Where were you when Challenger Exploded?

[brewer]

Yeah, I was not yet produced. But things I do remember everything about learning of:

9/11 - 7th grade reading class

Umm... When I wrote that first sentence I thought there'd be more. There *are* many many more, but they're all sporting events. Like, I remember where I was and what I was doing when Cliff Lee got traded back to the Phillies, when Syracuse and UConn went to six overtimes, when France beat the U.S. In the World Cup Semifinals... Lots of sports ones. But stuff that matters? Meh.

9/11 is a good one. Our corporation rolled out TV's on every floor and work was suspended/scaled down for the rest of the day. In less than a month we were doing tall building evacuation drills. I guess 12 floors is tall for Omaha. I think some big wigs were flown to here to Offutt/SAC that day.

I know that the interstate and much of midtown was shut down when we received our first ebola case. We live close to Offutt, were at home, and could hear the chopper cover for the ambulance. When it got out around the hospital complex that the ebola case had arrived many elective patients left out of fear.

[Cato]

10th grade English class.

[c172]

Wow! This is the first I realized that tomorrow (in my time zone) is the 30th anniversary of that disaster. That was a very sad day. If I remember correctly, my mother was driving me in her light yellow Dodge Aries wagon off of California State Route 52 (Ardath Road exit? I can't remember. I never go there anymore.). My middle school, The Children's School, was right off of 52 in La Jolla.

We were listening to B-100 when news broke. And at school, we all just had a huge meeting to dissect what happened, deal with our feelings, and make guesses as to what happened (I had thought that the fuel tank somehow banged against the vehicle. It was actually the "O-Ring", which I knew nothing about). It was a sad day, and I still think about it occasionally (along with the loss of Discovery in 2003).

Now, with the shuttles retired, I enjoy watching unmanned launches by United Launch Alliance, and more recently, Spacex.

https://www.youtube.com/user/spacexchannel

https://www.youtube.com/user/UnitedLaunchAlliance

At this point, with a SpaceX launch having failed to land correctly, as much as I want humans to get back in space, I'm in no rush. If I even live to see that day, I'll be plenty content.

[dyresand]

i don't remember i don't know i didn't exist when that happened.

[The Valkyrie]

Great. If the first two responses are any measure, this could be a short thread. Get off my lawn!

[Gawdzilla]

Long Beach Naval Shipyard, on board USS Peleliu.

[brewer]

Long Beach Naval Shipyard, on board USS Peleliu.

Thank you for serving.

[vorlon13]

I was unemployed and living in a shabby apartment, 6 months to go until I hit 12 Steppers.

I had TV on and was watching The Price Is Right.

CBS interrupted the show with their breaking news bulletin screen. I already had a tape in the VCR, hoping they would show launch live that morning, so I hit 'record'.

Dan Rather came on, without his glasses and looking visibly shaken, and said there had been an explosion on the shuttle.


And I had a meltdown.


I had known since loosing my job around Thanksgiving I was in deep shit in regards to my drinking and drugging, but took heart with the space program as a bright spot midst all my problems. I remember calling a local help line, I was just so inconsolable. All day long they repeated the launch video, CBS was scrambling (I didn't change channels till the tape ran out 5 or 6 hours later) to get experts on air. Dan got his glasses back at some point. There was some incorrect information relayed; for instance, a parachute was filmed coming down in the wreckage and debris and it was reported to be a coast guard member parachuting in to rescue the astronauts when it was actually the 'chute from one of the SRBs that had been self destructed after the orbiter and external tank had disintegrated.

At first, they only had the NASA feed relayed during the launch they had recorded, so they only had the one angle to show all day long. We didn't know about o-rings or cold temperatures or "the twang" or any possible launch constraints yet.

There were some poignant moments, they interviewed someone from LA, and they said ALL the cars on the freeway slowed down at the same time as everyone's radios interrupted with the news.

There was some accurate analysis that day, they noted recognizable pieces of debris emerging from the explosion, wing, fuselage, cabling.

I would keep having crying jags all day, but I did manage to get out briefly and fill out a job application at a nearby factory.

As the investigation went on and the sad details emerged about the concerns expressed (and ignored) prior to launch, it just was a terribly rough experience.

I look back now and realize I was ready for 12 Steppers that day, unfortunately I had to endure another 6 months before that happened.


Sounds silly, but I could not watch TPIR for years and years afterwards. I have my own copy of the accident report, and a friend gave me her beta video tape of the NBC coverage that day. The Rogers Commission hearings were on PBS as I recall, (didn't have cable but I still taped it) when the astronauts presented their testimony. Sally Ride would not go on the record with any questions out of respect for her colleagues, but if she had something important to add she would whisper it to chairman Rogers and he put it in the record.

I should probably get those tapes out and burn them to DVD . . . . .

[Thumpalumpacus]

I had gotten home that morning from work around 4 AM, smoked a little bud, and played my guitar -- stayed up a while for that. Decided to catch the news before I went to sleep. Godfuckingdammit.

[brewer]

And I had a meltdown.

Been there, twice. Just different situation(s).