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Do you remember where you were when the Challenger exploded?

Watching the Falcon Heavy rocket lift off today, I recalled the worst space disaster in my lifetime. I was working at a mall store in Yuma, AZ when the Challenger was launched. I walked across the mall to the Footlocker athletic shoe store to watch. It was horrifying. If you aren't old enough to remember it, you might not want to even read the comments here. It was a brutal day for the space program.

Duke 8 Feb 6
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29 comments

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1

I remember the joke that followed.... " You can get 7up in a can "

That's awful but I have one too...

"Why didn't Christa McAuliffe (the teacher astronaut) shower before her shuttle flight?"

Will give riddle answer on demand.

Ouch.

Why?@marmot84

@DelilahJones33 Because she knew she was going to wash up on shore later.

I have no shame in laughter@marmot84

4

yes and can still see that image

3

I was in 2nd grade. The whole school piled outside to see the Challenger go up.(this was in Florida) most of the kids didn't understand what we saw. Some of the teachers started crying and we were all hurried inside. I didn't understand it until my mother explained what happened when I got home.

so sad

3

No I don't remember.... but I do remember. The twin towers comming down. I expected an atom bomb to happen from that. Or we should own that country...

I remember 9/11 all too well, too. I don't live too far from NYC, so I also saw the towers burning, and I know some people who lived in worked in the area who are still dealing with trauma.

3

not on the challenger

3

Yep. Found the map. I was in Jacksonville when it was falling out of the sky.

2

I remember. I was watching on TV. I kept thinking: There's a thing that will have blasted them out of there, surely. They must still be alive, they must have some way of parachuting down. It can't be as bad as it looks.

2

I was two years old and living very close to where it happened. I was told (I'm not sure how true it is) that debris from one of the fuel tanks landed in my sandbox.

2

I was only 7 years old, but I remember being at a school assembly and we were all watching.

2

Yes. I was at a large sporting goods store, buying bait to feed my reptile pets. The place was huge and largely empty. A clerk had the radio on. The newscaster sounded upset and kept mentioning "the vehicle". It was horrible. There was so much excitement around the first civilian going into space... A very, very tragic day.

Zster Level 8 Feb 7, 2018
2

I was about four months into a new teaching job in Korea, and by the time it reached the newspapers there, the news was already a day or two old. It made me sad to read, but I was busy with teaching and adapting to a very different culture.

2

I was in college and walking to a class and suddenly stopped and felt a chill. When I got to class and some one told me. And I realized it was at the same time as I felt that chill. I still remember it pretty clearly

2

Not really but it was either Vancouver, BC or Juneau, AK. Back then people actually watched the shuttle launches and this one was hyped with a civilian on board.

2

I remember that exactly. I was off work and at home that day. All of a sudden the show I was watching on TV was interrupted. The anchor only said "This happened 5 minutes ago!" then they rolled the tape. I was stunned ... knocked off my feet. All I could do was cry out loud. It was one of the worst days of my life.

2

I was on my lunch hour and at Mazzios Pizza in the TV room. It was horrible. And to think that was the one with the first teacher on board right? Was it also the one where parts fell all over Texas? I went out and took a picture of some debris but the metal parts were not the only things that fell. It was horrific.

You might be thinking of Skylab. I think that was the object that burned up as it's orbit degenerated over the USA.

@Duke Skylab debris landed in Australia and the Indian Ocean.

Shuttle Columbia broke up over TX upon re-entry, as I recall.

@Kimba and @Zster Thanks for the correction! I was pretty sure it wasn't the Challenger.

@Zster Thanks for the update Zster.

1

In college. I was in the lobby all by myself watching TV.

1

Yes I do. I was in France staying at a relatives house and she started crying watching the news. She could only point at the tv. Very bad day.

1

I don't remember a phone number I have had for 5 YEARS! So that would be a no.

1

I was watching it on TV. It took forever (it seemed at the time) to realize exactly what happened. It was devastating. I thought nothing would ever affect me like that again...then 9-11 happened. There are no words that can describe the loss.

1

I was in the 2nd grade and got home from school to find out my grandmother had died almost at the same time. My aunt and cousins were at the launch and found out soon after when they called home.

MsAl Level 8 Feb 7, 2018
1

I was in kindergarten. I remember it though.

Marc Level 4 Feb 7, 2018
1

January 1986. I remember was working at an office in NYC, filing papers. Someone had music playing on a radio and it was interrupted by breaking news. We scrambled to find a TV.

1

Social studies class at St Bernard's Academy for Girls watching it on TV.

1

I was on maternity leave, pregnant overdue with my first son in bed watching tv. It was really sad, and I could never get excited about space programs ever again.

1

It was the day I was hired for my first real job. I was an hourly intern at a tech/research firm. My boss came into my office looking really grime. He handed me the letter saying I had been hired full time as a salaried employee and then said that the Challenger had exploded.

It was one of those weird days where things were both really good and really bad at once.

1
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