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    Never forget them… STS-51-L - 28 January 1986 - Challenger.
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    Never forget them… STS-51-L – 28 January 1986 – Challenger.

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    17 Comments

    1. NeighborEnabler on

      Cutting corners, budgeting, etc. it was bound to happen eventually.

      *”as I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind – every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder“ – John Glenn*

    2. Asexualhipposloth on

      And I saw this post at 11:39 am EST. I remember watching it in school as they rolled the TV into the classroom.

    3. Chitownhustle99 on

      And remember how we used to use smart people. Richard Feynman theoretical physicist putting the sealing putty from the solid rocket booster in the ice water pitcher to see that it shrunk at that temp.

    5. Mike_Viewing_Stuff on

      I was at work in Tampa, I went outside and saw the ugliest cloud I have ever seen. It was there all day…

    6. ardendolas on

      I was a 9 year old space nut at the time, and our lunch recess coincided with the launch. I lived right near the school, so I would walk home for lunch, so on that day, I had a little extra pep in my walk, so I wouldn’t miss it.

      I bawled for the rest of the day, and then spent the next few days struggling to understand how this happened. It still haunts me to this day, watching the explosion, the boosters continuing their erratic runs, and the cabin parts plunging down into the sea…

    8. BluEydMonster on

      I was in the second grade, watching the launch on the TV that the teacher had rolled in just for this. Something I will never forget.

    10. Rat-in-the-machine on

      I lived in Daytona at the time… in high school… and I was a real Space Coast brat. I went down to the Cape to watch most launches, but could not that day due to a big test in my AP Spanish class. So… we all went out on the second story breezeway looking south. Did not take long for a couple of us wannabe engineers to know something serious had happened. Still etched into my brain. The rest of the day was somber at best… still get the same feeling each anniversary.

    11. TheManInTheShack on

      I remember watching it at work. When the enormous cloud of smoke appeared just after throttle up I feared something had gone seriously wrong. When I didn’t see the orbiter exit the smoke cloud, I became certain that I’d just witnessed a terrible disaster.

    12. TardisTexan on

      If you are interested in the how why who there is a great book called Challenger by Adam Higginbotham. Very detailed. Very sad

    13. Whynot151 on

      I was eighteen years old and stationed in West Germany with the US Army, we rolled on alert in full battle rattle. Someone somewhere believed there was an outside chance it was brought down by the Russians and we were there to delay the advance of a Russian invasion.

    15. Limit_Cycle8765 on

      I was walking into our offices and the secretary said the shuttle just exploded. I went to the officer’s club at lunch since they had TVs to watch.

    16. beltanebighands on

      Watched it live in science class my sophomore year of HS. A teacher at my school was one of the finalists for the mission and a favorite of students. We were all horrified by what happened, but also silently and guiltily relieved our teacher wasn’t on that shuttle.