Challenger Day

[C`gan]

We can never forget.

25 years ago today.

[AmonGwareth]

Gotta ask the question... Where were you when it happened?

I was in 8th grade and sitting in the library at Woodland Junior High watching it on TV. The teachers quickly turned the TV off and rushed us back to our classrooms.

[Velea]

I can still picture in my mind exactly where I was and what the room looked like.

I was high school at our library working on shelving books. We had the TV on in there, but rather than the librarian turning it off, she put her arms around us and we all gathered around the TV in total shock and tears.

Those few moments remain locked in my memory, but to be honest until President Reagan's speech that evening, the rest of the day is a blur.

[Dhalin]

I was 5 when it happened, so I don't remember the day it happened, but I do vaguely remember bits and pieces, seeing the news, and hearing about it for a few years afterward.

I remember very few things from my <10 years... a few of the things I do remember are things I would rather I don't (not talking about This of course, I mean other things).

[velveeta]

i was standing in the living room of my friend's house (and so far, i am much older than the rest of you!) watching the launch on tv.....
at first, i thought i had somehow switched to a movie or something...

[C`gan]

9th Grade, between second and third periods, one of my classmates came up and asked me if I'd heard it'd blown up. I thought they were kidding. I went on with my day. No news on the bus ride home, so it wasn't until I got home and turned on TV and they were doing a special report about it and showed a replay that I dropped to my knees and cried.

[Solitaire]

Sitting in 9th grade science class when the principal announced it over the PA. I had always been very interested in the program and it was hard to endure the rest of the day. Especially with some of the snide comments from some of my classmates about a teacher being on board. I did not see any video of it until I got home and then it hit me that it had really happened.

I saw the Challenger sitting on the pad before it's previous mission though not the launch. I was lucky that day because NASA had the servicing structure rotated out of the way when the tour bus stopped for us to look. Very impressive looking. I was in Orlando when it launched. It was a night launch and I tried to see it but I was not able to unfortunately.

[Raeshlavik]

I was also in High School - 11th grade... They were running the launch on the TV in the library because of the Teacher in Space Project.

Just after the explosion I went over to a pay phone and called my dad... He worked for Beech / Raytheon and his baby was the PRSD system in the shuttles - essentially a fancy fuel cell running on hydrogen and oxygen.

The whole family was on pins and needles while the failure was being figured out... It was a tense time.