Challenger explosion 1/28/86

[shrubber]

"There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured 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 the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Ronald Reagan


Still chokes me up........

 

[Mermaid02]

Me too....... what a horrible day that was...........

 

[OK!]

I remember walking home from the bus stop and hearing what had happened. Such a sad, sad day.

 

[TerriP]

Me, too. I remember it well.

 

[Hillbeans]

Wow, i'll never forget this day. How tragic.

I also remember where I was that day, after school I was babysitting the biggest brat in town and his mom paid me with a bag of nickels and pennies. I remember how sad everyone was. May they Rest in Peace.

 

[Silent1CB]

I remember watching it live. On TV. And not completely understanding what was happening. Just that something was terribly wrong.

 

[handinpocket]

" We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Ronald Reagan


Still chokes me up........

This parts, it makes me cry like a baby.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I remember watching it live. On TV. And not completely understanding what was happening. Just that something was terribly wrong.

Same here, I remember sitting in class and watching it happen. The teacher sat down silent for about 5 minutes as the TV was still on. She then composed herself, shut the TV off and tried to explain to a bunch first graders what happened. I still remember that day, even being as young as I was.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I remember watching it on TV in the school cafeteria. We had always watched the shuttle launches at school. That was the last time. It was also the first time that I understood how my parent's generation felt when they said they would always remember where they were and what they were doing when Kennedy was shot.

 

[cristit14]

I was in Spanish class senior year.

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

I was tying my shoe, watching the take-off live on TV, about to head out to the grocery store. Living in Florida, at the time too.

 

[Missy1961]

I was at work. In those days, we weren't allowed to listen to the radio while we worked. But one of my co-worker's husbands worked from home, he saw it on TV & called her. I remember spending my lunch hour listening to my walkman & then going home that night to watch it.

 

[kacaju]

I was at work. I worked at a Veterinary hospital and was walking through the surgery room and there was our contractor (we were doing work on the hospital) fixing a light. He was up on a ladder with his ear right near the radio speaker and he stopped me and we listened together in shock.

 

[Deb in IA]

I was a pediatric resident on rounds in my second year.

Ronald Reagan's speech was so moving. He wasn't called The Great Communicator for nothing.

 

[FireDancer]

I was in second grade and remember when the shuttle disintegrated (but never exploded). I ended up coming down sick that night and stayed home the next day. There are only a few things I remember from 2nd grade and that is one that is engrained in my head.

I loved the speech but I prefer the one given at the memorial service. My favorite part is:

Today, the frontier is space and the boundaries of human knowledge. Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain. Our nation is indeed fortunate that we can still draw on immense reservoirs of courage, character and fortitude - that we are still blessed with heroes like those of the space shuttle Challenger.

 

[ChrisFL]

I saw it happen, live, when I was in 3rd grade, being in Orlando, we could see it from our school. We knew as soon as we saw the large ball of fire and smoke what happened, we ran in and turned on the TV which proved our fears to be true.

 

[Magic Mom]

I saw it happen. I lived in Tampa, and my friend and I were sitting at a red light watching the liftoff in the distant sky and then it exploded. The smoke just hung there. It was very sad.

 

[sharlon]

We had a snow day in north Atlanta that day, so I was home from school. I was in tenth grade, I believe. I had received my application and brochure in the mail from Space Camp a couple of days before. I wanted to be a shuttle astronaut more than anything. I went to school the next day with my application, which required teacher recommendations, and people thought I was crazy. I went on to camp that spring. It was so moving to be there and to meet some of the NASA employees who had worked on the Challenger.

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

I remember watching it live. On TV. And not completely understanding what was happening. Just that something was terribly wrong.

We watched it live also. I was in the 6th grade and the teachers gathered us all up to watch in the gym. I remember my teacher crying. So sad.

 

[hjssk8]

I was in the seventh grade at Catholic school. The first grade grade teacher came to the classrooms to tell everyone what had happened.

In 1983 my family was on vacation in Florida and we had gone to Cape Canaveral to see the Challenger launch with Sally Ride on board.