January 28, 201610 yr Soph at EKU, came back from class and room mate was watching TV and when I walked in he just said, "It blew up" I said, "What"..."The freaking shuttle, it just blew up" I remember watching coverage the rest of the day and then the Presidents address to the nation either that night or the next.
January 28, 201610 yr Sad day. Unlike some others here, I was already old. I'll never forget this image. Hearing the controllers continue to speak as if nothing had happened for a few moments after seeing the explosion was eerie.
January 28, 201610 yr I was teaching 5th grade and the principal came by and told us what had just happened. We watched it on tv for a while before lunch. After lunch we tried to have a normal day. Kids could only take so much
January 28, 201610 yr I was working at a hospital & had the TV on when it happened. I remember getting sick as I watched.
January 28, 201610 yr Not just that either .... the meeting the night before with Roger Boisjoly, Arnie Thompson and others from Morton Thiokol had with NASA. The meeting starts out with Morton Thiokol recommending no launch ... then the NASA morons who state their displeasure with the recommendation ... then the Morton Thiokol management team having an "off conference" meeting .. where they give in to the pressure of NASA with their "Management Decision". It amazes me that NASA was not disbanded ... they were and still are a free wheeling, crap shoot organization that was/is more interested in their own agenda as opposed to the human beings they were sending to space. Roger Boisjoly is a hero to many (including me). He refused to be silenced ... and did everything he could to force Morton Thiokol and NASA to do the right thing. I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Boisjoly ... great man ... great engineer. You could still tell ... 20 years later .. that the Challenger wore on his mind .. as did Columbia 14 years later. If anyone has a few minutes ... do some investigation into the Challenger accident ... very hard details to swallow (for instance .. the crew survived the incident and didn't die until the cockpit crashed into the water). Lots of other unethical practices that are downright scary and eye opening. I was at home from private school in 3rd grade. We was given the day off to watch the launch and had to write a short story about it. Me and my son watched some shows on it the other night and I stayed up for 8 hours reading and just digging around on the internet. Crazy.
January 28, 201610 yr College freshman in Louisville…. a group of us were watching it live in a common area. It was so hyped up because of Christa McAuliffe. At one of our College reunions someone pointed out “hey this is the room where we watched the Challenger”. A shared, sad memory…
January 28, 201610 yr We were in the middle of a board meeting when someone knocked and told us about it. Watched for a while on TV. Very sad day.
January 28, 201610 yr Author I remember watching coverage the rest of the day and then the Presidents address to the nation either that night or the next. Reagan was supposed to deliver the State of Union address that night. Changed it to a very short speech directed at the disaster. If you're talking about memorable moments from Presidential speeches ("Ask not what your country can do for you..." or "Today is a day that will live in infamy", etc.) then Reagan's closing has to be right there near the top. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."
January 28, 201610 yr I was exactly 9 months and a day away from gracing this Earth with my presence.
January 28, 201610 yr 7th grade in Leesburg Florida. 80 miles from launch site. Clear day or nights you could see the launches. Outside in the school yard to watch this along with the rest of the middle school. I can still remember seeing the explosion. Even at 80 miles away it was clear what had happened. Like 9-11 I will never forget where I was or what I was doing at that time.
January 28, 201610 yr We had just moved down to Florida it was my Junior year. We were home that day because the school's heaters were not working and they thought it was too cold for us to be in class. It was my first time watching the shuttle take off live. We could watch it from our front yard. When it exploded I looked at my parents and asked, it isn't suppose to do that is it? We could hear the explosion. Ran in side to watch it on tv and it was horrible. They closed most of the beaches on that side of the state. Asked anybody who came acrossed debri to not touch it and call the local police. Sad day in the Sunshine State.
January 28, 201610 yr Reagan was supposed to deliver the State of Union address that night. Changed it to a very short speech directed at the disaster. If you're talking about memorable moments from Presidential speeches ("Ask not what your country can do for you..." or "Today is a day that will live in infamy", etc.) then Reagan's closing has to be right there near the top. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God." If you ever have a chance to read a collection of the stuff Peggy Noonan authored during her time as a speechwriter for Reagan, take it. She was a masterful speechwriter and was one of the best ever at finding a president's voice and bringing out the best in him, as he brought out the best in her. She still writes for the Wall Street Journal.
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