[AlphaSigOU]

I was stationed in Germany in the Air Force (I was a cook) and was just getting to work the night shift in the dining hall at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany (Germany's six hours ahead of Eastern time). Shortly after the handover from the day to the evening shift one of the cooks from the day shift rushed into the kitchen and announced that the Space Shuttle had blown up. Immediately, we turned on the radio and listened to the news reports on Armed Forces network (and on Radio Luxembourg in German).

I got the early out that night (which meant that I worked an eight-hour instead of a twelve-hour shift). Most everyone in the barracks was up and watching video footage of the explosion on the news.

To further clarify Betarulz! post, this is the list of Shuttles, in the order they were built and the origin of each orbiter's name:

Enterprise (OV-101) - Originally to be named Constitution, a massive letter-writing campaign by fans of the Star Trek TV series was enough for NASA to change its mind. Enterprise was originally intended to be converted into a flight-ready vehicle after completion of the approach and landing tests, but budget cuts prevented that from happening.

Columbia (OV-102) - Named after a sailing frigate that was one of the first U.S. Navy ships to circumnavigate the world in 1836; also the name of the Apollo 11 command module.

Challenger (OV-099) - Named after a British naval research vessel that conducted explorations of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; it was also the name of the Apollo 17 lunar module. Challenger was built from a structural test article, hence the -099 designation.

Discovery (OV-103) - Named after discoverer Henry Hudson's ship; also was the name of Captain James Cook's ship which discovered Hawaii.

Atlantis (OV-104) - Named after the first U.S. vessel to be used for oceanographic research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Endeavour (OV-105) - Named after Captain James Cook's first ship; also the name of the Apollo 15 command module. [i] Endeavour was built from spare parts set aside in the event one of the orbiters was lost.

Interesting bit of trivia: NASA astronauts and technicians seldom refer to the orbiters by their names; most times they refer to them by their numbers, such as 102, 104, etc.