Today is the 24th Anniversary of the Challenger Explosion

On this day in 1986, all seven crew members of The Space Shuttle Challenger lost their lives only moments after take off. I still remember that day vividly. I was home sick from school (eighth grade) and was watching the launch live. It just didn't seem real at the time.

At the time, I was living in a suburb of Akron, OH and we were all made aware that a former Akron native, DR. Judith Resnick, was on board that mission. I think every school within a 50 mile radius of Akron was watching that day. Not to mention all of the schools around the country that were watching because of the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.

Please take a moment today to remember the Heroes that died in that tragedy.

What were you doing when you heard the news?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c0ee3c57d94d.jpg[/atsimg]

Commander Francis R.(Dick) Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith,
Mission specialists Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik
Payload specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe,
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reply to post by jibeho


R.I.P to those who lost their lives on this day. I was in the fourth grade watching it on television in class, it was very sad to see especially since I always wanted to be an astronaut.

Our school didn't have TVs, but they announced it on the intercom.

Very sad day in American History.

Sorry for my ignorance... But, wasn't that woman in the pack with the brown hair on the left a teacher who was nominated and won for some "space prize". They trained her for years, then on her 1st trip she perished?

Can someone give me the story?

reply to post by CanadianDream420


Yes, Christa McAuliffe was the first teacher in space. She was from New Hampshire and was selected from a list of 11,000 or so applicants.

Her presence on this flight is one of the reasons why it was so widely watched live on TV.

Originally posted by jibeho

What were you doing when you heard the news?

[edit on 28-1-2010 by jibeho]

Our class was also watching the launch, live. Except my class had a little something 'extra' included, a nice big cake and refreshments! It was my birthday, after all.

The day started with my head in the clouds, "everyone will remember this day, with yummy treats and even a rocket launch!"

What could be a better 'insta-popular' activity, for the new kid in class? Unless, of course, something goes terribly wrong? All of a sudden, eyes are all on me! I was crushed. It took forever, for my parents to convince me that it wasn't my 'bad luck'.

Very bad day, for sure. The image of the horrific explosion seared into my mind forever, along with the tears of my school's administration. A painful punch in the belly, to hopeful teachers and educators, everywhere. Do you remember that the teacher was scheduled to give the very first lesson from outer-space?

Peace, love, and hope to the families, and all who was affected by the tragedy!

-Sour

I was in a carpool heading home from work, heard it on the radio.

At first I thought it was a mistake, I hoped it was.

Seeing it on TV , I remember one of those rare bone shivering quivers that

only occur a few times in your life.





[edit on 28-1-2010 by Sean48]

R.I.P. Hoped they may they find their place in space in the afterlife.

I remember watching it in school. I distinctly remember it because Punky Brewster did a TV show about the explosion. My teacher was stunned and changed the channel..if i remember correctly, i was six at the time.

RIP guys. I'll see so on the other side one day.

very sad, i dont remeber it as i was in my mothers womb and only on my second month but i do feel for them.
its so sad

These are the words of President Reagan that immediately followed the disaster. He even delayed the state of the union address by one week to address this matter and to convey his condolences.

I forgot how much I miss Reagan. The man was a class act and this address to the nation is a reflection of his true nature.



[edit on 28-1-2010 by jibeho]

Sitting in 2nd grade huddled around a TV that the teacher brought in. She was excited and wanted to use the opportunity to show us the launch and the ambitious Teachers in Space initiative......

The TV went dark not more than 2 secs after it blew up. We were given recess and that was that.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


I was also in the fourth grade and watching it on TV. I am amazed now actually considering our school did not have a lot of TVs. I believe they had other classes come and watch with us though.

I remember feeling very shocked and sad. Sort of the same thing I felt the day I seen the replays of 9/11 on the news.


Raist

SACRAFICE----G-d always wondered why yall do it.

Just stop and give. Its simple. There is no sacrafice in freely giving. You are no more noble sacraficing than freely giving.

Not to sound like a conspiracy whack and insensitive but Challenger Accident(sabatoge) and Columbia (sacrafice, Feb 1 Imbolc Festival of lights Israeli astronaut dying over Palestine Tx) weapon platform test succesful...i just dont know why we cannot quit playing the game.

They occupy us with unecessary frothy emotional appeals and analytical deep thought.

[edit on 29-1-2010 by superluminal11]

My best friend and I were going out the door to go skiing. We were all bundled up, skis in their rack on the car, but we remembered the Challenger was launching, so we turned on the TV just in time to see it leave the launch pad. We were stunned when it exploded and needless to say, skiing that day didn't seem as important.

It was horrible for us to see, I can't imagine how awful it was for those that were young and watched in their classrooms.

reply to post by inthesticks


It has been a memory that I can recall easily. I am sure for those that watched 9/11, the Moon Landing, hearing President Roosevelt's declaration of war upon Japan, etc can all be recalled by those that heard/saw it. Some events have large impacts upon us and they remain in us forever.

I just remember the tears in my teachers eyes and her trying to get us to go outside for recess. The implications of the events unbeknown to us younger kids. It was not until I was older that when watching footage of the explosion could I muster the very emotions that my teacher so long ago had.

I remember watching the launch in school, on live t.v.

What a shock.

Thank you for the reminder...

RIP and Peace to their families.







[edit on 30-1-2010 by LadySkadi]

I was a senior in high school. I had a lot of classes so always spent lunch studying in the library. I had aspirations to finish college, join the Air Force and become an astronaut. Two friends of mine ran in to tell me about the explosion - I thought they were kidding me. We watched the follow up with the school librarian in the AV room. The next day, I still wanted to be an astronaut.

One of my clearest memories was Peter Jennings. The tv news kept playing the reaction of Christa McAuliffe's parents until the tape broke. Jennings made a comment about it (the tape breaking) being for the best.

"slipped the surly bonds of Earth and touched the face of God." Gosh, that still gives me goosebumps.

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[edit on 29-1-2010 by Mountainmeg]

I was off work that day and a woman that I was going out with at the time was as well. She was coming over to my apartment and arrived about 5 minutes after it happened. I was basically standing there with my mouth half open when she came in and she asked what was wrong with me. I told her that the space shuttle had blown up and the way it looked, everyone on board had to have died. Her response was "Someone's trying to tell us something", meaning people weren't meant to engage in such endeavors as space flight.

It was much more shocking than the mission that killed Grissom, White and Chaffee. That was tragic but it couldn't compare to watching the shuttle being tracked by camera and just exploding, with the flaming debris spewing everywhere like a firework had gone off. I remember thinking afterward how some of those flaming shards might have been human beings or pieces of them just burning off before falling back to earth.

There was so much anticipation building up to that particular launch, mainly because of Christa McAuliffe, that made it even more tragic, at least at the time. Many people had a sort of emotional investment in it because of her, because she was seen as sort of a regular person engaging in a venture that many had dreamed of in years past since the Apollo missions. A regular citizen in space.

There were times afterward when I wondered what they were thinking when it happened. Did they know from any readings on board that there was a problem and were fearful or were they just excited about where they were headed and passed with that exhilaration as their final thought? I guess we'll never know.

Originally posted by jibeho
On this day in 1986, all seven crew members of The Space Shuttle Challenger lost their lives only moments after take off.


What were you doing when you heard the news?

I was thinking of that when I saw it on the news channel.

I was a Freshman in a Public High School, and my Biology Teacher pulled me from class so as to get everyone's attention, as typically I'm attentive.

We had cable, and a portable 22" Glass tube T.V.

As the other students started gathering and chatting (you know how young adolescents are), we all began an 'open-air' discussion.

As, many near my desk knew, I was at least paying attention in class. They all said it was my fault, and that's Science for you.

Sad, most saw it as an excuse not to even try something that takes a sense of applied laws of nature.
Of course, those particular students loved the Fetal Pig Syndrome induced when things got 'cutty'.

Most in my area resolved: "It was the teachers fault"