Posted on 01/28/2005 5:17:59 PM PST by silverleaf
Edited on 01/28/2005 7:01:57 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
http://www.cnn.com/resources/video.almanac/1986/challenger/challenger.lg.mov
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.
I was in high school. I didn't see it happen live, but it was announced over the PA system that the Challenger had exploded.
I'll never forget that day.
Well, I was at CENTCOM HQ in Tampa and the Watch Center got the news that something was happening and most of us ran outside into the parking lot and there it was, right over us - a thick twisted contrail over Tampa Bay with so may horrible heads, all going in different directions, unraveling and plunging down....I thought immediately of the schoolteacher and of her family, watching her death spiral.
Definitely. We mark our lives by the events we witness. Often, it is the tragedies that stick with us the most. However, an even like September 11th, is life changing for us.
Actually watched the launch out my office window. I had watched many launches over the years and I knew something was wrong. But, until I heard it on the radio, I didn't realize how wrong this launch gone. It was a very sad day. As was that day in February 2003 when the Columbia disaster happened.
I,too was in high school, my senior year. It was at Middletown Christian School. The principal, I think it was, walked in, and told all of us, that the space shuttle had exploded.
Many of the students began to make jokes about the accident after that, like "how many astronauts can you fit into a volkswagen, 4,and 7 in the ashtray", and such, like NASA, now stands for "need another seven astronauts",but I was disheartened by the incident, I was(and still am) a space exploration fan, and knew this would effect the program, maybe even end it, if some had their way, not to mention the loss of the crew.
I went to work after school, to a grocery/department store where I worked in Lebanon, Ohio(I lived there then,too, and still go there on a regular basis, it is around 30 minutes from where I live now), and the tv's on the display endcaps were still showing the accident, and the aftermath, of news reporter comments, and that was around 4;30, or so.
Talk radio host Charles Adler of CORUS Radio Network (Canada) replayed entire Reagan speech regarding Challenger disaster this afternoon. That was as magnificent a tribute as I've ever heard. I had watched him speak on TV the night of the disaster, but what he said was even more powerful today, hearing just his voice.
I cannot believe 19 years have gone by. It was a cold winter day and a colleague told several of us at work, that a customer had just told her that the shuttle had exploded.
A very sad day.
I was working on a busted computer in the VA hospital in Milwaukee. I was actually working underneath the computer (a DEC PDP-11 monstrosity) when someone came into the computer lab and said that the shuttle had just blown up. Naw, I thought, maybe the had an engine out, did a once around and landed at Dakar. I got out from under the Unibus, walked downstairs to the lobby with all the vets, and and watched that image play over and over on the TV.
Going to school the next day (College of Engineeering at Marquette) was like going to a funeral.
We forget how blase we had become at space travel until Challenger. I'll never forget. I was in my car, returning to the office from a client. I've always been a space buff..so I tuned to WCBS 88 in NYC..all news..they switched to the Cape for the live broadcast of the launch, and then about 30 seconds after take off..they switch back to the local news...all apparently OK. I was lookig forward to watching the news that night..when all of a sudden..they break info r a special report..it's exploded..By that time I'd pulled into my office lot..went inside in shock..60-70 people in the office..no one knew..went into the conference room, turned on the radio..everyone started coming in...dead silence except for crying..
I was working in the electro-optics lab at Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego. I heard it live on the radio.
I was there too. Sad, sad day. Thought it was never happen again until STS-107
I was in 9th grade. My science teacher at the time, was runner up for the teacher slot on the shuttle. It was my sixth period class, last of the day, so by that time all the news crews had gotten there. The teacher was completely out of it knowing it could have been him. Of course being kids, we couldn't help but cracking jokes about it. The local news crews ended up filming our sixth period marine biology class for thier story. Later when we watched it on TV that night, they made comments about how we all had our faces covered in disbelief that it could have been our beloved teacher. In truth, all our faces were covered to hide the tears of laugher at our then white-as-a-ghost teacher.
Yep. Watched it live and in color from Tampa. The flame didn't look right from the moment we saw it come above the horizon.
Last year's thread.
Ronald Reagan's Funeral Eulogy for the Challenger Crew
Following is the text of President Reagan's remarks at a memorial service held in Houston following the Challenger disaster, Jan. 31, 1986. (From Houston Chronicle archives.)
We come together today to mourn the loss of seven brave Americans, to share the grief we all feel and, perhaps in that sharing, to find the strength to bear our sorrow and the courage to look for the seeds of hope.
Our nation's loss is first a profound personal loss to the family and the friends and loved ones of our shuttle astronauts. To those they have left behind - the mothers, the fathers, the husbands and wives, brothers, sisters, and yes, especially the children - all of America stands beside you in your time of sorrow.
What we say today is only an inadequate expression of what we carry in our hearts. Words pale in the shadow of grief; they seem insufficient even to measure the brave sacrifice of those you loved and we so admired. Their truest testimony will not be in the words we speak, but in the way they led their lives and in the way they lost those lives - with dedication, honor and an unquenchable desire to explore this mysterious and beautiful universe.
The best we can do is remember our seven astronauts - our ChallengerSeven - remember them as they lived, bringing life and love and joy to those who knew them and pride to a nation.
They came from all parts of this great country - from South Carolina to Washington State; Ohio to Mohawk, New York; Hawaii to North Carolina to Concord, New Hampshire. They were so different, yet in their mission, their quest, they held so much in common.
We remember Dick Scobee, the commander who spoke the last words we heard from the space shuttle Challenger. He served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, earning many medals for bravery, and later as a test pilot of advanced aircraft before joining the space program. Danger was a familiar companion to Commander Scobee.
We remember Michael Smith, who earned enough medals as a combat pilot to cover his chest, including the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals - and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, in gratitude from a nation that he fought to keep free.
We remember Judith Resnik, known as J.R. to her friends, always smiling, always eager to make a contribution, finding beauty in the music she played on her piano in her off-hours.
We remember Ellison Onizuka, who, as a child running barefoot through the coffee fields and macadamia groves of Hawaii, dreamed of someday traveling to the Moon. Being an Eagle Scout, he said, had helped him soar to the impressive achievement of his career.
We remember Ronald McNair, who said that he learned perseverance in the cotton fields of South Carolina. His dream was to live aboard the space station, performing experiments and playing his saxophone in the weightlessness of space; Ron, we will miss your saxophone and we will build your space station.
We remember Gregory Jarvis. On that ill-fated flight he was carrying with him a flag of his university in Buffalo, New York - a small token he said, to the people who unlocked his future.
We remember Christa McAuliffe, who captured the imagination of the entire nation, inspiring us with her pluck, her restless spirit of discovery; a teacher, not just to her students, but to an entire people, instilling us all with the excitement of this journey we ride into the future.
We will always remember them, these skilled professionals, scientists and adventurers, these artists and teachers and family men and women, and we will cherish each of their stories - stories of triumph and bravery, stories of true American heroes.
On the day of the disaster, our nation held a vigil by our television sets. In one cruel moment, our exhilaration turned to horror; we waited and watched and tried to make sense of what we had seen. That night, I listened to a call-in program on the radio: people of every age spoke of their sadness and the pride they felt in `our astronauts.' Across America, we are reaching out, holding hands, finding comfort in one another.
The sacrifice of your loved ones has stirred the soul of our nation and, through the pain, our hearts have been opened to a profound truth - the future is not free, the story of all human progress is one of a struggle against all odds. We learned again that this America, which Abraham Lincoln called the last best hope of man on Earth, was built on heroism and noble sacrifice. It was built by men and women like our seven star voyagers, who answered a call beyond duty, who gave more than was expected or required, and who gave it with little thought to worldly reward.
We think back to the pioneers of an earlier century, and the sturdy souls who took their families and the belongings and set out into the frontier of the American West. Often, they met with terrible hardship. Along the Oregon Trail you can still see the grave markers of those who fell on the way. But grief only steeled them to the journey ahead.
Today, the frontier is space and the boundaries of human knowledge. Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain. Our nation is indeed fortunate that we can still draw on immense reservoirs of courage, character and fortitude - that we are still blessed with heroes like those of the space shuttle Challenger.
Dick Scobee knew that every launching of a space shuttle is a technological miracle. And he said, if something ever does go wrong, I hope that doesn't mean the end to the space shuttle program. Every family member I talked to asked specifically that we continue the program, that that is what their departed loved one would want above all else. We will not disappoint them.
Today, we promise Dick Scobee and his crew that their dream lives on; that the future they worked so hard to build will become reality. The dedicated men and women of NASA have lost seven members of their family. Still, they too, must forge ahead, with a space program that is effective, safe and efficient, but bold and committed.
Man will continue his conquest of space. To reach out for new goals and ever greater achievements - that is the way we shall commemorate our seven Challenger heroes.
Dick, Mike, Judy, El, Ron, Greg and Christa - your families and your country mourn your passing. We bid you goodbye. We will never forget you. For those who knew you well and loved you, the pain will be deep and enduring. A nation, too, will long feel the loss of her seven sons and daughters, her seven good friends. We can find consolation only in faith, for we know in our hearts that you who flew so high and so proud now make your home beyond the stars, safe in God's promise of eternal life.
May God bless you all and give you comfort in this difficult time.
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.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew — And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untresspassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr
The thing I remember from that day is after the announcement was made at the Cape and the camera showed the VIPs walking out of the stands. The teacher's dad looking up at the contrails with a forlorn and almost numb look on his face. Tore my heart out. I don't think it had really dawned upon him yet that his daughter was dead.
Thanks for the link. I downloaded it and saved it.
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