Challenger exploded during launch twenty years ago today. I still have the newspaper around somewhere from the day after.
I kind of compare that day to the day of the Kennedy assassination my parents' generation had. One of those "where were you" things. I was in my science class in grade nine. At that point, we didn't watch shuttle launches in school anymore because it was just "normal" and not very newsworthy. That kind of bothered me, because I was rally into the space program through most of my childhood. The first shuttle launch several years early really captured my imagination. It still does, and it bothers me that nobody cares anymore about NASA or space exploration.
My teacher, Ms. Smith, a crabby woman but someone with her heart in the right place, was late to class. That was fairly unusual because she was such a hard ass all of the time. I remember that room particularly well because it had been renovated, and most of Whitney M. Young Junior High was aging. It had more of a new construction smell than a nasty old science lab.
When Ms. Smith came into the room, she had a very serious look on her face, like something was up. She said she had some bad news.
"The Space Shuttle... blew up."
My first reaction was that she was joking or just heard wrong. No way... I knew the craft and the launch process too well, and I just didn't think it was possible. I didn't pay attention much the rest of the day in class, and when I got home I rushed to the TV to find out what really happened.
I read the news paper nearly every day and watched ABC News almost every night. Much later we'd learn that the O-rings that sealed the joints in the solid rocket boosters failed and that caused the ignition of the fuel tank. It angered me that something so stupid caused the accident.
The more recent Columbia accident was very sad as well. I went to a hockey game that day, and it was hard to do that. I felt like a part of my childhood died that day in a way, because that was the first shuttle to orbit the Earth.
It's hard to say what will become of space exploration. It seems hard to justify the expense when there's so much shit going on here down on the planet, despite the many innovations that have come out of experiments in zero-gravity. I guess the idealist in me still thinks that the pursuit of science is a noble goal.
My office was in the library building and they had a TV set up in the lobby for watching the Challenger launch. I was pregnant with Ian at the time. The shock and numbness stayed with me for days.
Growing up watching the first American in space, the first men to walk on the moon, (not to mention the original Star Trek) space exploration was thrilling. But it's also dangerous. A fire in the capsule on the launch pad, Apollo 13. The risk is and always has been high. So it's no wonder public outcry has cut NASA's budgets.
As I said the day of the Columbia accident, The dreams and fantasies of those of us who grew up during the height of the space program are slowly dying. And worse, the dreams and hopes of those we've lost to disasters might die as well. That, to me, is saddest of all.
I watched the tribute on the news about it yesterday, much like I do every year. While it certainly saddens me, I can't relate to my parents or older friends' recollections of that day because I was less than a year old when it happened.
It's interesting, Jeff, that you say Challenger for your generation was much like the Kennedy assasination for your parent's generation. I guess that means the "remember every detail about the day it happenned and where you were" catastrophic event for me is 9/11. It's interesting that one day I'll tell my children about where I was that day and know it will have the same powerful impact it has on me hearing both of your stories about where you were when Challenger happened.
Thanks for sharing.
I would say that 9/11 certainly ranks as a close second for me, but obviously not being a kid anymore I was able to process that a little more. I can tell very similar stories for 9/11, only I was at a job that day (and happened to receive the parts for the machine that would serve as the CoasterBuzz server the next two years).
For me, being old enough to remember where I was during the Kennedy assasintation (in my 4th grade classroom when the principal came onto the PA system to make the announcement.), there are many such historical moments that stick out clearly enough in my mind that I can remember where I was and my surroundings in very clear detail.
I just read an article on the myths of the Challenger disaster and one of them was that most people claim to see it live, but few actually did. Our school, much like yours, Jeff, didn't watch them live anymore, except for this one as they were sending a teacher into space.
With the Columbia shuttle, I had fallen asleep with the TV on and slowly awoke to the news of that shuttle.
And finally, with 9/11, I was in Boca Raton, Florida for work and was packing my stuff in the hotel room, getting ready to checkout and head for the airport. My stay in Boca was extended about four days or so. I happened to be on the first flight out of Ft. Lauderdale when they begain flying again.