Today is the 30th anniversary of the loss of the space shuttle Challenger on the morning of January 28, 1986, with the death of all seven astronauts aboard.

Time sure flies... I was a high school freshman when Challenger happened. I had skipped school that day to get the fields worked up in preparation for planting cotton a couple months later. I remember it was a gorgeous, sunshiny day, much like we had here today, but a bit chilly... I was bundled up pretty good on our old open-station Ford 6600 tractor running the hipper across the field and daydreaming. I knew a shuttle was scheduled to lift off that morning and wanted to see it, but I had a lot of work to get done.

Dad had gotten off work at 6 am and had been asleep since he got home. He came down to the field in the truck and picked me up so we could go eat lunch at Grandma's... when I got in the truck he told me "the shuttle blew up". I figured that he'd seen some of the coverage on TV and saw the boosters separate, paired with the big plume of exhaust from the separation motors going off on the SRB's as they are pushed away from the shuttle stack, it does look something like an explosion, and since he didn't particularly care about the space program or know much of anything about it, I figured that was what he saw. When we got to Grandma's, sure enough it was all over the TV. We ate lunch and watched the coverage, and I had to go back to the field. I popped a tape into my new-fangled VCR, a Sears top-loader that I had bought on clearance just before Christmas with part of my farm income from the previous year... It set me back $350, which was a LOT of money in 1986! (such a VCR now wouldn't even be sold for $20 bucks at the dollar store... too primitive). I popped in a VHS and set it to record on the slowest speed, so I could watch all the coverage later on. Very sad day...

All three channels (yes, back then we had 4 channels on VHF, one of which was PBS, so all three networks) covered the shuttle around the clock, so it seemed, that first day. I think Dan Rather must have broadcast for about 12 hours straight. Of course 95% of it was rehashing of events, since there was very little "new" to report on that first day...

Respects and remembrance for the families, and now grown children, of the Challenger 7...

Later! OL J R

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

I remember it perfectly also.
I was still in the Navy and I was at the ASW base in San Diego.

My prayers and remembrances to the brave voyagers and to their families.

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Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

I think a lot of folks remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard that news. I was having a business lunch with a sales guy and a customer (I was doing tech service for the account at the time) and the owner of the restaurant came to our table to tell us of the disaster. I couldn't believe it. I'll never forget it. Crushing news.

Joe

I worked for HP at the time, but we did not have the Internet then, and nobody saw news items popping up on smartphones ... hard to imagine how different life was back then. My wife called me at work. She had just put out newborn down for a nap, turned on the TV, was horrified at the news, and called me immediately. We found a TV at work to check things out, then I headed home.

A truly sad, and very memorable day.

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

I was a 1Lt. at Wright-Patterson AFB. I was returning to work after lunch when I heard it on my car radio. What a horrible day it was.

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Friends Don't let Friends Do TRF

I grew up a couple of counties away from KSC. It was bitter cold that morning and when I heard on the news that the Shuttle was launching I said to myself they should not attempt it in this weather.

Later that morning, I was driving home from an interview when I heard the news on the radio. I looked to the east as I was crossing the I-4 overpass and saw the forked smoke trail.

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Living life on the edge...launching C's on a B field.

I'll repeat my post from two years ago.

The day before the Challenger was the Apollo 1 anniversary and a few days from now is Columbia anniversary.

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If it flies, I can crash it!

Yes.... it's shameful that no President has named a "Astronauts day of Remembrance" or something along those lines, if not an outright holiday...

Later! OL J R

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!