Posted on 01/28/2006 9:20:10 AM PST by nwrep
"...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 goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God." -- President Reagan Addresses the Nation, January 28, 1986
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yeah, I was watching a History Channel program on most of those earlier this evening.
Thanks.
Agreed !
Not Apollo 13. The Apollo One with three people inside.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
I'm a news professional too (for 20 years) so I remember what happened that day, according to my father (I had just left the house and was on the road at the time) who religiously watched CBS every morning. We lived in the Central time zone, so the 2-hour morning news was on.
They had talked up the launch because of McAuliff a bit, then showed the minute prior to launch, then cut away as Challenger cleared the tower and started to roll. The anchor said a few words, they cut to commercial...then the commercial was cut off, the anchor returned and said, "We're going back to Cape Canaveral, where there appears to have been an accident." The next picture was the plume of the explosion. Dad knew immediately what had happened, even though there was silence for a few moments after going to the picture.
Hope this helps.
CBS did not cover the launch in any way.
At least not the Abilene Texas affilliate.
They broke into regular programming when the disaster occurred.
Nice post. Thanks. Hard to believe it came from 'The Washington Compost.' ;)
I was in Germany on a REFORGER mission. You could've heard a pin drop when we got the news in HQ that day. Everyone was touched & most were moved to tears. I still have the "Stars & Stripes" issue covering the explosion.
I was a new mother in Houston with the 'flu'.
I was horrified and just held the baby while I watched it over and over.
That baby is now a Marine.
And the 'flu' turned out to be his little brother : )
Thanks so much for the various information. The fact that the crew was alive for a time relly disturbs me.
Challenger Ping
May they rest in eternal peace.
I was in Early Latin American History class at university when it happened. I remember walking to the student lounge and it was packed. Before that day, I remember people joking about the Shuttle blowing up. Joking because it didn't seem possible. You don't hear those jokes anymore. One of the things that stands out in my mind from that time is President Reagan's beautiful and moving address to the American people.
If it's any consolation, the evidence from the wreckage showed that they conducted themselves calmly and professionally, going through emergency procedures, and maintained control and order in the spacecraft, despite the fact that alarms were going off, the wings had been ripped off the body, and there wasn't a heck of a lot they could do.
I choose to believe that they realized what had happened, realized they were not going to survive, and they took time to make their peace and prepare themselves to meet their Maker. Not everyone in a fatal accident has that chance. I don't doubt there were many prayers said aboard the craft before it hit the ocean at 200 MPH and disintegrated, along with the tens of thousands of prayers said by observers on shore.
The Challenger crew went down with their ship. Brave and good souls all, and our prayers are still with them and their loved ones.
The Green Hills of Earth
Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me
As they rove around the girth
Of our lovely mother planet
Of the cool, green hills of Earth.
We rot in the moulds of Venus,
We retch at her tainted breath.
Foul are her flooded jungles,
Crawling with unclean death.
[ --- the harsh bright soil of Luna ---
--- Saturn's rainbow rings ---
--- the frozen night of Titan --- ]
We've tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.
The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING!
And the lights below us fade.
Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet ---
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the friendly skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
-- Robert A. Heinlein
"...As they passed from us to glory, riding fire in the sky."
http://www.prometheus-music.com/audio/fireinthesky.mp3
It was very moving, indeed. We all saw it, my dad, mom, my sister, and myself...
Excerpt:
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it's 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.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 goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.
~ President Reagan, January 28, 1986
I remember leaving the Pentagon that day to meet a friend for lunch and as I started my car the radio came on and was talking about the Challenger....my first though was "this is the flight the teacher was on"...I spilled many tears that day....then oh so many years later, I was working in my yard in Houston and when I walked into the house heard on the radio "it's obviously a major catastrophic event" - my first thoughts were "oh God no, not another 9/11" and it turned out to be yet another shuttle disaster....and being there in Houston and knowing it happened there - and Houston is obviously a NASA town - made it seem that much closer to home....astronauts are heroes - I don't care what anyone says....they all "reach out and touch the face of God" everytime they "leave the surly bonds of earth"!
Some of the crew did in fact survive; however, the impact in the water killed them....
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