[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.

[Radioactive]

I was there and saw it.

Strange thing was the day before the mission was scrubbed becuse they could not close the shuttle door.

I remember the NASA technician pulling out a Makita drill driver and trying to fix that door.

The next day I thought they would never launch because it was so damned cold out.

I remember at the Kennedy visitors center people clapping as the shuttle blew up. They thought that was what it was supposed to do.

I remember yelling out "NO....NOOOO.....that's not right."

It then got real quiet.

Last year was the next time I watched a shuttle launch.

As it turned out...it was Columbia.

I could not believe the news as I heard it reported.

We have to accept these risks because this is Rocket science and things do go wrong from time to time.

But the advantages far outweigh the risk involved.

[Vol2727]

I was a senior at the Univ. of TN. when this happened. I was on my way back from class on the Hill and when I walked in the lobby of my dorm, I noticed there was a large group of students gathered around the TV. I thought this was strange b/c we never see that. Then I noticed several of them crying and I remember thinking to myself that something really horrible had happened. I made my way thru the crowd and tiptoed to see what was on the TV. They were showing the replay of the Challenger exploding. Then it hit me...that's the one the teacher was on! I immediately headed for the elevator to go up to my room to watch it on my tv b/c I had to have close caption to understand. When I got caught up with what had happened, I just lost it. I felt so alone. I called my mom with the TTY (phone for the deaf) to talk to her. She calmed me down and told me everything would be okay. I became obsessed with this tragedy. I missed classes for the rest of the wk. I bought USA Today for the first time in my life and remember thinking wow, this paper has everything. You know, those detailed charts with time sequence, pictures, etc....I remember thinking to myself, man, they need to stop showing the explosion. Those families...their reaction....they kept showing it over and over and over. At that time I had no choice but to watch Peter Jennings and ABC. They were the only station to be captioned. Times have changed. I have my choice now...

Godspeed, Challenger.....

[snopercod]

I was on the C-9 (instrumentation) launch console at KSC for that one. It was not a pleasant time.

Thanks for posting the rememberance.

[Moose4]

I was a junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I remember getting out of a class and walking back toward my dorm when I saw a girl run by me crying, and then another. I thought it odd, but didn't go any further than that.

When I got back to my dorm, I noticed that the TV lounge was jampacked, odd for midday. I walked in and saw the footage and heard what had happened. Whichever network we had on was showing the explosion over...and over...and over...and over.

Eventually one girl in the dorm lost it. She screamed at the TV, "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!!", and bolted out of the room in tears. That seemed to shock the rest of us into moving, and gradually people trickled out, in ones and twos, stunned and weeping.

18 years later, I still tear up thinking about it.

}:-)4

[OldFriend]

Received two phone calls within moments of each other. Two friends who were former teachers...TURN ON THE TV.....

It continues to hurt to this day.

The most bitter memory I recall is the headline of the previous day.......WHEN IS THIS TURKEY GOING TO FLY......that from our vaunted media who were annoyed that the mission had been scrapped several times.

[jude24]

I was three, and ticked off that Sesame Street had been preempted. I didn't understand what kind of a symbol the Shuttle was, and what kind of a tragedy it was. All I knew was Big Bird wasn't on.

[Outlaw76]

This tragic event seamed to have touched everyone.
Mark Wills' Song '19Something' touches on it nicely, but lightly with the following:

It was the dawning of a new decade,
We got our first microwave,
Dad broke down and finally shaved them old sideburns off.
I took the stickers off a-my Rubik's cube.
Watched MTV all afternoon.
My first love was Daisy Duke in them cut-off jeans.
Space shuttle fell out of the sky.
And the whole world cried.

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

I was in first grade and the teachers brought everyone into the school library to watch the launch. They were so excited because of Christa McAuliffe. Being so little, and most of us not having watched a launch on TV before, we thought the big explosion was SUPPOSED to happen. All the teachers were crying, and then they had to tell us that the Shuttle blew up and the astronauts died. My fiance was in the third grade class and remembers this much more vividly than I do.

The defining traumatic event for my generation is 9/11. Those of us between 21-24 simply don't remember Challenger well enough.

[6323cd]

I was working on the switchboard at the office, and all of a sudden all of the parents and spouses of our employees started calling in; I recognized their voices. I realized something was occurring so called home quickly and my Mom told me what had just happened. I will never forget it.

[Mr. Silverback]

Thanks for posting. 28 Jan 86 was my 15th birthday. I think about those folks every year, and hope their families are well.

Time to figure out what parts of the moonbase are going to be named after them, the '03 crew and the Apollo One crew.

[WIladyconservative]

I was in the darkroom at my first job out of College. My co-worker rigged up a set of filters on the TV that would filter out any harmful light (but still allow us to watch tv) while we printed photos for our company.

We stood there in the dark cheering them on and then fell silent. All 6 of the employees were crammed into that room in a state of disbelief and crying.

I still shudder when I hear the audio of the launch telling Challenger to go to "Throttle Up.*

Hard to believe it's been 18 years.

[Houmatt]

I remember the day well. January 28, 1986.

I was living in New Paltz, NY, and I was at a local video store checking out their new releases. The woman behind the counter had WCBS-FM New York on the radio, which I was only kind of listening to. That is, until they came on with a special bulletin. It seemed there was an explosion aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger (this was the first report on this station), and it was feared all aboard had perished.

I slowly stood up, and turned to look at the woman. We just stared at each other until a guy ran into the store, asking if the TV in the store worked. The woman said yes, and he turned it on. It was NBC, and they showed the explosion, as they would so many times after. A few seconds went by and you heard a NASA tech say, "Obviously a major malfunction." Then it came back to Tom Brokaw, who added, "Obviously the understatement of the year."

[Airborne Longhorn]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post.

I gave a memorial service for the fallen astronauts here in Houston at my parish, St. Cyril of Alexandria Catholic Church, with a concert performance by the West Point (my alma mater) Glee Club.

Several of my astronaut buddies attended.

You could not have evoked more tears!

Many thanks...

[ChefKeith]

I was working at a Jaguar/Rolls Royce dealership in Austin that morning and was out in the shop when I heard one of the Saleswomen screaming, I ran to the sales floor and saw the TV on her desk with the live shot of the explosion still on the screen.

I just stood there looking at the TV saying to Myself there is no way that they could have survived that, but I was praying that somehow they were O.K.

I was only about 2 when JFK was killed but I vividly remember Mom freaking out while the TV was on and I was in My playpen. It was years later when I saw the film of the shooting and put the puzzle pieces together and realized that I had seen it at that young age and remembered the TV screen, it was just like that day that it happened.

[Nebr FAL owner]

It's been 18 years ! It seems like just like last year maybe the year before but it's been 18 years man I feel old.