The Challenger Explosion: 25 Years Later

[U Go Glen Coco!]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41314630...science-space/

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Hundreds gathered at NASA's launch site on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, receiving words of hope from the widow of the space shuttle's commander.

The chilly outdoor ceremony drew space agency managers, former astronauts, past and present launch directors, family and friends of the fallen crew — and schoolchildren who weren't yet born when the space shuttle carrying a high school teacher from Concord, N.H.., erupted in the sky.

The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — just 73 seconds into flight — killed all seven on board, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

Do you remember what you were doing 25 years ago when this happened?

I, like many school aged children, watched in excitement to see the teacher in space. We were very young, but we understood exactly what happened when the shuttle exploded. My parents let me stay up late to watch President Reagan's speech. I remember crying with them.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by U Go Glen Coco!

Do you remember what you were doing 25 years ago when this happened?

Yep. Sitting the student lounge and watching the launch on TV.

[knight_shadow]

I was only 1 when this happened, but I started hearing about it again when Columbia had its mishap. One of the astronauts (Kalpana Chawla) was a graduate of my alma mater, so there was a lot of shuttle coverage around that time.

[AGDee]

I was in class and didn't have a clue until I got to my job at the campus switchboard. One of my co-workers there had been doing her student teaching and they were watching it live with a classroom full of students at the time. She was really shaken up.

Honestly, most of the time I was in college living in the dorms, I felt like I lived in a strange bubble that the outside world rarely touched. We only got one or two TV channels on our 13 inch black & white portable tv in the dorm room so watching the news wasn't high on our list. Besides, we were usually at dinner during the ONE hour of the evening that news was on. When I moved to an apartment, we got cable (OMG! Wonderful! MTV!!!!) and then I paid more attention to the news again.

Challenger year, I was a junior so I did have cable at home and could watch this on the news. I was almost 21... almost.

[excelblue]

I wasn't born yet at the time of Challenger, even though one of my fraternity's alums was on the shuttle.

I do have to note, though that it's kinda funny how the response differs between different circles. On geeky/techy websites where the same topic is brought up, the attitude makes it sound much worse than 9/11. Yet, on here, it's like just another event.

[ForeverRoses]

I was in the 6th grade- indoor recess. One of the first grade teachers came running in the room to turn on the TV- since our classroom had a computer/tv (remember when computers ran through TV monitors?). I don't think we did much school work the rest of the day, and I remember going home and watching Peter Jennings do almost constant coverage of it for the rest of the day.

I realized today that I am the same age now as Christa McAuliffe was it happened.

[LatinaAlumna]

I will never forget this day.

I was a 4th grader, and they took us into the library so that we could watch the launch live. We were so excited, and cheered...then we got quiet, and I'm not sure anyone knew what was going on until some kid yelled out. Then everyone started to cry and there was much confusion. They took us out of the room quickly, and word spread like wildfire throughout our elementary school. When I got home, I watched the news but my mom made me turn it off because they kept showing the explosion over and over. I heard on the news that some of the astronauts had children, and that made me cry because I thought something bad would happen to my own parents. I remember that my parents talked it over with me for a few days.

This was the most traumatic event I had seen up to that point in my life. Still makes me sad.

[aephi alum]

I was in fifth grade, in religion class at the Catholic school I attended at the time. An older student came into the room with a piece of blue paper and handed it to the teacher. The teacher said, "Bad news always comes on blue paper." Then she read the note, and told us that the Challenger had just exploded. There was a TV in the room, so she turned on the news, and we spent the rest of the period watching the news coverage.

[Tulip86]

I was only three weeks then but I do remember thus made a huge impact on my sister who was 8 at the time, she mentioned it as being the first major news item she remembers since we just got a tv before it happened

[alum]

I was in college when the disaster occurred. The Carnegie Mellon administration had highlighted the fact that CMU alumna Judith Resnick was one of the astronauts scheduled on the manifest so a lot of students were watching the launch to see one of our fellow Tartans go up in space.

[honeychile]

My eldest uncle had worked at NASA prior to it becoming NASA, so I heard about space programs all my life, and frankly, was bored with them. I was running an errand and glanced at Dan Rather on tv with a model rocket and thought, "Oh, yeah, this is the launch with the teacher on it." I didn't find out what had really happened for another half hour.

[ThetaPrincess24]

I was in first grade! I dont remember much coverage of it when it initially happened, but I remember seeing clips of it constantly on the news and remember it was a big deal because the teacher was on board. I also remember hearing somewhere her class was in the audience watching the launch when it exploded.

[IrishLake]

I was in kindergarten, and we were watching the launch at school. It was a big deal because of the teacher on board the shuttle. This is the first big news story I can remember too.

[aggieAXO]

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. I was in 8th grade and we were all in the gym watching the shuttle launch. We all looked at each other confused thinking there is no way this could have happened. I think that was the last live launch I watched at school.

[ComradesTrue]

I was in 7th grade. Because the timing of the launch coincided with when we were changing classes, the teachers were able to go to the library to watch on TV. Since there wasn't room for the students, we were told to go to our next class and that it might be a few minutes before the teachers came.

However, those twenty minutes turned into 20. We weren't sure what was going on, but it never dawned on us that anything tragic had transpired. Our teacher came in crying and with red, swollen eyes. She told the class what happened, and we never did get to our Texas History lesson that day.

I don't really remember watching Reagan. Not sure if I didn't see it, or if I just don't remember.

Wow, 25 years.