Where were you 17 years ago today? (Challenger Explosion)

History ^ | 01/27/03 | Memories

[OldFriend]

At home with the TV off when two friends, both teachers, called at practically the same moment.

I remember President Reagan speech and his 'slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of g-d' phrase. And I haven't thought of that phrase again until this very moment.

[Luis Gonzalez]

STS-51-L
January 28, 1986, 11:38:00 a.m. EST
TDRS-2; SPARTAN-203 Pad B
25th Shuttle mission
10th liftoff OV-099
Crew, vehicle lost 73 seconds after liftoff

[kaki]

My Mom and Dad were on their way to Fla. My husband had a (rare for him) virus and was home and we had the TV on. Mom and Dad were far enough down from S.C. to see, but did not know until later what they had seen.

[KarlInOhio]

I was in a small poli-sci class in college. One of the students who knew the professor stuck his head into the room and said "Doctor, did you hear that the space shuttle blew up?" and the professor asked him what was the punchline. Class ended soon after that and we all headed to the student union to watch the TV.

[satchmodog9]

I was in Economics class in college. We had a tv in the room to watch the liftoff. It was still something special at the time. When that thing lit off some ahole in the class said COOL!!!!! He was the head of GLAD on campus. Stinking liberal filth. I do remember that the prof sent him packing that day after much yelling and hostility. Could have been a new show on Fox "when liberals attack." Seventeen years, oy am I getting old.

[visualops]

I was watching on TV and, like the crowd on camera, it took a few seconds to sink in. What a horrible feeling when the realization began.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

I was at work - totally stunned and so sad. I felt bad for all those school children that were watching because Mrs. McAul9/11iffe was on board - how traumatic.

O.K. City - I was at the lake at Martinsville, VA to attend the NASCAR race. It was so strange - being out of touch with the world on this trip it seemed surreal.

9/11 - I was driving to my plastic surgeons office (talk about feeling shallow!). I went ahead and kept my appointment they kept us updated by the TV in the office.

[visualops]

You're not pregnant now are you?? :o)

[ChuxsterS]

My Dad and I were in a art supply store in Orlando. Someone came in from the street saying he'd seen the shuttle blow up. People in the shop were skeptical, figuring the guy had just never seen a launch before... then they confirmed it over the radio.

It was kind of sickening to step out on the street and see that crazy "Y" shaped smoke trail.

[meyer]

I was at work, on the road which was quite unusual. During my route, I stopped by the gas station where my friend was working. He happened to have a small TV set there, so I stayed for a few minutes to watch the launch.

Words cannot describe the sickening feeling I had when the Challenger exploded - I hadn't felt so empty before. And, I wasn't to feel that way again until 9/11. Sad. Powerfully sad.

[billorites]

I was driving east on Rte 84 through downtown Hartford, CT when we heard it on the radio.

I was a graduate student at UCONN at the time and my classmates and I were returning to campus after a class at the Farmington campus.

Either before or immediately after hearing the news, a car in traffic cut us off and I was more frightened then I've ever been. I swerved and we didn't collide.

I remember the anniversary of the Challenger explosion as the day I almost died in my VW.

[FrogMom]

In Munich doing volunteer work for the Military Community.

The woman who lived upstairs from us was a teacher and had applied for this program.

We were in shock for while.

[MrCalm]

Your reply sounds similar
I was at Ft. Stewart, Ga in the drivers compartment of an M60A3. One of our last field problems before getting the M1's

[Slide]

Hehe... The good old days, huh?

[anncoulteriscool]

I remember hearing about this on the radio....i was unemployed, looking for work and had just stepped out of the shower when i heard it on the radio.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

One of the three or four events I will never forget.

Engineers Club, Dallas Texas getting ready for a luncheon.

[Alberta's Child]

As bad as the Challenger disaster was, I once read a story of a Soviet space disaster in 1967 that was one of the most depressing things I've ever read.

The Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was on a solo manned orbit of the earth when his spacecraft was plagued by malfunctions and began to rotate out of control. The dynamics of space orbit is such that the craft would slowly spin more rapidly, and everyone on the ground knew it was only a matter of time (hours, or even days) before the cosmonaut lost consciousness and died or the spacecraft plunged back into the atmosphere and disintigrated.

He also knew the situation, but he swore to the Soviet ground staff that he was going to gain control of the spacecraft (something that nobody thought was possible under those conditions). Over the course of several hours the Soviet space ministry brought his wife to the mission control center to speak to him for the last time, but he insisted that he was going to come back alive. The Soviet premier (maybe Kruschev) even spoke to him, thanked him for his valor, and promised that he would be awarded the Order of Lenin. Komarov swore that he would get control of the ship, and that the Order of Lenin would have to wait.

Miraculously, he somehow managed to bring the spacecraft out of its uncontrolled spin. His mission was aborted and he was brought back to earth. However, on the last leg of his return trip his parachute failed to open properly, and he was killed instantly when his capsule smashed into the ground.

[OldFriend]

My brother in law, may he rest in peace, worked on Cape Canaveral for a long long time. He was there when the fire took the lives of the brave astronauts and told us what it was like that terrible day. The FBI locked the place down, thinking it might have been sabotage......no one in or out.......for a long long time.

He was an engineer and worked on the launch pad for the shuttle before he passed.

We always got a pass to see the launches up close, but the most exciting thing we saw was a rocket shot from a submarine one fine day when we were sitting on the beach at Cocoa Beach.....just minding our tans........when this thing flew up out of the ocean. A lady nearby nearly had a heart attack.......

Good times and very bad times......but the courage was ALWAYS to be honored!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

9th grade in derry new hampshire had wmur channel 9 in class broadcasting live since mccauliffe was from nh just remember the news babe standing there aghast