30 years ago today.............Challenger

[surveyor]

Hard to believe it's been 30 years 14 minutes from now that Challenger exploded 73 seconds into liftoff.

I still clearly remember where I was.

We had been surveying that morning, which was particularly cold - in Vine Grove, Ky. We took an early lunch at Otter Creek tavern - arriving about 11:40 or so.

We sat in a booth and noticed the teevee behind the bar was on. It appeared they were covering the shuttle launch - understandable, since it was delayed from the morning launch to before noon.
As we continued to watch we realized something was wrong and then they replayed the launch right up to the explosion.

It was like a gut punch. My employer was an amateur astronomer and devoured everything to do with NASA. I closely followed the progression of the shuttle program every since NASA personnel did a presentation at our school in `77. They brought some insulating tiles and allowed some of us to hold the tiles immediately after being heated to red-hot with a blow torch. At 13 years of age, fascination with the program was an understatement.

Needless to say, we didn't have much of an appetite for our lunch, much less any zeal for returning to work that afternoon.

[Joneslab]

We were home from school because of snow. My dad called from his law office.* I had no idea what he was talking about because I was 8.

Still remember the video clearly from that day. Also remember the outpouring of support for the female astronaut who was, IIRC, a school teacher.

* Which begs the question: how did he know? There was never a TV in his office. It's possible he was out at lunch because I think the shuttle exploded at (Googling) 11:30. But maybe somebody came into the office to tell him.

I have no idea how anybody heard about anything before the Internet.

[Spiritof96]

Hard to believe it's been 30 years 14 minutes from now that Challenger exploded 73 seconds into liftoff.

I still clearly remember where I was.

We had been surveying that morning, which was particularly cold - in Vine Grove, Ky. We took an early lunch at Otter Creek tavern - arriving about 11:40 or so.

We sat in a booth and noticed the teevee behind the bar was on. It appeared they were covering the shuttle launch - understandable, since it was delayed from the morning launch to before noon.
As we continued to watch we realized something was wrong and then they replayed the launch right up to the explosion.

It was like a gut punch. My employer was an amateur astronomer and devoured everything to do with NASA. I closely followed the progression of the shuttle program every since NASA personnel did a presentation at our school in `77. They brought some insulating tiles and allowed some of us to hold the tiles immediately after being heated to red-hot with a blow torch. At 13 years of age, fascination with the program was an understatement.

Needless to say, we didn't have much of an appetite for our lunch, much less any zeal for returning to work that afternoon.

My elementary school class was watching live...

I immediately blamed to Soviet Union.

[KevinHall]

I was in college at Williamsburg when it happened. I had just came back from a class and the guys in my room had the TV on. They were talking about the shuttle exploding. It had just happened and the TV people were talking about looking out for some type of parachute coming out from the explosion in hopes there may be a survivor or two. Of course that never happened.

[jpay]

I was recovering from a really nasty motorcycle accident at the time. I was just coming into my parents living room when my Pop alerted me to watch this launch.
Needless to say we were shocked.
We just kind of looked at each other for what seemed like minutes but I would imagine was much closer to seconds...
My Dad just shock his head and said" I'll be damned"..
I had heard him use that phrase twice before, when his best friend died and when the first of his brothers died.

Very sad day

[Blue Heaven]

I was in my Sophomore drafting class. I remember thinking we should've been out of school because of snow. The launch was a big deal because Christa McAullife (sp?), who was a teacher. So we didn't do any of our assigned work and just watched. When it happened I was in shock. I had never witnessed anything like that in my life up to that point. I remember just being kind of numb to it all. My teacher was Mr. Turley, who I liked very much. Really good at what he did and took the time to explain everything like any good teacher should do. Years later when my Grandfather died I saw him at the funeral home. I remember going up to him and asking him what brought him here. Come to find out, he was real good friends with my Grandpa and Grandma as he lived on the same street. I had no idea. Wow what a small world we live in.

[TrueblueCATfan]

I was at home because I was off that day....sitting on the couch with my oldest who was 9 months old....I remember waking my husband up who was sleeping because he worked 3rd shift to tell him about it...that was just such a terrible tragedy!!!!

[Matt Dillon]

There have been three NASA tragedies. Oddly, two were in Jan., and the other on Feb. 1st. I've provided a link, in case anyone wants to refresh their memory.

http://www.space.com/4879-nasa-remembers-space-tragedies.html

[surveyor]

There's a memorial to Gus Grissom in Mitchell, Indiana. Mitchell is sbout 25 miles northwest of Salem and 10 miles south of Bedford, Indiana.

His boyhood home is in Mitchell and the memorial is just outside of Mitchell at Spring Mill State Park.

[Blue Heaven]

This thread makes me want to watch The Right Stuff again. That is one of my favorites and much better than Apollo 13 imo.

[surveyor]

I loved Apollo 13. Reminded me of growing up at the time and all the Apollo related toys and models I had. Model of the Lunar Module and of the Saturn rocket.

[KevinHall]

^ I remember watching all of those Apollo flights on TV when I was a youngin'. I was totally fascinated by it all like most other little boys at the time. I can remember being really bummed out when they all ended.

[Spiritof96]

I loved Apollo 13. Reminded me of growing up at the time and all the Apollo related toys and models I had. Model of the Lunar Module and of the Saturn rocket.

I am young enough to have no idea about the outcome of Apollo 13 until I saw it in the theater. I can't imagine sitting through those final minutes of radio blackout not knowing their fate.

[Blue Heaven]

I loved Apollo 13. Reminded me of growing up at the time and all the Apollo related toys and models I had. Model of the Lunar Module and of the Saturn rocket.

I liked it too. I just thought The Right Stuff was just awesome.

[Old School]

This thread makes me want to watch The Right Stuff again. That is one of my favorites and much better than Apollo 13 imo.

Both are great, IMO.

It's really a shame that we ended the Apollo program for the shuttle program. Saturn V rockets put Skylab in orbit; they could've built the ISS or something bigger, while also allowing further manned missions to the moon and beyond, possibly to Mars or Venus. The shuttle got us to orbit, and...and to where we are now, bumming rides on Russian capsules. Apollo had far more upside, far more possibilities.