Tomorrow is the 20th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion

[Up2Late]

Anyone else here care? Or are we all too focused on the current pending disaster?

Do you remember where you were when you heard? If so where?

As a child who grew up watching the Apollo astronauts. It definitely felt like something died inside of me that day, what about you?



The crew: In the back row from left to right: Ellison Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Pilot Mike Smith, Commander, Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28/newsid_2506000/2506161.stm>

<http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/missions/51-l/mission-51-l.html>

Note: If this post falls away quickly, I'll repost it in the Science Forum.

[djeseru]

1. I was a senior in HS and saw it all happen.

I ditched a class to read in the library, saw they had a TV on and stopped to watch the launch...

:cry:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

2. I too was a HS Senior

but too nerdy to ditch a class -- besides it was Physics. I was in that class when word came over the intercom.

[keopeli]

3. That was my 19th birthday - Freshman in college. wow. eom

[Up2Late]

6. Wow, that sucks. My birthday had two Political tragedies, but they...

...don't compare to this. Happy Birthday, a day Early. :hug:

My 9th (1972) and 37th (2000) birthdays, November 7th, were the days that Nixon was re-elected* in '72 and the day the Bush/Gore election ended in a draw, and the re-counting began, leading to this nightmare we have today.

[politicat]

4. I was 10. I was on Static Test Site Road at Cape Canveral.

My father, Navy Officer, took us out of school to go see a shuttle launch.

I was a huge space buff as a kid. I still am, but I know a lot of my peers were scarred and scared off of space by the disaster.

[onenote]

5. A friend got a call at work from his kid saying the shuttle exploded

I was so out of the loop (not having kids and therefore not paying that much attention) that I immediately thought she was referring to the Eastern Airlines Shuttle between New York and Washington DC. I was shocked when I realized it was the Space Shuttle.

onenote

[bigwillq]

7. It was a snow day from school

Saw it happen live. I was 8 years old. Pretty scary stuff at that age.

[AGKISTRODON]

8. In St. Augustine

I was about 110 miles up the coast, ouitside of the store I worked in. Even from that far away, there was no doubt what had happened.

[Cha]

9. I thought of that at work today

but didn't say anything..I'm glad you're remembering it with this picture. The only name I remembered was Christa McAuliffe.

[Up2Late]

10. My Challenger Story: I was about 1/2 way up the San Marcos Pass heading...

...to Santa Maria, California, from Santa Barbara. I was in my final year of Film school (Brooks Institute) and was driving to Santa Maria to meet with the Director of the Ark center, a center that helps give the Mentally Handicapped a place to work and earn a few dollars, working at simple, low profit, but necessary jobs (like making warehouse pallets).

I remember hearing the "Morning Show" DJ's laughing and joking about the cold weather and icicles that were hanging from the Space Shuttle, and remember thinking, I wonder if it's safe to launch today.

I thought, what if some Ice broke off of the tower and damaged the shuttle? Then I dismissed it thinking that they wouldn't launch if they thought it was unsafe.

Like I said, I was 1/2 way up the San Marcos Pass Road (California 154) heading north when they broke into the radio broadcast and said that the Shuttle had exploded, so I had to spend the next hour to an hour and a half listening to this on the radio, until I reached Santa Maria.

When I finally got to Santa Maria, I stopped at the first Television store I found along the way. (wow, remember Television stores?).

When I finally finished in Santa Maria, I drove home and turned on the T.V. and actually recorded about 5 hours of CNN and a few other T.V. News channels, which I still have today (the video tape). I might watch it tonight or tomorrow.

I might try to post a Challenger related music video that I edited a few years ago, Check back tomorrow. :patriot:

ALSO: Did anyone else watch the BBC video at the link I provided above? They showed something that they did NOT show on American T.V., video of a Parachute coming down! Possibly the Crew cabin, I think they said. Why did we in the US NOT see this!?!

[lpbk2713]

11. I saw it happen from about 75 miles away.

A friend and I stopped what we were doing when we saw the smoke trail from the launch rocket. We were watching for a short while when we saw it explode. We both knew as we saw the parts go in many different directions no one would get out of that alive.

[Dem2theMax]

12. Care so much that I have them written on my calendar.

Today, January 27, is the 39th anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy.



Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom (middle,) a veteran of Mercury and Gemini missions; Lt. Col. Edward H. White (left,) the astronaut who had performed the first United States extravehicular activity during the Gemini program; and Roger B. Chaffee (right,) an astronaut preparing for his first space flight, died in this tragic accident.


Next Wednesday, February 1, is the third anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia disaster.



Space Shuttle Columbia crew, from left to right, David M. Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon.

I was standing in front of the TV in my living room, watching the launch when it happened. I always try to watch the lift-offs and landings as I'm a space nut and would sign up for a ride on the shuttle in a heartbeat.

What I remember most is being depressed for weeks afterwards. I couldn't believe they were gone, even though I saw it with my own eyes. To have it happen again three years ago - still makes me numb with sorrow. May they all rest in peace.

[Up2Late]

17. Thanks for the pictures and your memories...

...NPR had a very good remembrance yesterday that reminded me of these brave Astronauts. They even interview the daughter of Roger Chaffee, who was 8 at the time of Apollo 1 and then working at NASA when Challenger happened. Very moving, here's the link:

The Challenger Shuttle Tragedy, 20 Years Later

Listen to this story...(at link below)
by David Kestenbaum

Morning Edition, January 27, 2006 · Saturday marks
the 20th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster.
David Kestenbaum looks back on what went wrong on
January 28, 1986, and how the incident has affected NASA
in the years since.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5174355>

And here are a few from today:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5175151>

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5176563>

[fortyfeetunder]

13. 20 years later, it still makes me cry.

I can't even describe the pain I felt then and now thinking these extraordinary lives were cut tragically short, including the one teacher who wanted to make a difference.

:cry:

[sproutster]

14. I was a junior in H.S.

My favorite teacher ever was up for the the ride. He wanted it badly, and we were rooting for him. I was in Alaska - and when I went into school every class had the crash. I remember there was this one hallway which was the video department and it was noting but tv's with explosion through the glass. It was so surreal. All I could think was thank goodness Mr. Vandercamp didn't make it. :(

[Lady Effingbroke]

15. I was tremendously affected by the Challenger explosion.

I was a 16-year-old sophomore at Clear Lake High School in Houston, only a couple miles from the Johnson Space Center. The children of Mike Smith and Ellison Onizuka also went to Clear Lake, and Mr. Onizuka helped coach my soccer team in the early 80s. His daughter, Janelle, was in my graduating class (1988), and the other kids were a couple years older or younger than me.

Needless to say, it was a completely awful time, as many teachers had rolled TVs into their classrooms to watch the launch since several students' fathers were going up in the shuttle. After the accident, teachers and students were crying and hugging each other, and counselors were brought in to help everyone deal with the tragedy. People in the Clear Lake area remained stunned and subdued for months as the post-accident investigation played out...it was definitely not a good time for NASA.

I can't believe it's been 20 years...

[Raine]

16. I was on my way to work

and heard it on the car radio. It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years ago, was a very sad day. :cry: