30th anniversary of the Shuttle Challenger disaster

[donutte]

Probably the first, but sadly not the last, of the "what were you doing when..." moments in my life. I remember this day quite clearly. I was 8 years old, just shy of 9. I was recovering from some unknown infection of the liver or gallbladder (found out all the damage it caused about seven years later). I remember being quite upset by all the stuff going on, and mom trying so hard to find some channel that didn't have something on about the Challenger explosion.

So hard to to believe it's been 30 years already.

 

[margd]

Thirty years?  It really doesn't seem that long ago at all.  I was at work, but we had the TV on to watch the launch and couldn't believe what we were seeing at first.   Everyone was terribly upset and it was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the day.   I had a memorial poster of the Challenger and crew but it disappeared when I moved. 

 

[donutte]

I was thinking it was 20 years and then I realized, nope, it's 30.

 

[Willowy]

I must have been 6. I don't really remember it myself but my mom tells this story. We were at the playground and one of the little girls told us about it. But this particular little girl was known for telling tall tales, so my mom didn't believe her, until we got home and saw it on TV.

Last year we went to the Kennedy Space Center near Orlando, and I read all the information about the various disasters. So sad .

 

[rpandcat]

I was in 4th grade. We were one of those classrooms that spent a lot of time studying what would happen with the space shuttle. We were talking about outer space (and Halley's Comet), and what it might be like for humans in the future. The class was all sitting around a TV monitor, and it blew up. I remember seeing it. I don't remember what happened with our class afterward, except that I was kind of shocked and sad.

 

[plan]

I was five years old, but I remember it well because I was in my "I wanna be an astronaut!" phase, and it was devastating. I don't know if my memory is playing tricks on me, but I seem to remember shows like Punky Brewster and Webster doing "special episodes" to help kids deal with the disaster, since obviously the Challenger launch was something that was watched and followed by a ton of kids.

I want to say we were watching it in school, especially because Christa McAuliffe was going to be the first teacher in space, but again, I'm not sure if that's my memory playing tricks on me, or if it's accurate. I do remember talking to my uncle, who was an Air Force captain assigned to the space program, about it, and I remember a school assembly when the principal and faculty gathered all the kids in the gym and addressed it.

Ah...turns out I was right. Here's the Punky Brewster episode:


Somewhat off-topic, but it's also mentioned here in "5 Inexplicably Horrifying Episodes of Classic Comedies":

http://www.cracked.com/article_19401_5-inexplicably-horrifying-episodes-classic-comedies.html

I completely forgot about that Diff'rent Strokes episode...wow. That would never make it to air these days.

 

[AbbysMom]

I was a senior in high school and had the last two periods of the day free and had left to go home and heard about it on the radio.

 

[Winchester]

I was working at the paper plant and was on second shift, so I was home when it happened. My mother called to tell me about it and I was in shock. I watched it on tv while I was home and I was in tears. I had thought Christa McAuliffe was an incredibly lucky woman to be able to go up in the Challenger (how often do you get a chance like that???) and I was heartbroken when she died.

 

[Kat0121]

I was a sophomore in high school. I don't remember much about it though. I think that they may have put the television on for it. That was many years and many brain cells ago. 

 

[ginny]

Dear Lord I feel ancient compared to some of you.  I was 26 years old in 1986 when this happened.  I was at work and someone told us that the space shuttle with Christa McAulliffe on it had crashed, and all were killed. We were all flabbergasted!  NASA's name became MUD because they put, for the first time in their history, a beloved school teacher aboard that flight.  Her poor parents were watching from the ground.  There was a lot of speculation about the O rings not working in the below freezing temperatures which caused the explosion.  Richard Feynman (one of Sheldon's heroes!) was the scientist that figured it out, much to NASA's dismay.  I remember being glued to the TV set when I got home from work that day.  And I recall President Reagan addressing the nation about it that night.  I was quite disturbed by this event for a while.  Can't believe it's been 30 years!!

 

[ginny]

Another thing.  Have any of you seen that movie about the Challenger tragedy with William Hurt playing the part of Feynman?  It's very good!

 

[donutte]

Another thing.  Have any of you seen that movie about the Challenger tragedy with William Hurt playing the part of Feynman?  It's very good!

I didn't even know they made a movie about it! I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[ginny]

I didn't even know they made a movie about it! I shouldn't be surprised.

h




Well they sure waited long enough. William Hurt is a wonderful actor. It was well done.