They deserved the Corvettes and the attention from the babes.
Posted on 01/28/2011 5:48:27 PM PST by Biggirl
STS-51-L took off and flew for only 73 seconds on Jan. 28, 1986. I missed the launch -- something I think I tried to watch live back then -- because I was in a classroom somewhere on the Catholic University campus in Washington, D.C. Within minutes after the explosion, the TV was on in the lounge, the usually loud dorm quite.
Where were you?
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My first year of medical school. It was around lunch time and the TVs were on in our lecture hall. I will never forget it.
...instead of running outside to watch the shuttle lift off....it being very cold that day.
...a few minutes later, I ran outside....only to see the jagged contrails....
In High School! I can’t believe it’s been a quarter century now since Challenger. Makes me feel old. RIP.
It was tragic. That morning, while I was getting ready for work, I heard on the radio they weren’t going to launch because the cold weather could cause a dangerous failure. Later at work, I was meeting with my supervisor, and someone came in to tell us about the explosion of the shuttle. I was in shock and my first words were “They weren’t going to launch. They knew this could happen.” Biggest mistake ever made to please a crowd. They should have explained the situation to the crowd and let the crowd go home.
Sitting in Dr. Womack’s EE362 Control Theory classroom, University of Texas ENS building, waiting for class to start.
Dr. Womack came in and remarked, “You all heard about the shuttle crash?” At first I thought he was talking about a bus in the UT shuttle bus system.
A moment frozen in my mind forever.
I was delivering A/V equipment to a college when I heard it on the radio. The guy I was delivering to was a friend and together we rigged TVs in about 6 or 7 conference rooms and the cafeteria.
That Y-shaped smoke image will be with me for all my days.
I was married at the time and living in New Britain, CT.
It wasn’t to please the crowd, it was to please the politicians.
I was watching it live on television. When it exploded I knew something was terribly wrong but found it difficult to believe. I remember the anguished faces of family and friends of the astronauts as they struggled to find an explanation that would allow for the survival of their loved ones. There was speculation that a capsule containing the crew might have been ejected which would parachute safely into the sea or onto land but there was no such provision for Challenger.
Yes, in addition to the shock and grief then we had to deal with the reality that the launch decision was badly flawed. This could have been avoided though I suspect another accident would have been inevitable anyway. But it still angers me that they seemed to throw away some of the safety rules, and did not heed the warnings of those who objected. It was deemed to be “safe enough” to fly, which should not have been good enough.
How come I can remember all the details about that, and can't remember what I had for breakfast on Monday?
/johnny
“The Y-shaped smoke image will be with me for all my days.”
Yes. I can’t stand to see it replayed any more. They should have called off the launch no matter how much NASA’s “image” might have been tarnished. It was horrible; and hurt them a lot worse than a delay would have.
They deserved the Corvettes and the attention from the babes.
Yep. It was one of ~those~ moments.
I was a boot deckie seaman on the CGC Polar Sea. We were moored at pier 36 in Seattle. When the announcement came over the 1MC, I was cleaning the sink in Masterchief Smith's stateroom. "Now onboard Polar Sea, the space shuttle has exploded during launch. All hands lay to the messdeck for news."
We were glued to that TV for hours.
I was in my car, returning to my office after a meeting with a client. I had the local all-news station on the radio, WCBS 880 in NYC, and what I remember vididly was how they covered the launch LIVE, they broke away to a commerciual after about 45 seconds..IOW, launches had been, until that day.. routine. The majority of people thought they were, well..automatic.. Then as I was parking my car, the announcer broke in with a bulletin that Challenger had blown up. I sat there for a few minutes, listening, and fighting the tears..then went up to my office..totally normal day..people doing their usual stuff.. and started telling everyone what had just happened..reactions were shock, denial, then tears, then everyone went to find radios and TVs.
I was working a night shift at the time, and it was my custom to sleep until late in the morning. I remember waking up after having a terrible dream about airplanes crashing and turning on the TV to see the smoke trails and listen to the confused announcers trying to make heads or tails out of what had just transpired.
I was at JSC, Building 30 admin, up at the SPF. Picking up recon tapes for the next flight. I rolled up my shopping cart full of tapes over to Mission Control. When I went past the M&O console it was totally quiet. I had to go behind them to see the monitor. I became frozen with the rest of them on console.
Your memories of that day are exactly mine. The faces of the families - the thought that the crew may have escaped - the realization that they hadn’t. I cried for two days.
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