And don't I feel old now . . . I was at work at the Naval Research Laboratory when this happened. One of my coworkers came into the computer room and told us the space shuttle had just blown up. We were like "sure, Joe," but when we gathered in the conference room and turned on the television, we saw that it wasn't a joke.
Remember it like yesterday. I'm in the 11th grade, sitting in Mr. C's computer science class. Mr. N, the principal, announces over the PA system that radio news reports Challenger has exploded, and says it's a very sad day for our country. After a moment or two of stunned silence, we carry on with the class. Afterward, my best friend and I go out to his car and listen to news radio. At lunch, I go home and watch the news.
Similar experience for me. Senior year in HS and the principal made an announcement. I was in the library, doing some research for my debate/forensics class. Went back to class right away and half the girls in the room were in tears. Saw the video footage later in the day, and listened to President Reagan address the nation that evening. I might never have had more respect for the man than that night, when he addressed me directly as an American student and reminded us all that the future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted- it belongs to the brave. Very tough day.
Reagan's speech memorializing Challenger's loss was one of the moments when you realized just how amazing a man he was.
I was living in Phoenix working construction between my AF time and my Army time. I didn't have a radio in my 1983 Toyota pickup (very basic mode!) but on the way home from work I saw some street side marquees displaying the basic news about it.
I was in my geography class when the Challenger was lost, we were watching the launch on TV because of Christa McAuliffe. Later on, one of my high school science teachers was one of the finalists in the teacher in space program. She told us that if she had been asked the next day to go into space, she would have done so. She also met, and had become a friend of McAuliffe. So for her, that hit pretty close to home.
I had to look up the date and think back... I was only 5 so don’t really have a clear memory of this. I don’t think I had even started school yet so I probably missed this event completely. To this day I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched that footage, it’s honestly just so sad to think about.
I was brought home from the hospital that day as the launch was taking place. My mom barely remembered anything else from my first few weeks after I was born because she was pretty sick afterwards, but she remember hearing about that. I imagine this is what everyone under the age of 22 feels like about 9/11--knowing it was a heart wrenching event but not having any personal connection to it despite this barely being within my lifetime. For the 30th anniversary, one of the YouTube creators I followed at the time posted how a lot of naive ideals about space were shattered on that day for those not old enough to remember the Apollo mission that went south and it was the first time I really got why this crash is memorialized moreso than the others that happened before it or since.
