In Remembrance
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the Challenger tragedy. It was destroyed in the second minute of STS-51-L in the beginning of its tenth mission.
I was in grade school back then, and a classmate came up to a small group of us and told us what she heard had happened. We didn’t believe her, so we all went up to our teacher and asked her. She looked very sad and serious and just quietly nodded.
I don’t remember feeling anything at first. I do remember being bummed out that “Scooby Doo” wasn’t going to be aired after school because the news was on. Then the more news I watched, the more real it all became. My mom was crying and the newscaster was on the verge of tears. Reagan delivered his heartfelt speech and when I saw the jets fly over on TV, it even choked me up.
Where were you when this happened? What was your reaction?
Eclectic Spaghetti 
I was in the Air Force and we were all in the office glued to the t.v. set. How sad – and I can’t believe it was that long ago.
In grade school when it happened – good night you’re just a baby :)
I was one and a half when it happened, so I don’t remember it, but I was at home with my Mom and she always talks about it being so sad to watch on television.
I was living at home with my mom and dad at the time but I had left school. I watched it on tv and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I hoped I had misunderstood. Perhaps it was just the booster separation and the shuttle had continued upwards. Alas, no. A very sad experience. Shockingly so.
I remember this so well – rushing home from school to watch the launch on TV, then not wanting to believe what had happened. Such a terrible tragedy.
I was working at Gemco at the time and all the tvs were showing the news. I remember everyone’s shock that something like this could happen. I remember hearing alot about Sally Ride in particular.
Oh, I guess I mean Christa McAuliffe? Yes, sorry.
I was in 6th grade at the time and we watched it live as it happened. It was quite shocking to a bunch of 12 year olds.
I was only three at the time, so I have no recollection of it. I do remember learning about it in school years after the fact…it really affected a lot of teachers for obvious reasons. If my recollection is correct, I believe one of the gym teachers in our school district had applied for the flight.
My mom told me that she was in her bedroom making up her bed when she heard the news on the radio.
I was a senior at Ohio State and on my way to the Lantern (the school paper) where I worked. Found out when I got there and watched the news there. It was a friend’s birthday that day and mine the next and we usually celebrated together, but not that year…I actually knew Judy Resnick’s father. He bowled with my father in Akron. A shame, even now…
I was in high school. I was in sophomore history class and we were watching the launch (as was the style back in the mid 80’s) I actually saw this event unfold right there in school. It was definitely an eerie feeling thing to watch. A sad day.
PS…I will be thanking and linking in a few days…sneak preview available today. You get a big thanks.
I saw it live on tv as I was home sick that day from school. It was a shock but I think I was a little too young to quite get the magnitude of it.
I had just started my own business in Indiana after leaving NASA in November. I had worked in Mission Control in Houston with these astronauts as they trained for this mission in the years prior. It was a very sad day for me.
I wrote a post about it last year. I watched it take off and then went across the street to the gas station and found out it had exploded. It was so weird.