Challenger Disaster

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I remember just thinking over and over at the time, "Why did it have to be the mission with the TEACHER on board??"
I'm sure everybody on board knew very well there was a risk...nothing great ever happens without risk.

There is a science center named in memory of McAuliffe and Shepard up in Concord NH, you can see the mockup of a rocket from 93 (east side). Took my daughter up to the center when she was young, also made many stops in Concord to grab dinner on the way up to or back from skiing over the years....Boloco was a favorite while it was open.
 
I was in the Navy; the below decks watch told us the shuttle had exploded, but he was known to tell a tall tale. We ran upstairs to see it on the TV in the barge mess.
 
Originally Posted by cjcride
"slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God"


IMO, when he paused to say that on a full breath meant President Reagan knew words mattered - long before they started to matter less and less …
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
Originally Posted by cjcride
"slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God"


IMO, when he paused to say that on a full breath meant President Reagan knew words mattered - long before they started to matter less and less …

JFK and Regan would be the best of friends. Both honorable people. Please just take this as my deep respect for them both.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa7icmqgsow
 
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Originally Posted by madRiver
The only memory I have of 8th grade middle school really was the Challenger Disaster.

It was big deal for schools or more likely New Hampshire because another NH middle school teacher was on board. They had rolled out the TV cart and we got to watch the launch live and. Sitting there in awe we watched it blow up into bits on the grainy 40" TV and then the bell rung. The teacher promptly shut it off and we were like ???? And went onto the next class...


I don't remember 6th Grade - 5th Grade - 3rd Grade - 11th Grade. I didn't finish 13th Grade - so14th Grade and my Associates Degree kaputed.

I do recall the Challenger Disaster and landing on the moon. I even recall reading a newspaper about chimps going into space before man. But I don't recall what I ate for breakfast yesterday.....lol
 
Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi
I remember just thinking over and over at the time, "Why did it have to be the mission with the TEACHER on board??"
I'm sure everybody on board knew very well there was a risk...nothing great ever happens without risk.

There is a science center named in memory of McAuliffe and Shepard up in Concord NH, you can see the mockup of a rocket from 93 (east side). Took my daughter up to the center when she was young, also made many stops in Concord to grab dinner on the way up to or back from skiing over the years....Boloco was a favorite while it was open.

I've worked on and off in Silicon Valley for a while. It's no longer there, but Onizuka Air Force Station was clearly visible from US-101, right next to NAS Moffett Field. Apparently the Air Force didn't like the extremely vulnerable position right next to a major freeway as well as surrounded by an increasingly crowded Silicon Valley and moved all operations to Vandenberg after BRAC. The new facility at Vandenberg is still named after him.

https://www.schriever.af.mil/News/A...denberg-welcomes-21st-sops-new-facility/

When I was in grad school, one of my classmates was an active duty officer working there. He was taking part time classes working on his masters. The building is now gone and a large number of tech buildings were built.
 
Originally Posted by Virtus_Probi
There is a science center named in memory of McAuliffe and Shepard up in Concord NH...


McAuliffe Elementary School in Highland Village opened in 1991. I recall that there was a fair amount of controversy surrounding the choice of that name for the school. I do not recall why, but I'm sure there are quite a few schools that were named for her.

Edit: I had the year wrong. 1991 was for a different McAuliffe Elementary. I can't seem to find the year this one opened, but I remember it so I think it was only a couple or three years after the Challenger accident.
 
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I did have a school day that day, was high school. I was home early either because of a teacher's meeting or because I wasn't feeling too well. I was home though and had the good and bad fortune of seeing it live.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
I was home alone with a cold that day and I remember watching the entire thing sitting on the shag carpeting of the family room


It really ages me to say this, but I was home sick from the 2nd grade when the Apollo 13 crisis was occurring.

I was in the first year of my career when Challenger happened.
 
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I was a First Lt in the Marines at the time, training in the FRS squadron (where you go after you get your wings, to learn to fly the plane you'll fly in the fleet). Beyond the shock and boggling sense of loss and tragedy, it was pretty unnerving to have this happen when you're getting ready to fly! Of course, it wasn't about us -- it was an unthinkable tragedy for everyone, no matter what they were doing. I felt some extra shock also, as I grew up in New Hampshire. A real heart-breaker.

I saw a picture a few years back, on this anniversary, of a ceremony involving the remains of the lost astronauts. Of all superficial things, I noticed how old the seven 80s vintage hearses looked! It made me realize how quickly life flies on by. Today, I choose to use memories to of this, and other tragic losses I know, to remind me to be thankful that I'm alive, and to make the most of the opportunity that still being alive is.
 
I was in college and was having lunch at a restaurant with my roommate. I overheard someone at a nearby table say something like "It's a shame about that teacher." That's when I knew something had happened.

I was actually watching coverage of the Columbia landing (it was a Saturday morning) when it happened.
 
Was just finishing a job in a customers house when the lady of the house invited me to watch the lift off. When the fuel started to leak it was obvious what was about to happen when she asked if this was normal I couldn`t speak for a few seconds then the announcer confirmed what we all saw.
 
I was In high school in palm beach county when this happened, we could clearly see the smoke plumes from the explosion heading in different directions, having seen many launches, we knew this was bad. I Remember being angry and confused in the days to follow, as we found out they launched that ship knowing they had a cold temperature o-ring problem. This should have never happened. Warmer weather was around the corner
 
Originally Posted by Chris Meutsch
NASA killed them unwittingly and unfortunately.
Morton Thiokol pleaded not to launch that day.......


I was working at Morton Thiokol at the time, in the facility that assembled the segments, painted them, and lined them with rubber insulation before they were cast with propellant. It was only a day or two after the Challenger disaster that news started filtering throughout the plant about the pre-launch meetings where Morton Thiokol engineers were bullied and belittled by NASA program managers, until finally Morton Thiokol management finally caved under the extreme pressure. They overruled the engineers and gave NASA the green light to launch outside the design parameters of the motors.

It wasn't long before reports came back to the Utah based operations about horrible persecution of Morton Thiokol employees at KSC and in the local Cocoa Beach community. They were denied service at restaurants. Bank tellers wouldn't cash their pay checks.

It was some time before the public learned the truth that NASA was primarily responsible for the terrible decisions that were made, and even then NASA did everything they could to suppress the full story. It was eventually leaked through confidential interviews with a few of the Morton Thiokol engineers who had so strongly refused to sign off on the flight documents.

That was a very sad time. It was clear that the Space Shuttle would never reach their ambitious goals of routine launches every few weeks.
 
I was probably in 2nd grade back then (forgot).

I asked my parents why don't they build a small one to test it out first. My dad said "Idiot, they've launched many times for real already and they didn't explode like this time."

That's the day I realize there's a thing call probability, and you don't always get the same result every time.
 
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