1. A CHC 2D Canadian History Presentation
1980s U.S.A.
A CHC 2D Canadian History Presentation

2. AMERICA
in the United States, two stories dominated the middle of the decade
the first was the Iran-Contra Affair
seven Americans had been taken hostage by Hezbollah, an Iranian-sponsored force in Lebanon
President Reagan traded for their release with weapons to Iran despite an arms embargo by Congress not to sell that country weaponry

3. AMERICA
to get the weapons there, they were sold to the Nicaraguan rebel group the Contras, who then sold the weapons to Iran in exchange for what they needed to fight their own revolution
the details were leaked to the Lebanese newspapers
the American government held televised hearings that included the testimony of the President but it was determined it wasn’t officially illegal
all those who participated were pardoned by Reagan’s successor, George H. Bush

4. CHALLENGER the second story was the loss of U.S.S. Challenger
the United States began the shuttle program in with the test flights of U.S.S. Enterprise
the shuttles were reusable — meaning the $30 billion ships would be repaired and relaunched to save money
Enterprise was not space-worthy so Columbia went up first in 1981 and was soon put in rotation with Challenger

6. CHALLENGER
Challenger had the honour of being the shuttle for the 25th mission
mission 25 was supposed to change the way space travel would go, by including in its seven-person crew Christa McAuliffe, a civilian school teacher
the government ignored warnings over the cold and launched the shuttle to keep pace with the Soviets
73 seconds into flight, the shuttle exploded

9. CHALLENGER
it was later determined that the cold had caused a small crack in the “O-ring” that protected the oxygen in the second fuel tank from igniting
scandal would break out when it was later learned the astronauts had actually survived the explosion and were killed when their cockpit hit the water at tremendous impact
it would be two years before America launched its next shuttle

10. CHALLENGER
U.S.S. Challenger has a special place in Canadian history as well because STS-13 included in its crew Marc Garneau
Garneau has the honour of being the first Canadian astronaut in space — but not the first thing from Canada
that honour goes to Canadarm

12. CANADARM
developed by S.P.A.R. out of Montreal, the Canadarm premiered aboard the Enterprise and was first used on shuttle mission 3
Canadarm allowed the shuttle crews to manipulate satellites without leaving the ship
one Canadarm was lost aboard Challenger
Canadarm has survived the shuttle program: there is a newer version aboard I.S.S. Freedom, Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station