Aukerman was an on location personal eyewitness to both the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. His 15 minute interview with the Wheeling, West Virginia CBS television affiliate in the aftermath of the Columbia accident, was aired twice. Aukerman was an eyewitness to the Challenger accident while a college student near Cape Canaveral at Florida Tech. He witnessed the Columbia disaster while in Austin, Texas to work on the Ron Howard film, "The Alamo".