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25 years

Challenger and her crew.

0 days, 00 hours, 01 minute, 13 seconds

RIP

25 years.It only seems like a couple of years ago.RIP

That was the first disaster I remember seeing in my life.

It was Monday morning and I was in Milford, DE, washing dishes with the TV on. I was off that day because we had just had Reserve weekend. Dan Rather came on suddenly....
One of those times where everybody remembers where they were.

I had the day off and was watching on TV. I remember saying "Uh-Oh" out loud and the wife asking what was wrong. Then there was that horrible period when we all hoped that what we thought might have happened hadn't happened. Then it became all too real.

The image remains burned in the retina of my mind. RIP.

I was a freshman studying architecture at Montana State. Came back from a class and my dorm room was full of people. I was the only one on the floor with a color TV. So here's this 20'x20' room with a couple dozen guys crowded around a 13" TV and spilling out into the hallway. I walked down the hall towards my room and said, "WHAT THE ******?" We were all in shock. That was probably my generation's JFK assassination.

25 years?! I can't believe it was that long ago.

Seems like yesterday. Does that label me an old fart?

I remember exactly where I was when that happened. I just happened to be standing outside of a television store at Trolley Square in Salt Lake on my way to an appointment and saw it live. Tragic, very tragic.

and where were you Moe??

I had just started my truck and was backing out of my driveway and heard the announcement and live coverage afterwards.

When the last one blew up, I had just started my truck leaving a Veterinarians office with one of the dogs. It seems like that one was a live broadcast of the landing, and of course there was no announcement. Just the grim reality of what was happening before our very eyes and ears.

I'm kinda glad I heard them both on the radio, though I regret either event happened at all of course. Unforgettable, to be sure.

I was working at Ellington (where the astronauts kept their T-38s). Saw it live in a store window that was full of TVs when I ran to a hardware store. Hard to describe the cloud of gloom that hung over that place in the ensuing days. The personnel weren't allowed to talk about it, some of them did anyway.

And I was 3. Sorry. It was terrible, although some good jokes came out of it. The blue eyes joke is a classic.

I was in science class watching the launch.

I remember that day very well. I was in Groton CT on business (doing some post shipyard work on the USS Dallas). I was in the Love Boat Cafe (off of Route 12) having lunch with a co-worker and the news reports were in full swing. That restaurant is now a hotel parking lot.

Tom

I was in high school coming back from the library ,they had the launch on tv,I saw it as it happened.Gods speed to them all.

I remember that day well. In those days, I worked Wed-Sat and every other Sunday. So Mon/Tues was my weekend and I had been up late partying the night before. My girlfriend had tried to pry me out of bed at about 10:30 by saying the shuttle was about to launch. 10 minutes later she came back in with that awful news. That got me out of bed in a hurry and like so many others, we just sat glued to the TV for the next hour.

To be an astronaut...bravery beyond words.
We looked at some of the early equipment used back in the day on our visit to Kennedy Space Centre, it was so basic.