The Challenger Explosion: 25 Years Later

[Alumiyum]

I was born about nine months later, but I have a copy of TIME with the Challenger on the cover (I belief it's an "end of the year" issue from 1986) and remember asking my parents about it when I was little. My dad didn't watch it on tv but my mother did and she remembers it being upsetting.

[AGDee]

I think what was most difficult about it was that so many school children were watching it live because there was a teacher on board. I don't recall ever watching anything space related on TV as a kid myself. My mom did sit us down in front of the TV every time there was any kind of space launch. Likening it to 9/11 is extreme. This wasn't a terrorist attack and it didn't kill thousands of people. The Pentagon wasn't attacked. We knew there was risk in the space program because of previous problems with Apollo missions.

[BAckbOwlsgIrl]

I was in 7th grade and in Art class when the announcement came over the PA. Honestly, it was not that big of deal, sorry to say. We just went on with our day. Considering how many people from my area worked in defense and space, you might have thought more.

[Just interested]

I am so old, I was sitting in the library of my school with my 8th grade students watching the flight of the 1st teacher into space. I told a friend tonight, I cannot believe it has been 25 years. It's like it was yesterday. It was shocking and surreal to see it live in a library filled with perhaps 200 middle school students. A life lesson for all of us to say the least.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by Jen

It's strange, but I honestly don't remember seeing the news or what happened. We didn't have TVs in my school, so that's probably why.

What I DO remember is watching an episode of Punky Brewster about it and crying while I watched.

We're close to the same age, right? I honestly don't remember watching it live. I remember the Punky episode, and I SORTA remember seeing it on the news, but maybe I was too young to get it.

[PeppyGPhiB]

I was in third grade and we watched the launch on TV. As soon as it exploded and the Mission Control audio of, "...obviously a major malfunction," came over the TV, my teacher turned it off. I don't remember her telling us anything, or that there was any type of announcement at school, I just remember that we all knew something was wrong. I don't remember any of the media coverage, either, possibly because my mom may not have let me and my brother watch it.

I watched every episode of Punky Brewster, and I remember the Candice Cameron milk carton episode, the Just Say No episode, the Brandon gets hit by a car episode and more, but I don't remember a Challenger episode.

ETA: One more thing I remember was seeing on TV the shots of the family/friends area as they watched the shuttle launch and explosion, both the celebration and the horror on their faces when they realized what had happened. Some of that footage is on YouTube and it is still painful to watch.

[RaggedyAnn]

We used to watch the launches in school. Somehow I didn't hear about this one until I got home that day. My Mom told me as soon as I walked in the front door. I just assumed nobody had seen it that day in my school all these years, until today. I am friends with one of my grade school buddies and she is friends with a bunch of people from my class that were at the same middle school. They were all talking on Facebook about watching it that day in the library, class, etc. I wonder if I had a test that day?

[libramunoz]

I remember it well because when the Challenger had just launched they had just hit the sonic boom and we all heard it.

I was in the 6th grade at the time and when I was living in CA then, it wasn't too far from JPL.

We were in Mrs. Russell's math class. We weren't watching it on tv in her class, but they were watching it on tv in Mr. Duncan's classroom. Another student came over to the class, because we'd just heard the sonic boom, and said, "the Challenger exploded" and we all looked at Mrs. Russell like, "uh naaa."

I remember going home that night and my Mom was home with my big headed brother (he'd gotten sick at school w/an astham attack) and watching it on t.v.

It ws weird because Dr. McNair had just been to our school talking about the space program a few weeks before.

I just remember feeling sad for all of the astronauts. I just remember feeling bad for them and their families. They kept playing it on the news over and over. I just remember not wanting to keep watching it over and over, but since we only had one tv in the house it was Mom's rules.

I would only watch it for so long. The tragedy I felt I just couldn't keep watching it over and over. Don't remember what happened at school the next day, but dang, 25 years later, I still don't think I could watch the total footage.

[dukemama]

I remember this day well. I was 20 years old, a junior in college and had just begun my semester of study abroad in England. I don't recall if my fellow exchange students and I watched the launch live (due to the time difference and all), but it was certainly all over the news that day and the talk of the campus. Unfortunately, some of the British students thought they were being humorous by saying "NASA = Need Another Seven Astronauts." Ugh.