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"!
my mom was a high school english teacher so it really
hit me hard too. every person onboard was such a hero!