger flag is an American flag that was in the flight kit of the disastrous final mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 and was subsequently recovered. It was sponsored by Boy Scout Troop 514 of Monument, Colorado. Their Scoutmaster was William Tolbert, a major in the United States Air Force assigned to the Space Command.

William Tolbert had ordered the flag from the Valley Forge Flag Company and had arranged for the flag to be flown briefly over the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 1985. It was submitted to the NASA Johnson Space Center by the 2d Space Wing, for flight on a space shuttle. On January 28, 1986, it was carried in the "official flight kit" of the Challenger space shuttle on its last flight. It was sealed in plastic and was next to some souvenir medallions being flown by one of the Astronauts. As the Challenger wreckage was brought up from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, rescuers found this flag, still in its sealed plastic bag, intact and completely unscathed. The souvenir medallions had melted into a single lump.

Troop 514 is still in possession of the Challenger flag. They continue to display it for certain special public events and Eagle Courts of Honor.

On December 18, 1986, the Challenger flag was returned to Boy Scout Troop 514 in a special ceremony attended by 100 dignitaries, guests, and members of the media, at the Consolidated Space Operations Center, Falcon Air Force Station, Colorado. Astronaut Guy Bluford, who had flown on board the Challenger on two previous missions, and who is also an Eagle Scout, returned the flag to the troop.

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