chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 28, 2011 12:31:01 GMT -5
it's been 25 years since the Challenger exploded, 73 seconds into its ill-fated flight. what do you remember about that day? I remember sitting on the floor in the hallway at my elementary school, waiting for the launch with the rest of my class. I remember not understanding what was going on, or why all of the teachers were crying. to this day, I still haven't watched another live launch.
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KaraBoo
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Post by KaraBoo on Jan 28, 2011 12:34:53 GMT -5
We were coming inside from recess (5th grade) when someone told my teacher. We didn't have enough TV's in our school for everyone to watch (I think we had 4 sets for 4 floors worth of classes), so it was decided no one would watch it.
I remember thinking I was glad my teacher wasn't on the shuttle. We had talked alot about why she didn't apply to go up (she claimed she was 150 years too old - she was probably between 50 and 60), but was one of the best teachers I have ever had.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 28, 2011 12:38:08 GMT -5
Student teaching with my supervisor on their way out to watch me so I changed my lesson plan for sure.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jan 28, 2011 12:50:50 GMT -5
I was in the 9th grade and we were watching it live. When our teacher realized what happened, he jumped up at shut the tv off. It was horrible to watch on tv, I can't imagine being there to watch in person. I can't imagine how the families felt watching it explode. I do remember watching clips of the family members cheering at first because they hadn't realized what happened.
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imawino
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Post by imawino on Jan 28, 2011 12:58:07 GMT -5
I remember that I was at school, standing outside watching. You could see the launches from the town where I lived at the time. Very sad.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jan 28, 2011 13:33:37 GMT -5
I was over at a sports store in Canada getting fitted for skis. It was their annual blowout end of season sale, it was super busy and really loud in there. It got really, really eerily quiet, everybody just looked at everyone else, and nobody knew what to say. It stayed eerily quiet for about 5 minutes.
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Post by thinblue on Jan 28, 2011 13:43:26 GMT -5
I was in 7th grade and I remember the TV's rolling in on the big carts and we all watched it happen. It was a very sad day. That night my choir class sang the National Anthem at the High School basketball game. There wasn't a dry eye in the gym and I still get chills thinking about it.
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Jake 48
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keeping the faith
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Post by Jake 48 on Jan 28, 2011 13:46:31 GMT -5
Sitting in a bar having lunch watching the launch. It got deathly quiet
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2011 13:48:35 GMT -5
Didn't hear about it till the evening news after coming home from work. It was shocking to me, and I didn't believe it at first.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Jan 28, 2011 14:08:28 GMT -5
I had just turned 4. Don't remember it at all.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jan 28, 2011 14:15:20 GMT -5
I was in college. In the cafe everyone was talking about the shuttle blowing up. At least half of us first thought they were talking about the shuttle bus to take students to the other part of campus.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Jan 28, 2011 14:25:54 GMT -5
I was working at the time, Remember those little 5" portable black and white TV's. Someone had one at work to watch the Soaps on over lunch. The whole department which was a good 25 people, gathered around that little TV and watched in Shock.
It was horrible. It was in WI and the teacher on the shuttle was from Racine WI which is pretty close to us. We were all just numb.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 28, 2011 19:06:58 GMT -5
thanks for replying. I can't believe it's been 25 years, I can still see myself sitting in that hallway. being so young at the time, it was definitely my first experience of a disaster of that magnitude. as an adult, having gone through engineering studies in college, I shudder reading the post-mortem reports of the explosion as I realize just how much was overlooked before the launch. I'm sick knowing that most of those astronauts survived until impact with the water. that's a long way down... so sad.
it is great to see the education continue though, with the Challenger Learning Centers - including the one in my (and Christa's) hometown in MA. I'm feeling my age a little today, as my sister relayed a story about her day teaching today - some students (14-18 yo) asked her about this, and she couldn't answer. she was only about 3 yo herself. she relayed my memory of all the lessons leading up to it, and all the background on Christa since she had grown up in the same town. I never met her, but I guess that was close enough to bring the horror home for these kids that weren't alive yet when the tragedy happened.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2011 19:20:00 GMT -5
I was in elementary school. We were watching the launch in the library. I remember when it exploded and the teacher letting out a little scream. One of them hurry up and turned the tv off and they were crying.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Jan 28, 2011 19:29:26 GMT -5
I was in the 9th grade and we were watching it live. When our teacher realized what happened, he jumped up at shut the tv off. It was horrible to watch on tv, I can't imagine being there to watch in person. I can't imagine how the families felt watching it explode. I do remember watching clips of the family members cheering at first because they hadn't realized what happened. I was at work and I worked near The Church Street Station. I was just sure they were doing some kind of stunt that day because my brain couldn't wrap around what I was really seeing. People still don't get why I'm not interested in watching shuttle lift-offs. I still hold my breath when made to watch it in RL or leave the room until I know they are safe when DH has it on TV.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Jan 28, 2011 19:30:49 GMT -5
<<exalts bean>> Welcome, bean and good thread chiver!! You are next.
Sorry, I was getting bummed and needed to cheer up.
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TD2K
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Post by TD2K on Jan 28, 2011 20:25:49 GMT -5
Yup. I was at work. One of the planners came in and said there had been an explosion. We found a TV and saw the explosion and we knew no one was coming home alive from that.
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TD2K
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Post by TD2K on Jan 28, 2011 21:32:19 GMT -5
Have another one PoM. Hard to believe it's been 25 years since Challenger. I saw it in the paper and thought "it can't be 25 years" and then realized "OMG, it has been".
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Post by kristi28 on Jan 28, 2011 21:55:14 GMT -5
I was in elementary school too. I remember that they had all the kids my age gathered into one classroom to watch. I knew right away what had happened, but it seemed like some of the other kids didn't. It didn't seem real to me at the time. So sad.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jan 28, 2011 22:01:25 GMT -5
I remember more about the aftermath. The news stories on all the astronauts that perished and how stunned people were.
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ktunes
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Post by ktunes on Jan 29, 2011 2:53:06 GMT -5
i was on a construction site in south fl ..really cold morning...the sky was really blue, similar to 9/11...actually could see the liftoff...we kind of looked at each other and someone said that didn't look right so we went to a car and turned on the radio...shitty feeling in the pit of your stomach...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2011 21:03:12 GMT -5
I was a sophmore in highschool in Math when it happened! No one belived it
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Mad Dawg Wiccan
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Post by Mad Dawg Wiccan on Jan 29, 2011 22:27:45 GMT -5
I had stopped by my parent's house for some reason I don't remember now. I remember being shocked that the incident happened on take off, I always expected a disaster to happen on landing because a shuttle landing is purely gravity powered. No second chances there.
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