Beyonce's use of recording from Challenger tragedy deemed insensitive by former and current NASA employees, she responds

Beyonce has come under fire from past and current NASA employees for her Beyonce song “XO,” which is about a tumultuous relationship.

The NASA staff members are unhappy with Beyonce’s use of audio from the 1986 Challenger incident, which took the lives of seven crew members.

The beginning of the song features the voice of now retired public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt saying "Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction,” Us Weekly reports. The inclusion of this recording is being deemed insensitive.

Beyonce has responded to these allegations, saying in a statmenet o ABC News on Monday, “My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster,” adding, “The song 'XO' was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten."

June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger Space Shuttle Commander Dick Scobee, said she was “disappointed” with Beyonce’s use of the recording, as “We have always chosen to focus not on how our loved ones were lost, but rather on how they lived and how their legacy lives on today."

Former NASA employee Keith Cowing called it “inappropriate in the extreme” and accused Beyonce of using it for the purpose of “shock value in a pop tune."

image: CBS

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