Good Morning: Challenger explodes

[Okla-homey]

January 28, 1986: Challenger explodes

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2104/challengerexplosionat5.jpg

23 years ago today, in one of those "I remember where I was when I heard about it" moments, At 11:38 a.m. EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8793/challenger51lcrewzx7.jpg

McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger's launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including Christa's family, stared in disbelief as the shuttle exploded in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. There were no survivors.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4179/challenger6ig5.jpg

In the aftermath of the explosion, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. The presidential commission was headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, and included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager.

The investigation determined that the explosion was caused by the failure of an "O-ring" seal in one of the two solid-fuel rockets. The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the cold temperature at launch time, which began a chain of events that resulted in the massive explosion. As a result of the explosion, NASA did not send astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of features of the space shuttle.

In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station.

On February 1, 2003, a second space-shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry of the Earth's atmosphere. All aboard were killed. Despite fears that the problems that downed Columbia had not been satisfactorily addressed, space-shuttle flights resumed on July 26, 2005, when Discovery was again put into orbit.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/637/insane7zoao4.jpg

[royalfan5]

This is the first single event news story that I had a real vivid memory of. I remember watching it live at my babysitters since they broke into her soaps to show it.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

Sadly, this is one of my very first memories I had growing up as well. I grew up loving all things airplanes and space (still do) and I was home from school (I was in PM kindergarten) and I remember watching the space shuttle taking off and then the explosion. My mom was on the phone long distance, which was a big deal back in 1986, and she saw it happen from the other room on tv. I had no idea the magnitude of what had happened, but I figured it was bad when she turned the channel.I can't believe that was 23 years ago...On a side note, if you ever get to go to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, do it. It is a very cool place and they have a spot where they planted a tree for every crew member on board Challenger and Columbia.

Godspeed Challenger Crew

[Okla-homey]

I was 26 when this happened. Although we didn't have the innerweb back then, it didn't take long for a lot of sick jokes about it to make the rounds.

[SoonerJack]

My goodness. Babysitter, kindergarten. I was starting my last semester of college.

But I remember exactly where I was and I remember being very, very sad.

[bonkuba]

I was acting sick from school that day....was watching TV (not cable....over the air with a big 'ol antenna). They broke into whatever it was I watching....

It was the first time I remember be glued to the TV for a news story.

[LilSooner]

I was at my great grandma's that morning, I was also in pm kindergarten. I was watching TV in the back room playing and I ran to the front to tell her and she didn't believe me. I was so mad at her for not believing me.

[tulsaoilerfan]

I was a Soph at NSU, and i remember someone coming into one of my classes saying he had heard on KMOD that the space shuttle had exploded; the bad thing was that most of us had no idea that there was even a launch until we heard the bad news.

[TUSooner]

I don't remember exactly, but I was way past kindergarden. I had just started my mail route and I went into some place with a TV (can't remember where) to watch the blast-off. All day I kept thinking aboout the parents and loved ones who saw their dear ones die on live TV. Very sad indeed.

[Hot Rod]

I was playing hooky and saw it on a TV at the local Kroger in Nashville.

[47straight]

My uncle died the same day.

[Boomer Mooner]

I learned about it on one of the trolley's on the OU campus.

[8timechamps]

I was a junior in high school. They announced it over the intercom. We left school and went to Sammy's pizza on Western in OKC, because they had little TVs on the table that you could watch for $0.25 for 30 minutes. We stayed until four or five, then went home and watched the coverage all night.

[Crucifax Autumn]

I was in algebra class my freshamn year in HS and the teacher came in all flustered and told us.

[Pricetag]

I was in sixth grade, in art class. My teacher came in and said that we should say a prayer for the crew of Challenger. Before she even got the next sentence out, my mind was at work imagining possible scenarios. I had recently seen an episode of "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling" that had a shuttle stranded in orbit, and for some reason they sent Hulk and the gang up in a second ship to rescue them. That's what I settled on, with real astronauts instead of Hulk and the gang. When my teacher said that it had exploded and that all onboard were dead, hopes were shattered.

It was the closest thing to a failure I had seen from the United States in my lifetime, and it really cast a shadow over the whole year.

[birddog]

i was sitting in a classroom at Wiley Post Elementary when this happened-6th grade. I remember it exploding but i don't remember it being real, and i don't remember the reactions of the students or teachers. i still can't believe so many people got to see something so surreal take place on live tv.

[TMcGee86]

I was in third grade in Bartlesville. I remember it because our class had done a big project on it in light of the school teacher aspect of the flight. I had done a drawing that I remember as being freaking spot on for the Shuttle. I wish I still had it, because I can only imagine what it really looked like. Probably more like a potato with a minivan strapped to it. We moved to Tulsa like a month later. Weird what you remember.

[C&CDean]

I was at an assembly at Pima Community College in Tucson. A teacher from there was one of the finalists and they had it on in a huge auditorium. He did a big presentation beforehand, and was on the stage leading a big cheer when it took off. Poor dude just stood there for like an hour after it blew up going "no way, that didn't happen...Oh my God..."

JFK, RFK, Challenger, 9/11, Columbia - I remember them all.

[bri]

I was in seventh grade; we were between classes, so everyone was herding through the halls getting to their next class when the principal came on the PA and mumbled something about the shuttle and then put on the radio feed of the news. We all just kind of stood there staring up at the speakers, trying to process it all.

The thing that always twists the knife for me is that my seventh grade year was the first year since the shuttle program started that Pryor schools didn't have assemblies to watch launches. It just seemed like we'd started taking it for granted, somehow convinced ourselves that strapping people to a barely-controlled explosion and sending them hurtling into space against every single law of nature and physics designed to keep us here wasn't inherently dangerous.

[SCOUT]

I was in science class when they made the announcement. My science teacher cried and had to leave the class. I remember being upset but not really understanding it. I also remember the incredible speech Ronald Reagan gave.


Address to the nation on the Challenger disaster
Oval Office
January 28, 1986

A few hours after the disaster, this speech was delivered to the American people via nationwide radio and television.
648 words

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

[yermom]

i was in 4th grade at Eisenhower Elementary in Tulsa, they pulled us out of class to watch the news coverage in the cafeteria it seemed like all morning

[Dio]

I was a H.S. sophomore- we switched from 3rd hour to 4th hour, and I was the 3rd one there. One of the other guys said "The shuttle just blew up" and I was like "Yeah, right- bull****."

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

Reading all of these experiences also reminds me of how much has changed too. I remember being a freshman in high school duing the OKC bombing and we were not allowed to watch TV regarding the events and last week, I have a friend who is a kindergarten teacher who said the school district would not allow them to show the inauguration because they were afraid something would happen. It is amazing that they let so many kids continue to watch the news after a tragedy like this, but at the same time, kids know what is going on too. Maybe not as much as adults, but I am sure there were questions asked that day that were not answered for years.

By the way, that speech from Reagan gives me chills to this day!

[TUSooner]

***
It just seemed like we'd started taking it for granted, somehow convinced ourselves that strapping people to a barely-controlled explosion and sending them hurtling into space against every single law of nature and physics designed to keep us here wasn't inherently dangerous.

That's the best sentence in this thread.

We made space flight seem routine, so we were shocked to remember what a wonderful and difficult accomplishment it really is.

[8timechamps]

That's the best sentence in this thread.

We made space flight seem routine, so we were shocked to remember what a wonderful and difficult accomplishment it really is.

Very true.

I can still remember watching the landing of the first shuttle in elementary school. It was a very big deal.

bri hit the nail on the head. It had all become common place, and most didn't even know when the shuttle was in space.

I can remember when Columbia exploded on re-entry, and I remember thinking "I didn't even know there was a shuttle in space".

[OUstud]

Reading all of these experiences also reminds me of how much has changed too. I remember being a freshman in high school duing the OKC bombing and we were not allowed to watch TV regarding the events and last week, I have a friend who is a kindergarten teacher who said the school district would not allow them to show the inauguration because they were afraid something would happen. It is amazing that they let so many kids continue to watch the news after a tragedy like this, but at the same time, kids know what is going on too. Maybe not as much as adults, but I am sure there were questions asked that day that were not answered for years.

By the way, that speech from Reagan gives me chills to this day!

I was in 6th grade when 9/11 happened. Although that day's a blur to me, apparently they called each teacher in the hallway during 1st or 2nd hour to tell them, and they were instructed to not tell any of the students. So I didn't hear about it until kids started to talk, around the last hour of the day. It was a decision one of my teachers told us that the principal really regretted later.

[8timechamps]

I considered not posting this, but it's not like folks couldn't go to YouTube and view it.

I watched it once, and that's enough.

j4JOjcDFtBE

[BigRedJed]

H.S. senior. Journalism class. Principal came on the PA and made the announcement. I went to the library, which was about the only place in the school besides the teachers' lounge that had live television, and watched the coverage for the rest of the day. Though it isn't the first major media event that I remember well (those include the Nixon departure, due to my dad's interest in it, Vietnam evac, Reagan assassination attempt, and the murder of John Lennon), it is the first event that I recall resembling the modern cable news cycle. The event caused total media domination, for an extended period.

[bri]

How can school administrators not let students experience major news events as they happen? You'll be teaching it to them once it passes into "history" anyways.

In grade school, we watched everything live. We were watching Reagan's first inauguration when it was announced the hostages in Iran were being released. That was kind of a big deal.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

How can school administrators not let students experience major news events as they happen? You'll be teaching it to them once it passes into "history" anyways.

In grade school, we watched everything live. We were watching Reagan's first inauguration when it was announced the hostages in Iran were being released. That was kind of a big deal.

I totally agree with you. I think they should watch it live. Just like you said, they will teach it anyways, might as well let them experience the situation at the time. Obviously, this probably wouldn't be a good idea for pre-schoolers, but older school children I think should be able to watch this stuff live as it happens. It is American history, good or bad.

[bri]

I blame the slide of the news media from "detached observer" that was always very careful about not showing disturbing or graphic images into the sensationalistic horde it is now for part of the decision. If I've got a room full of grade schoolers and something just blew up, I can't be entirely sure that Fox News or MSNBC won't show close-ups of burning bodies just so the anchors can use their "oh, what a tragedy" hushed tones.

[8timechamps]

I blame the slide of the news media from "detached observer" that was always very careful about not showing disturbing or graphic images into the sensationalistic horde it is now for part of the decision. If I've got a room full of grade schoolers and something just blew up, I can't be entirely sure that Fox News or MSNBC won't show close-ups of burning bodies just so the anchors can use their "oh, what a tragedy" hushed tones.

The advent of cable news channels morphed the coverage into what we see today.

If a viewer can see a close up of the burning body on CNN, then they won't watch the sterile coverage of the same event on FOX News.

That and the absence of Laurie Duhe.

[Red October]

8th grade. I was at home with a fractured foot suffered from basketball the night before. Watched it live...

[SOONER STEAKER]

I remember that day quit well. I was in Donna, TX on the golf course. When we made the turn we went in for a quick lunch and they were showing the explosion on TV. It was devestating to see, I always remember the school teacher, Christie McCulley I think was her name. Very sad deal to remember even after all these years.

[Boomer Mooner]

We were on vacation in Colorado, staying in cabins on Lake Vallicito, and helped the owner of the joint put up an antenna so we could watch the first moon walk back in '69 on a black and white TV the size and shape of washing machine.

That was 40 years ago, I was 9 and in total awe. Lotta water under the bridge since those days.

[BigRedJed]

H.S. senior. Journalism class. Principal came on the PA and made the announcement. I went to the library, which was about the only place in the school besides the teachers' lounge that had live television, and watched the coverage for the rest of the day. Though it isn't the first major media event that I remember well (those include the Nixon departure, due to my dad's interest in it, Vietnam evac, Reagan assassination attempt, and the murder of John Lennon), it is the first event that I recall resembling the modern cable news cycle. The event caused total media domination, for an extended period.
By the way, when the principal made the announcement, he incorrectly identified the lost shuttle as Columbia. Made it doubly odd for me nearly 20 years later when the actual Columbia burned up on re-entry.

[C&CDean]

Oswald getting greased on live TV in the Dallas police garage was 23 years earlier. And what about the 63-73 TV news crews showing self-emolated Buddist monks in Saigon, VC getting blowed up on TV and executed by Vietnamese cops. They were not CNN.

Yup. I remember all these on CBS, ABC, and NBC - the only channels we had back inna day. I'll never forget when I saw that monk sit there and torch himself without flinching. Crazy ****...

[ouwasp]

I was in my first yr teaching. My principal called me out in the hall and told the news. I stupidly asked "But what about the teacher that was onboard?"

I went in and told my class. One of the kids had a "contraband" radio that he pulled out and we listened to coverage for a few minutes.

Since it was my 1st yr, I had gotten out of my nat'l guard deployment, which happened to be in the Orlando area at that time. They went to the beach and helped search for debris. My CO was in mission control when the Challenger exploded. He said the NASA personel were completely professional and didn't flinch.

[SoonerStormchaser]

It was three days after my third birthday...and yes, I do remember watching it at my babysitters...like the Zapruder film, they kept playing it over and over and over and over and over...

[VeeJay]

Amazing that everyone remembers exactly where they were - like where they were on the morning of 9/11/01. This was one of those dates we'll never forget.

Like Homey, I'd just turned 26 when this happened. I'd just started a training program on my job and was off work that day. I got in the car and went to the store for something and on the radio a couple of guys were talking about it. I thought "Damn - sounds like the shuttle blew up." I went back to my apt. and began recording Dan Rather on CBS - I still have that VHS tape today, with images of Rather using a pencil to point to those external fuel tanks on a small scale mockup of "Challenger."

My first wife was pregnant with my now 22 year old daughter - it only seems like yesterday because it's still that fresh in my memory.

Later, in Florida, I worked with a guy who was in Ocala, FL at the time. They'd walked out of their building for the launch and he witnessed the whole thing. The most horrible images I recall seeing were of the teacher's school children being rushed out of the bleachers at Kennedy Space Center, following the KSC announcer's eery "Obviously a major malfunction."

[Pricetag]

the KSC announcer's eery "Obviously a major malfunction."
I remember how long that the mission announcer read the telemetry information after it had happened. It seemed to me at the time that he, like all of us, just didn't want to believe that it had happened.

[Crucifax Autumn]

It was pretty screwed up I know that.

When I got home from school and actually watched the footage and the words "throttle at 104%" came out I remember thinking "that's what did it right there, can't go over 100%!"

[SOONER STEAKER]

It's amazing how calm the announcers were. My reaction was much different than his emotionless voice that was on the air.

[12]

My story is so incredibly bland, I won't share it. Still, odd that we all remember that moment.

[Pricetag]

Later on in the spring semester of that year, my science class did a project where we built model rockets and flew them. I picked the Estes space shuttle kit, by far the most complicated and tough to build out of all the rockets the classes from sixth through twelfth grade built. I went all out on the thing, making sure the paint and the decals were all perfect.

Finally, the big day came where we flew all our rockets at school. Mine was awesome. The way it was designed, there were ailerons on the wings that caused the shuttle to pitch onto its back and fly that way for a little while before the chute deployed.

I didn't fly it again for several months. During that time, I continued to tweak the paint and stuff to get the highest level of accuracy. It was much closer to a model than a flying toy by that time.

The next time I went out to fly with my dad and brother, I didn't want to fly it. I just had a terrible feeling about the whole thing. My worst fears ended up being realized. After it did its flip maneuver, it pitched again to where it had done about three quarters of a loop, and powered nose-first into the dirt. It stuck there, and when the charge went off to deploy the chute, it blew the whole engine mount out the back. The nose cone was shattered. It was a mess. I was too old to cry, but I did anyway.

My dad felt terrible about the whole thing. He took it home and did a pretty bang-up job of putting it back together. Of course, it was no longer flight-worthy, so it spent the rest of its days on display in my room.

[85Sooner]

My uncle was working that flight at NASA in Florida. He had to call us from a phone booth several hours after the explosion because When it happened they immediatly locked down the entire facility and started recording all phone conversations. I was listening to a radio in my teller booth at Friendly Natl bank in south OKC.

[12]

I was sitting in my car drinking vodka before going to the office.

No wait, that was this morning.