RIP the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger

[Are_grits_groceries]

Sigh......
29 years ago...seems like yesterday...

[shenmue]

1. I remember that day

My Mom came to pick me up from school. I opened the car door and she said, "Did you hear what happened?" I said, "No." And she told me, and I couldn't stop crying. All us kids had been following the stories about the crew. Because of Sally Ride (before the incident) we all wanted our teachers to go into space, too. And then, this happened.

[roguevalley]

20. I will never forget when they interviewed Krista McCullough's

family and her tiny daughter.

"Are you glad your mama is going into space."

"No," she said in her tiny voice (my recollection) "I want her to stay around the house."

I do too, little girl. I will remember what you said until I die.

[MrScorpio]

2. I was in Korea on that day

We all sat around the TV, watching the tragedy in shock.

[cwydro]

3. I remember.

And the other shuttle disaster was on Feb 2 right?

Somewhere around there.

[yeoman6987]

30. What is weird is that I remember another crash

but I couldn't tell you the date or where I was if you paid me a million dollars. Isn't that weird? This one really impacted the nation. The next one didn't have the same. Not good I admit it.

[Terra Alta]

33. February 1, 2003.

I remember that one very well. I think there was another explosion in the early 60s, an Apollo mission I think, that exploded before launch, killing the three astronauts inside. That was in late January/early February as well.

[Rocket_Scientist65]

37. No explosion......

Fire in the spacecraft during a full up countdown test on the pad. Originally this was to be designated Apollo 3 since there were 2 unmanned flights prior to this, but to honor Grissom, White, and Chaffee, it was given the Apollo 1 designation.

[Nay]

4. I can't believe it's been 29 years. I remember seeing the video on the

way out of a big box store; in shock, I stopped to watch the whole thing. Just heartbreaking and horrible.

[davidpdx]

5. I remember exactly where I was when it happened

and in fact up until that day I wanted to be an astronaut.

[eggplant]

10. I know exactly where I was as well.

I was in my car on my way to work maybe 200 yards before the exit.

[davidpdx]

36. I was at high school watching the launch

In Jan 1986 I would have been a freshman I believe.

[malaise]

6. I was watching in my little apartment that day

Followed it mostly because of the school teacher. It is etched in my memory.

[treestar]

7. I remember hearing it on my car radio

Can't believe it has been that long.

What a tragedy.

[Bettie]

8. Sitting in a big lecture in college

The girl next to me was listening to the radio, she turned and said "The space shuttle just blew up".

After class, went back to the dorm and watched the coverage with everyone else.

[riversedge]

9. We had a snow day that fateful day so I had the TV on....

A blizzard was raging outside in ND--then I saw it. Somehow I can not forget it and recall when and where I was.

[Recursion]

11. I was in 4th grade. We were watching the launch

Rough day.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. Was in fifth grade

Everyone started talking that something bad had happened and then they started wheeling TVs into the classrooms and we watched it. I get the feeling they wouldn't do that today.

[magical thyme]

13. I was at work

it was my 1st year or so as an employee at DEC. I was watching it on a tiny teevee with one of my bosses in his office.

One of those times I guess that you always remember exactly where you were; what you were doing.

[virgdem]

14. I remember this day every day...

I was at work and saw it on a TV in a conference room. We all crowded around and couldn't believe what was happening. So surreal and tragic at the same time. May they all RIP!

[christx30]

15. It's going to sound cliche,

but I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in the 4th grade, and my teacher came to get us, and she was crying. We kept asking her what's wrong. She just said that something bad had happened. We went back to the room and she turned on the TV. Didn't matter what channel the TV was on. Every channel was showing the same thing on repeat. The first time we saw it, all the kids in the class gasped.
RIP Challenger.

[lpbk2713]

16. I saw it from about a hundred miles away.

I was with a co-worker. We watched it mostly in silence. We didn't have to be told what happened.

[OriginalGeek]

17. We were about 40 miles away

Having a smoke break on the back patio of the Tech school we attended. Was with friends and my future wife and we watched it go up like many launches before and we all turned to each other and said "that ain't right..." went back inside and watched it on the cafeteria TVs the rest of the day.

[teamster633]

18. Please pardon the tin foil hat but...

as I remember it, Saint Ronnie was due to give his State of the Union speech that night. The very low temperatures in Florida raised concerns about whether the flight could safely go on as scheduled but, since the "Teacher in Space" featured prominently in Reagan's presentation, there was a lot of pressure to go ahead with the launch. Is my continuing hatred of that man distorting my memory or does anyone else recall this aspect of the tragedy?

[Lars39]

32. I remember that, the push to launch versus readiness

Tiles not right maybe?

[teamster633]

34. The O-rings were compromised by the low temperatures.

Even before the disaster there were engineers who had warned about this potential danger. In the aftermath, similar conditions were deemed too dangerous to launch. I don't think there was any way to modify the O-rings themselves.

[kairos12]

19. I remember the day. Very sad.

[kentauros]

21. I recall getting to university at around 10:30 am

and seeing that someone the TV on the launch in one of the break rooms. I had to get to class, so I went on as nothing had happened yet, and I couldn't stop to watch the launch. I only learned about it after getting out of class, when I walked by that same break room, and it was crowded with people. I remember finding a seat and watching the aftermath coverage for a couple of hours, still stunned along with everyone else, as we were in the heart of the area surrounding NASA-JSC (Clear Lake City.)

[petronius]

22. I was in my 9th grade Latin class. When the principal came on the

PA and started talking about the space shuttle, one of my classmates blurted something like "maybe it blew up!" - which was of course the next thing the principal said. Classmate felt a bit bad, as I recall...

[hrmjustin]

23. I was in 2nd grade watching it live.

[tenderfoot]

24. It does seem like yesterday

Rest in Peace Challenger Crew

[LiberalElite]

25. I remember it very well

[a la izquierda]

26. I was in 4th grade, watching the launch in school. NT

[Skittles]

27. night worker; my clock radio woke me up on news station

they kept saying how awful it was and I was wondering, what happened? I turned on the TV to see the explosion replayed almost instantly. So very tragic......I also remember the 1967 accident on the launch pad.

[oregonjen]

28. In honor of the astronauts of the Challenger, John Denver wrote this song

Flying for Me

[yeoman6987]

29. I was a Junior going to Chemistry class

We ended up watching the news on TV. Shocking to say the least.

[Terra Alta]

31. I was just 4 years old, so I don't have any memories of when it happened

but I remember seeing a picture of the explosion in my uncle's 1986 school yearbook and I asked my grandmother what it was, she explained it to me in words I could understand at that age, and I remember feeling sad for the children of the astronauts who died.

May they rest in peace.

[Logical]

35. "obviously a major malfunction" I always remember that quote. Nt

[logosoco]

38. I remember that very well.

I was home from work on medical leave after surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. I was reeling and this crushed me even more. I was watching it live and I could tell something wasn't right.
Those were some amazing people we lost that day.