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Do you remember where you were when the Challenger exploded?

Watching the Falcon Heavy rocket lift off today, I recalled the worst space disaster in my lifetime. I was working at a mall store in Yuma, AZ when the Challenger was launched. I walked across the mall to the Footlocker athletic shoe store to watch. It was horrifying. If you aren't old enough to remember it, you might not want to even read the comments here. It was a brutal day for the space program.

Duke 8 Feb 6
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29 comments

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0

1st grade. They had brought a TV for us to watch. All three 1st grade classes filled our tiny classroom.
It was a shock to everyone. The teacher left the room. Seems she was gone quite awhile. It was apparent she was crying when she returned.

1

In college. I was in the lobby all by myself watching TV.

1

Yes I do. I was in France staying at a relatives house and she started crying watching the news. She could only point at the tv. Very bad day.

1

I don't remember a phone number I have had for 5 YEARS! So that would be a no.

0

Yep. Had just gotten home from school. Watched it happen live on CNN, and went to call a friend. The phone rang, and he was calling me to asked if I had seen what had just happened. Stared at the tv for a few hours after that, probably in some form of shock

1

I was watching it on TV. It took forever (it seemed at the time) to realize exactly what happened. It was devastating. I thought nothing would ever affect me like that again...then 9-11 happened. There are no words that can describe the loss.

1

I was in the 2nd grade and got home from school to find out my grandmother had died almost at the same time. My aunt and cousins were at the launch and found out soon after when they called home.

MsAl Level 8 Feb 7, 2018
1

I was in kindergarten. I remember it though.

Marc Level 4 Feb 7, 2018
2

I remember. I was watching on TV. I kept thinking: There's a thing that will have blasted them out of there, surely. They must still be alive, they must have some way of parachuting down. It can't be as bad as it looks.

1

January 1986. I remember was working at an office in NYC, filing papers. Someone had music playing on a radio and it was interrupted by breaking news. We scrambled to find a TV.

1

Social studies class at St Bernard's Academy for Girls watching it on TV.

1

I was on maternity leave, pregnant overdue with my first son in bed watching tv. It was really sad, and I could never get excited about space programs ever again.

1

It was the day I was hired for my first real job. I was an hourly intern at a tech/research firm. My boss came into my office looking really grime. He handed me the letter saying I had been hired full time as a salaried employee and then said that the Challenger had exploded.

It was one of those weird days where things were both really good and really bad at once.

1
1

I remember the joke that followed.... " You can get 7up in a can "

That's awful but I have one too...

"Why didn't Christa McAuliffe (the teacher astronaut) shower before her shuttle flight?"

Will give riddle answer on demand.

Ouch.

Why?@marmot84

@DelilahJones33 Because she knew she was going to wash up on shore later.

I have no shame in laughter@marmot84

1

I was homeschooling my two kids, and we were excitedly following the shuttle story about the civilian teacher going into space, watching the shuttle launch live.

One camera stayed on Christa McAuliffe's parents. Their faces continued beaming with pride even after the explosion because the launch announcer continued giving atmospheric readings, unaware of what had happened at first.
It was horrifying watching it dawn on Christa's parents that their daughter was gone.

I felt traumatized, but I wasn't the only one-a Sesame Street crew was filming the shuttle launch for the show and their reaction was even more horrified.

2

I was two years old and living very close to where it happened. I was told (I'm not sure how true it is) that debris from one of the fuel tanks landed in my sandbox.

3

yes and can still see that image

1

I was in 2nd grade. The whole school piled outside to see the Challenger go up.(this was in Florida) most of the kids didn't understand what we saw. Some of the teachers started crying and we were all hurried inside. I didn't understand it until my mother explained what happened when I got home.

so sad

2

I was only 7 years old, but I remember being at a school assembly and we were all watching.

2

Yes. I was at a large sporting goods store, buying bait to feed my reptile pets. The place was huge and largely empty. A clerk had the radio on. The newscaster sounded upset and kept mentioning "the vehicle". It was horrible. There was so much excitement around the first civilian going into space... A very, very tragic day.

Zster Level 8 Feb 7, 2018
2

I was about four months into a new teaching job in Korea, and by the time it reached the newspapers there, the news was already a day or two old. It made me sad to read, but I was busy with teaching and adapting to a very different culture.

2

No I don't remember.... but I do remember. The twin towers comming down. I expected an atom bomb to happen from that. Or we should own that country...

I remember 9/11 all too well, too. I don't live too far from NYC, so I also saw the towers burning, and I know some people who lived in worked in the area who are still dealing with trauma.

2

I was in college and walking to a class and suddenly stopped and felt a chill. When I got to class and some one told me. And I realized it was at the same time as I felt that chill. I still remember it pretty clearly

2

Not really but it was either Vancouver, BC or Juneau, AK. Back then people actually watched the shuttle launches and this one was hyped with a civilian on board.

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