In 1986, following the Space Shuttle "Challenger" accident, Barbree placed a telephone call to a friend and retired employee of NASA, who — as a favor to Barbree — went to Kennedy Space Center, looked over the accident information and analysis being done, and reported the early findings to Barbree. Consequently, Barbree was the first journalist to report on the source of the destruction of the Space Shuttle "Challenger": faulty O-rings. He was also part of the NBC News Space Unit that won an Emmy award for NBC's coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Following the 2003 Space Shuttle "Columbia" accident, Barbree was the first reporter to break the news of an internal NASA memo expressing concerns about foam striking the orbiter's left wing during ascent.