[Indy Pendance]

The 25th mission in the Space Shuttle program, flown by the Challenger, ended tragically with the loss of its seven crew members and destruction of the vehicle when it exploded shortly after launch.

Back row from left to right: Ellison Onizuka, mission specialist; Christa McAuliffe, payload specialist; Gregory Jarvis, payload specialist; and Judith Resnik, mission specialist.

Front row from left to right: Michael Smith, pilot; Francis Scobee, commander; and Ronald McNair, mission specialist.

[Petronski]

It was a Tuesday, almost midday, and I had just finished in the dining hall (my freshman year), when dormmates said "You know the space shuttle blew up, right?"

"BULLSHIT!" I replied.

"Hey, dude. I wouldn't joke about that. It's on CNN."

So I raced back to the dorm, carrying my coat in the frigid cold and sure enough, those horrible pictures replayed on CNN over and over and over.

God bless Peggy Noonan for her work on this speech. It is positively golden.

[HungarianGypsy]

I was 12. My 7th grade class had just come back from seeing a play (field trip). The rest of the time after we came back was watching the television in the library. When I wrote my Argentinian pen pal about getting news clippings from her local paper (in general) she sent me two describing Ronald Reagan at the memorial service for the Challenger team.

[DouglasKC]

I was in the Air Force and had just come home and was fast asleep after pulling a 7 to 7 night shift. My wife woke me up and told me that the space shuttle blew up. She had been watching it live. I was awake instantly and ran to the TV to watch the replays.

I think for many in my generation (I'm in my early 40's now) this was one of the first events that was seared into our consciousnesses.

[KangarooJacqui]

I was 13 when this happened... child of a former NASA tracking station technician and one of those children who was FASCINATED by the shuttle programme.

Also being an Australian, this event hit the news in the middle of the night. I was asleep, and I had the radio on, tuned to a music station.

They must have interrupted the music (unusual as most stations went to tapes between 2 and 6am) at some point to announce the disaster, but I don't remember waking up. What I do remember is dreaming about a shuttle exploding in the sky after liftoff...

"What a horrible dream," I thought to myself.

And then I heard the news.

18 years on, I still remember the shock and the horror.

(FR footnote: I was watching TV when Columbia broke up on re-entry early last year. Chris, the late Trappedinliberalhell, came downstairs having woken late. I told him the news, in a shaky voice - and he dashed upstairs again to check the threads on Free Republic. When he told me about a post in which someone had mentioned a memorial service the Columbia astronauts had had on board for the Challenger victims, at that point I lost it. I left the room, and sobbed my heart out in the kitchen for about five or ten minutes.)

[Viking2002]

I remember this day like it was yesterday - it was heart-wrenching when I saw Reagan deliver his speech. I honestly felt like it was a personal body blow. And as much as it was one of our worst moments as an American family, Reagan took our grief and made it one of the proudest moments of American resolve. God Bless the Challenger Seven, and God bless Ronald Reagan.

[.38sw]

I remember that day so well. The Teacher in space alternate, Barbara Morgan, was an acquaintance of mine. We played in the small chamber orchestra (I played viola) in the small central Idaho mountain town of McCall. She played violin and flute, and was (probably still is) a wonderful musician. So of course, I was particularly interested in this flight. Barbara was a team mate of those who died that day, and felt the loss so keenly.

[Nexus]

One of my favorite things to draw back then was the Space Shuttle. I was eight when the Challenger exploded, and it certainly introduced harsh reality into my life. I didn't draw much after that.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I was there.

[Thane_Banquo]

Address to the nation on the Challenger disaster
Oval Office
January 28, 1986

A few hours after the disaster, this speech was delivered to the American people via nationwide radio and television.
648 words

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

---

That closing line is probably the best ever in a presidential speech. I get chills whenever I hear it.

[commish]

I was stationed at Beale AFB when Challenger Blew. I had arrived at Beale on Jan 6 after a tour at the Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick AFB, FL.

I had worked all the previous Shuttle Launches (we were one of the backup computer sites), and this was the first one I did not get to see live. Needless to say it is also the one I will never forget.

[LisaMalia]

I remember it well...the night before actually. I couldn't sleep that night, thinking about Christa and her small children, and praying for her safely. There had been so much press about it, and you almost felt like you knew her. My kids were 3 and 7 at the time.
I was cleaning house when they broke in on tv. That was before most had cable, so the updates were sporadic. All I could think of as I watched the tragedy unfold was Christa's children. I just grabbed my baby boy and hugged him for dear life.

[Kirkwood]

I can't believe it has been 18 years. It seems like it was just yesterday. I dedicated my doctoral dissertation to them.

[GOPyouth]

I was a 3rd grader at Richardson Elementary in Minden, Louisiana. I remember my friend Jason telling me the Challenger had blown up. I'll never forget President Reagan's speech that day when he told us the astronauts had touched the grace of God.

As for the Columbia, I was sound asleep in San Diego when my mom called me from my hometown in Tyler, Texas, to tell me that it was lost.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

The most touching moment was when the daughter of one of the astronauts collapsed in tears in President Reagan's arms. He held her tight for a moment. The comfort was real as was his pain and sympathy.

I will never, ever think of President Reagan without thinking of that moment. God Bless President and Mrs. Reagan.

He has another birthday coming up soon! Although very ill and reportedly in the final stages of disease, I know his spirit survives and somewhere, somehow he knows how beloved he is.

[bonesmccoy]

January 28, 2004

Space Shuttle Challenger Crew Memorialized on Mars


A composite image reveals Challenger Memorial Station.
View all images from this press release


NASA announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Opportunity rover in honor of the Space Shuttle Challenger's final crew. The area in the vast flatland called Meridiani Planum, where Opportunity landed this weekend, will be called the Challenger Memorial Station.

The seven-member crew of Space Shuttle Challenger was lost when the orbiter suffered an in-flight breakup during launch Jan. 28, 1986, 18 years ago today.

NASA selected Meridiani Planum as a landing site because of extensive deposits of a mineral called crystalline hematite, which usually forms in the presence of liquid water. Scientists had hoped for a specific landing site where they could examine both the surface layer that's rich in hematite and an underlying geological feature of light-colored layered rock. The small crater in which Opportunity alighted appears to have exposures of both, with soil that could be the hematite unit and an exposed outcropping of the lighter rock layer.


The Challenger crew.


Challenger's 10th flight was to have been a six-day mission dedicated to research and education, as well as the deployment of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-B communications satellite.

Challenger's commander was Francis R. Scobee and the mission pilot was Michael J. Smith. Mission specialists included Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka and Ronald E. McNair. The mission also carried two payload specialists, Gregory B. Jarvis and Sharon Christa McAuliffe, who was the agency's first teacher in space.

Opportunity successfully landed on Mars January 25 (Eastern and Universal Time; January 24 Pacific Time). It will spend the next three months exploring the region surrounding what is now known as Challenger Memorial Station to determine if Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life.

Opportunity's twin, Spirit, is trailblazing a similar path on the other side of the planet, in a Connecticut-sized feature called Gusev Crater.

A composite image depicting the location of the Challenger Memorial Station can be found on the Web at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/jan-28-2004/captions/image-1.html

[anymouse]

Space taps ping.

[SFmom]

Judy Resnik was a friend, neighbor, and classmate of mine from elementary through H.S. She was intense and very driven, but also very kind. She was a beautiful pianist. After she was chosen as an astronaut I wrote her once at her NASA digs. She wrote me back, asking how my mom was! I can still remember the shock the day she perished. I left the TV on and watched my almost year old baby munch cheerios and contemplated the eeriness of still being alive when she wasn't. It motivated me to return for a high school reunion to which I might not otherwise have gone. Thanks for posting the picture. I love seeing her smiling face again.

[ladyinred]

It doesn't seem possible it was that long ago. I recall it like it was yesterday. The shock of seeing that on live TV has never left me.

[CARDINALRULES]

I remember how cold it was that morning in Florida. The sky was clear and the sun was shining on the icicles that we had made in the trees in our yard by leaving the sprinkler on over night.

My class was told that we were going to watch the launch but for some reason the cable to our school was out, and it was too cold for the teacher to let us go outside to see if we could see it from Springhill.

I think I knew something terrible was going to happen while I was watching the morning news before going to school that day, I can't explain it but it has happened a few other times when I see a picture or hear a voice, have a nightmare, or just a weird "what if" thought.

My teacher had told us months before hand that she had applied to go, and had made it past the first group but during the physical found out she was finally pregnant after years of trying. She was very upset when she told us, even though all of the teachers were told not to mention anything about it.

I can still see the image of it breaking apart, I guess it is because I watched tv from the moment I got home until late that night.

I remembered last night that it has been 18 years, I was thinking about all the things that have happened since then that has made an impact on me. It is a long list with September 11th at the top of course. (Not including deaths and births, ect in my family.)

Too bad I didn't become addicted to taping major news until the 90's...I've got hundreds of tapes of major stuff since 2000 alone.

I think this is the year I will watch my 9-11 tapes, several from that day, but mostly the days after.
I was too numb then to remember what the networks were saying and I think reviewing might be interesting.

[exnavy]

I was working second shift, and watched this event unfold live. A very sad day.