Anniversary of Space Shuttle Challenger

[once_upon]

I was sitting on my couch feeding my youngest son and my middle son next to me watching the event.

I was horrified and glad my 2 youngest were too little to remember. I never thought to ask my oldest if they were aware, he was in kindergarten.

 

[Cachoo]

At work....everything stopped and we gathered around a tv....very sad day. That crew was such a snapshot of who we wanted to be at our best.

 

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Shown at the very beginning of the 4th Star Trek movie The Voyage Home: "The cast and crew of Star Trek wish to dedicate this film to the men and women of the spaceship Challenger whose courageous spirit shall live to the 23rd Century and beyond........"

 

[aka_gerbil]

I was a young child, but remember it well. I went to work with mom that day and I was in the back watching live on tv when it happened. The image is forever imprinted on my mind.

 

[CantALoop]

I was sitting on my couch feeding my youngest son and my middle son next to me watching the event.

I was horrified and glad my 2 youngest were too little to remember. I never thought to ask my oldest if they were aware, he was in kindergarten.

I was 5 years old and in the first grade and I remembered. Our class was in the school library and everyone was excited because the first teacher astronaut and Ellison Onizuka, the first astronaut from Hawaiʻi, was on board.

When the explosion happened, I thought it was some sort of test launch or practice for the real launch - I was too young to realize the catastrophe. I remember that our teachers and the library staff were calm, but they all fell silent and hurried us away from the TV and back to our classrooms. It was only years later that I realized all our teachers and staff were silently mourning but trying to put on a brave front for us kids.

 

[Susan1]

I had just driven home in the snow after getting a steroid shot in the back of my hand where they made me lie there for 15 minutes afterwards because I turned green. Walked in the house and my dad had the t.v. on. I hadn't even taken my coat off yet when it happened.

 

[Judy]

I was at work and I believe it came out over the radio. There was no internet or social media back then so when I got home I likely watched it on the news. ?

 

[skatemomaz]

I was getting ready for work and watching on TV, I was horrified and distraught, but had to leave for work, I listened to the aftermath on the radio in utter disbelief.

 

[sk8pics]

I was working in the lab and we all gathered around a TV to watch. Some people in the group had had samples go up on the shuttle previously, so it really hit home.

 

[Debbie S]

I was in 8th grade. A classmate told me "the shuttle blew up" at lunch. This classmate was not the sharpest tool and also a drama queen so had a tendency to either exaggerate something or say something she 'heard' which didn't always turn out to be completely correct. I couldn't fathom something like that happening so I thought she was either making it up or had gotten the facts completely messed up. But then after lunch, when I got to class, others were talking about it.

One of the teachers at our school had applied to be the teacher in space but was eliminated during one of the selection rounds.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I believe I was in the 4th grade. I remember the teacher turned on the tv and we watched so many news reports.