Taking a break from public figures and focusing instead on the natal chart of an event. It's also a subtle shout out for electional Astrology, or the intentional planning of an event under the most favorable cosmic sky you can find, within limit. (Please note: I don't think Challenger could have been saved by favorable Astrology. If you know anything about the lead up to the disaster, it was human error after human error, miscommunications abound, etc.)
The fascinating thing about this event is that NASA launches are kept record of in a rigorous way, meaning that the chart of the Challenger disaster is derived from official record. So, we can look upon the chart with a tremendous amount of credibility. There is also an official record of the "birth time" of the Challenger vessel, so we can compare the natal chart of the ship to the chart of the event. Here are some tidbits of note.
First, the natal chart of the Challenger (whole signs):
Leo ASC with the Sun in Aries in the 9th house. If you watch the new Netflix documentary on the subject, there was a lot of fanfare around this Challenger ship, its enhanced capacity to do more and carry more into space. But, Challenger came with a lot of firsts: the first woman, the first African-American, the first Asian-American, and the first ordinary citizen were part of its crew. This is the pioneering nature of Aries placed in the high-minded 9th house. The ship and its crew, its mission, attracted a lot of buzz worthy of the Leo rising. Let's not forget that fire and combustion is what literally lifts ships out through the atmosphere and into space. The inception of Challenger came, too, with an Aries stellium: Sun, Mars and Mercury. The arrogance of NASA got it in trouble. (Natal chart of NASA, 1958, has Sun in Leo. Arrogance and pride.)
Aquarius on the DC also fits this inclusive nature, with the relationship house of the ship in a sign known for its tolerance and inclusion. "Space for Everyone". Aquarius as fixed air ruling atmosphere and what is beyond, and the doing of things to benefit all of humanity.
That Mars in Aries? At the critical 29th degree at Challenger's inception. That is a degree of crisis, of fate, with a combustible and accident prone planet, in an explosive fire sign. It also opposes the planet of crises, Pluto in Libra conjunct the IC, approaching its own critical degree at 28. Mars opposite Pluto says a hell of a lot about the inherent volatility of the endeavor. Saturn is RX at 2 degrees in Scorpio, applying in a strong conjunction to Pluto and opposition to Mars. Here, all three malefics are in contentious aspect, saying more about the hotness, the rashness, the explosiveness all inherent in the endeavor as well. Mars opposing Saturn is the tug of war between speed and stopping, hot and cold, things that butt heads. From a purely technical standpoint, the battle between hot and cold is what caused the explosion, the O-rings on the ship unable to handle the cold of the morning of launch (Aquarius season, Saturn-ruled, cold had the final say) allowing pressurized gas (heat) to threaten external engines. It's fitting for the name of the ship itself, Challenger, a cosmic coincidence that details the essence of the chart. The launch schedule was called "unrealistically optimistic" owing, perhaps, to the eagerness of Mars ignoring the cautions of Saturn.
Retrograde Jupiter conj. Uranus in Sag in the 5th also says something about the enthusiasm behind the project, but the propensity to overextend, over-exaggerate, and generally have a hard time settling on what is practical. So much Sagittarian joy derived out of breaching new space horizons also led to Challenger's fate.
That Pluto in Libra right on the IC also describes the nature of the conflict leading up to the event: group-think, miscommunication, and the treatment of whistle blowers. The devastating energy of Pluto in the diplomatic "go along to get along" sign of Libra, in essence, sealed the disaster as fate. There was also a reticense to communicate some fatal technical flaws about the launch to superios, capturing the energy of Mercury opposite Pluto, and the role of power structures in effective communication.
The MC of the Challenger chart is Taurus with Venus there. But it is unaspected. Not only does this add some chaos to her ruling of the Libra IC, it also says there is something around the outburst of or deadening of emotion and collaboration surrounding the fate of the Challenger.
Last, I want to mention Mercury, as the clear presentation and understanding of information between NASA management and engineering was called misleading and unclear. In the natal chart of the ship, Mercury is trine Neptune in Sagittarius, also RX. While clearly providing expansive vision and hope, excitement, it didn't do much to tailor to the details and slower, mundane, and procedural aspects of the highly technical event.
Now, the chart of the Challenger launch/disaster (whole signs):
The Leo ASC of the natal Challenger moves to the IC, 4th house. This damning, because it represents the ending or suppression of what was once bright and full of promise. The 4th house was traditionally known as the house of death and its a more solemn and silent place. The Leo ASC finding a resting place. 4th house is midnight Sun, where it cannot be seen.
The Aries stellium of natal Challnger, the fanfare and excitement, moved to the 12th on the date of the launch. Hope lost.
Taurus ASC conj. NN: In and of itself, the NN on the ascendant of a pivotal event is favorable. It points towards the expression of the event being visible or emphasized. But this ASC and NN is directly opposite Pluto, now in Scorpio in the 7th. So the visibility of the event is threatened by the destruction of Pluto. And we can see how it played out: with the explosion of the ship being consumed by many people on live television. NN, or Rahu in Vedic Astrology, is a ravenous and malefic influence. The simplicity of Taurus, "this will be fine, we've planned" met the complexity of Scorpio, and best laid plans were threatened and destroyed.
Sun conj. Venus conj. Mercury high in the 10th house in Aquarius. This is symbolic of the literal launching of these diverse astronauts into space, the highest point of the chart. They were loved, admired and damn smart/impressive. But all three of these Aquarius placement are squared by Pluto in the 7th in Scorpio. I googled "Sun square Pluto" once before, and I remember the phrase "Blow Up and Breakdown" coming up. Here, it is literal, but also complicates the legacy of the event. It is interesting to note that after the explosion, NASA was reliably unreliable and opaque with what went wrong, a Scorpionic 7th house subterfuge.
Both Venus and Mercury were combust, or burned up by the rays of the Sun, weakening in power.
Ruler of Aquarius launch in the 8th. Saturn was in the WH 8th house in Sagittarius. This speaks volumes. For one, Saturn struggles in Sagittarius, the expansive nature of the sign antithetical to Saturn's more practical and plodding nature. This alone is some astrological poetry about the poor planing of the event, and the downsides to exuberance and excitement, of rushing. But in the 8th, Saturn qualifies death, and in Sagittarius co-present Uranus--a sudden fiery explosion. Mercury was now square Pluto, an evolution in its previous opposition above, sealing the deal on disastrous communication.
Moon in Virgo in the 5th. I never said, but the natal Moon of the Challenger was in Cap in the 6th house, but squared by the Sun in Aries. We can say that the soul and heart of the event, the need to plan, calculate, and work hard, was there but ultimately squelched out by the abundance of fanfare from Aries/Leo and specifically the Aries Sun. During the launch of any event, having the Moon in a mutable sign isn't great. The moving parts of the event become of issue, and here, the Moon rules the IC (resting place) in Cancer, and squares both Uranus and Saturn in the 8th house. The Moon describes the fate of the event.
Jupiter in Aquarius in the 10th, square Mars and ruler of 11th. The challenge from Mars strong in its own sign of Scorpio ultimately brought down the unwise actions of Jupiter. While Jupiter supplied hope and promise, we can see that it also provided some unchecked courageousness and pioneering. This is immoderate action, rash action, wheeling and dealing, and wishing versus planning. Jupiter square Mars can also represent the explosion itself, the combustion of heat and gas. Jupiter is ruler of the 8th. But Jupiter also ruler of the Pisces 11th brings in the heavy media element before, during, and after the crash. 17 percent of Americans witnessed the crash, and 85% of Americans heard of the crash within an hour, unprecedented for a NASA event.
Thanks for reading if you did.