The 25th Anniversary of the Space Challenger Disaster

[methodwriter85]

25 years ago today, seven men and women "slipped the surly bounds of Earth and touched the face of God."

 

Ronald Reagan's Tribute Speech

 

 

From what I understand, this is one of those cultural touchstones for people who were schoolchildren at the time. (I was only seven weeks old.) Mainly because of Christa McAuliffe, who was going to be the first teacher in space, and because many schoolchildren were watching it live. I was curious to hear any personal memories of this event. I don't have any- although I did see the episode of

.

 

 

[jennyr]

The Challenger Explosion was indeed very sad, though I was not around to see it. I was born a week later.

 

I can't imagine being a student and watching your teacher die on live television. Horrific.

[Benji]

The Challenger Explosion was indeed very sad, though I was not around to see it. I was born a week later.

 

I can't imagine being a student and watching your teacher die on live television. Horrific.

 

...................I was at the student lounge at UNLV that morning, having a coffee before my 1st class, we all cheered as the shuttle took off, waiting for it to break into outer space. But the break-up was unimaginable to us as it unfolded and we watched the disintegration. The quiet that followed with the numbing sadness carried out through the day, I doubt anyone learned anything in class that day, teachers and students alike. It was almost like the same thing, when we heard of the Kennedy assassination in elementary school, total disbelief, you cannot believe it was true until you actually saw everyone else shocked by the news. Funny, how 911 didn't effect me as much, I guess I was just acclimated to the shock syndrome.

[JamesSavik]

I was in college the day it happened. Word spread like wildfire.

 

We all called it a day and went home.

 

Some of the science staff had experiments in line to go up on the shuttle and their research got push back 7 to 10 years.

[Rilbur]

Mainly because of Christa McAuliffe, who was going to be the first teacher in space, and because many schoolchildren were watching it live.

 

Less to do with Christa, may she rest in peace, and more to do with the fact that you don't often see multi-billion dollar national pride symbols blow up.