CHALLENGER explosion. 1/29/86.

[fezident]

23 years ago (tomorrow) was the horrible explosion of the CHALLENGER.

This was the first "where were you when...." moment of my lifetime. I was taking a math midterm when the principal made a short but heartfelt announcement over the PA.

Shortly thereafter, a few hundred kids & faculty gathered around the one TV we had at the school in Admin office. Big glass windows. Everybody watching the replay and gasping.
I dunno. I just felt like mentioning it.
It feels like a lifetime ago.

[Thebazile78]

Tomorrow's the 28th.

Thursday's the 29th.

You're a bit early for this.

[Misteriosa]

i was in kindergarten. all the classrooms had tvs rolled in to watch the launch of the first teacher into space. i had never seen a launch before, so i was a little confused when the ship broke apart like that. i also was afraid when the teachers stopped cold and then started crying. it turns out that the school's upper grade science teacher applied for the teacher's slot on the launch team and was denied.

[ecobag2]

I was in 8th grade... TV rolled in.

It was my first tragic/emergency national moment too. Like "everybody stop what you're doing - something is happening to us all" if that makes sense.

Obviously 9/11 was the real thing in that respect.

[fezident]

Tomorrow's the 28th.

Thursday's the 29th.

You're a bit early for this.


You're the fuckin' coolest.

[Freitag]

Tomorrow's the 28th.

Thursday's the 29th.

You're a bit early for this.

I think 2008 Matty is now inhabiting Liz.

[El Mudo]

I was only two...sorry

[TheMojoPin]

I don't know, I was 6, but I don't remember. I was living in Panama at the time, and I think we were sent home early or something along those lines. I probably blamed it on Cobra or the Death Star or some shit. I was a stupid kid.

[saveopieanthony.net]

I was in third grade and knew something was up because our recess ran late and it was one of those catholic school recesses where we couldn't go outside because there was snow so we all were running around the classroom fucking around.

My clearest memory of the event was the teacher's face when she came in....because it was the one time she didn't have to yell and flick the lights on and off to get us to shut the fuck up and sit down.

[underdog]

I don't know, I was 6, but I don't remember. I was living in Panama at the time, and I think we were sent home early or something along those lines. I probably blamed it on Cobra or the Death Star or some shit. I was a stupid kid.

Was?

[badorties]

i remember being in detention that afternoon

[Don Stugots]

I was on my way home from taking a midterm and the lady in the candy store had it on her B&W set. I seen it and then ran home.


I still get goose bumps watching a shuttle go up.

[Furtherman]

I was in 8th grade... TV rolled in.

It was my first tragic/emergency national moment too. Like "everybody stop what you're doing - something is happening to us all" if that makes sense.

Me too. Although I remember Regan being shot a big deal as well.


I think the Challenger/dead teacher jokes started the next day.

[TheMojoPin]

Was?

Well, I'm clearly not a kid anymore. Now I'm a stupid adult.

[Freitag]

Well, I'm clearly not a kid anymore. Now I'm a stupid adult with the inability to feel love.

Fixed.

[Furtherman]

Well, I'm clearly not a kid anymore. Now I'm a stupid adult with the inability to feel love.

I'd blame Skeletor for that.

[Misteriosa]

Me too. Although I remember Regan being shot a big deal as well.


I think the Challenger/dead teacher jokes started the next day.

what color were the astronauts eyes?

blew... one blew this way, one blew that

[TheMojoPin]

I'd blame Skeletor for that.

I may not be real...but my anti-love is.

[ChrisTheCop]

I think 2008 Matty is now inhabiting Liz.

Why? Did she make an inappropriate joke?

[CruelCircus]

Eighth grade, as well.

I was in Home Ec of all places. One of the other teachers walked in and told us what had happened.

[DiabloSammich]

I forget the grade, but we were home for a snow day. Dad was working and Mom ran to the store.

I got to watch it all by myself. Hooray for me.

[drusilla]

i was in kindergarten. all the classrooms had tvs rolled in to watch the launch of the first teacher into space. i had never seen a launch before, so i was a little confused when the ship broke apart like that. i also was afraid when the teachers stopped cold and then started crying.

i was in 2nd grade & i remember we watched the whole launch on tv. i remember seeing the explosion but can't remember what happened after that. its pretty much a blank. i was so young also that i'm not even sure i knew what was going on.

[Judge Smails]

I was in highschool and it was midterms time. I remember that I had one midterm that day and I didn't have to be in till the afternoon. So, I spent all morning cramming for it and never once turned on the t.v. so I had no idea what happened.

When I got to school this one guy ran up to me and said "Did you see what happened?". He was almost giddy. I didn't believe him and I still remember my response to him: "Shut up, you lying fat fuck!". I probably should have apologized to him but I never did - cause that's how I rolled back then.

[Misteriosa]

i was in 2nd grade & i remember we watched the whole launch on tv. i remember seeing the explosion but can't remember what happened after that. its pretty much a blank. i was so young also that i'm not even sure i knew what was going on.

well, my teacher crying left an impression on me. my sister was in the same school but in the 6th grade. i found out about the teacher applying for the program waaaaaaaaay after it happened thru her.

[Earlshog]

what color were the astronauts eyes?

blew... one blew this way, one blew that

what does NASA stand for? Need another seven astronauts....

too soon?

[lleeder]

Never heard of it.

[ToiletCrusher]

Never heard of it.


That's the spirit.

[boosterp]

what color were the astronauts eyes?

blew... one blew this way, one blew that

what does NASA stand for? Need another seven astronauts....

too soon?

Remember both of those quite well.

I was in 6th grade science class and my teacher had applied and made it to the second to last round of selection. She was invited to see the launch live but for some reason did not go. We learned about the space shuttle then she turned on the TV and we watched the launch. When it blew she nearly passed out, one of us had to get the school nurse because she hit her head hard on the floor. It was a very sad moment.

[hedges]

I was a sophmore in high school at the time, playing sick so I could chill at home. I watched the disaster live on TV. Didn't they keep playing it over and over.

[Tenbatsuzen]

How did they know what kind of shampoo Christa McAuliffe used?

[high fly]

I don't recall where I was when I heard the news or anything, but remember the horro I felt.

Nearly as bad was later, when they recovered the bodies and treated them so disgracefully, driving them around in the back of a filthy pickup truck like a load of potatoes...

[Liverspot]

I was 26 and visiting relatives in a small town south of Atlanta, Pine Mountain. Was woken up by my friend telling me the space shuttle just went down. We had been drinking the night before and barking dogs had kept me from sleeping well so my head was real foggy.

Got up and started watching the tv and was stunned. Unreal. I thought he was bullshitting me but no. Went for lunch at the local diner/cafe/bar that we were helping to build and watched the tv practically all day. Saw Dan Rather break down and cry while showing a model of the shuttle and was describing what happened.

Very emotional for me, I watched the Apollo landing when I was 9 and I was always a big fan of the space program.

OK, I guess I am showing my age.:wacko:

[Friday]

I was 9 and my mom let me stay home to watch it because I was so interested in space exploration at the time. It was a really big deal in my house.

I remember just screaming when it became clear what was happening... and then crying.

But it affected me in a positive way too... I wrote an article that was published in the local paper and I ended up being even more interested in going to Space Camp and learning about the mechanics of the shuttle and the space program as a whole.
And while the arts took over my interests after awhile... I still enjoy astronomy and the study of outer space. And I will never forget that fateful day.

[ScottFromGA]

i was 3 when this event happened.


ironically enough, few weeks ago I was obsessed with this day. I watched it on Youtube and went to researching it out on Wiki. It put me to that day and I understood how people felt about before and after it happened.....


Just one collective day, everyone watches a historic event and then POOF.....its in a cloud of smoke and debris.



it really bums me out.

[PapaBear]

I was preparing for art school photography classes in Pittsburgh. It interrupted the Price Is Right. People were already telling space shuttle jokes at school that day. They were the same jokes people told everywhere. I've never understood how that could happen in the pre-Internet days.

[Yerdaddy]

Old-Ass Cardholder #359 checking in. Hooaaaaaa...broke my hip!

Was in Human Geography, a few months before I graduated from high school.

[PapaBear]

Old-Ass Cardholder #359 checking in. Hooaaaaaa...broke my hip!

Was in Human Geography, a few months before I graduated from high school.
What is human geography?

[IMSlacker]

I was in the school library my freshman year in high school. The principal made an announcement over the PA.

This wasn't my first "where were you when you heard" moment though. My first one was when Ronald Reagan got shot. I was in elementary school, sitting on the bench outside the principal's office because I was in trouble for something or other. The school janitor had just heard about it, and came over to tell the principal.

[Friday]

Reagan was supposed to give the State of the Union address that night. Instead he gave a solemn address to the nation. I don't remember much of it. The whole link is here (http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/challenger.asp).

But the last part resonated...

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."



High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF

[ToiletCrusher]

I really hope someone says that at the time of the explosion they were being conceived.

[Heather 8]

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll just copy-paste the last time I answered this:

I was in 4th grade, making up a test I missed while the rest of my
class went to watch the launch on TV in the classroom next door.
About 15 minutes after they left, they came back in looking confused,
and one of my friends told me "It blew up." They dismissed the
entire school for the day shortly afterwards.

I do remember how stupidly optimistic we were as kids, though. When we heard that the shuttle landed in the ocean, we thought that the crew was sitting in a water-tight compartment, chilling out and waiting for someone to come pick them up.

[epo]

I was either in 7th or 8th grade English class. We had an overhead announcement telling us about it.

I seriously don't know why I remember that.

[Thebazile78]

We didn't have it on TV, as there was only 1 TV set to the entire school (Catholic grammar school ... I was in the 2nd grade.)

One of the teachers had it on the radio in the staff room ... and I remember someone telling me that the shuttle had blown up, but I didn't believe them.

I ran the entire way home from the bus stop after school to watch the news on TV ... and I remember crying as soon as I'd seen the footage.

I still can't watch it without having a minor anxiety attack.

[fezident]

There's was one thing that struck me as odd that day.

The shuttle practically vaporized. It was engulfed in flame and debris went every where. Huge booster rockets went this way and that. People on the ground were crying.
And some NASA ground-control guy who was, I'm sure, a very high ranking dude says into his mic "obviously a major malfunction".

I was like 15 years old at the time and STILL thought to myself "wow... that was unecessary and also kinda inappropriate."

"Obviously a major malfunction"?!
Nigga please.

[Earlshog]

How did they know what kind of shampoo Christa McAuliffe used?

They Found her head and Shoulders ( if it was 86 we would all be laughing along, haha)

What was Christa McAuliffe's last words?

[Heather 8]

They Found her head and Shoulders ( if it was 86 we would all be laughing along, haha)

What was Christa McAuliffe's last words?

"Say, what does this button do?"

[TheMojoPin]

The shuttle practically vaporized.

Creepily enough, the crew compartment survived intact and was blown free. The astronauts weren't killed in the explosion but were done in by the impact of the crew compartment into the ocean. They were able to tell that some of them actually engaged their emergency oxygen systems after the explosion, but they all would have blacked out during the freefall.

[travisfromkansas]

I was a lil nerdy douche with aspirations of going into NASA (even later going to Spacecamp in Huntsville, AL), my class was not watching it live but within minutes my mom was in my classroom to talk to me about it while the teacher explained the situation to the rest of the class. Yes you read that right, a 5th graders mom showed up because she thought he would be so devastated by the incident that he'd need his mommy. That explains so much.

[metaregina]

I was celebrating my 5th birthday the day of the explosion. It was 1/28/86, not 1/29. I don't actually remember it happening, but my mom saved the local newspaper from that day.

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

I was in my freshman year of college. I happened to return to my room between classes and watched the news.

I tried to stay out of my room as much as possible since I hated my roommates. This was an anomaly.

[AKA]

Freshman year in college too - I was skipping class (or we had a snow day, can't remember) and I remember flipping by CNN as the launch was going to happen but kept on flipping, and when I came back it had just happened, but no one knew what was going on. People in the dorm were yelling down the halls that something had happened.

I remember being kind of numb to it all after watching the footage again and again. Mostly because two days before (during the Super Bowl where the Bears won) I had gotten a call that someone I knew was thinking of killing them self and I was asked to come and help out (the dude had a gun! eeesh; haven't thought of that in years) - so, yeah, I was a crazy mess back then and the shuttle and thinking of the loss to those families only added to it.

I suppose my first shared moment with the world was John Lennon being killed (I was at my babysitter's) - followed by Reagan being shot - and then locally the AirFlorida crash.

I have memories of the 76 Olympics - of Patty Hearst - and of Richard Nixon resigning - but those memories are so jumbled together with memories of Wizard of Oz flying monkeys, aliens in the backyard at the Brady Bunch house, and the old Planet of the Apes tv series that I didn't appreciate that impact.