25 years ago today, I was a 6 year old boy on vacation with his family in Florida.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

None of us had never seen a space shuttle lauch before, so the prospects were exciting.

It was cold--the night before especially. The previous night, while driving, we noticed how large the moon looked on the horizon, and how red it looked. My mother remarked that some people saw that as an omen of bad things.

So that morning we were driving along I-4 in Volusia County, Florida, just past the bridge over Lake Monroe. We were beginning to make the long drive back to our home back north. Knowing that the space shuttle was scheduled to launch that morning, our eyes constantly scoured the horizon for any sign. It seemed like forever.

Until I saw a bright light slowly rising, followed by a pure white contrail. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I told my parents, and they pulled the car over. We all got out, and several other cars had also pulled off to the shoulder and watched as well.

The plume continued to rise, and my father took out his camera and begun to snap pictures. Nothing seemed odd or abnormal--even when the plume seperated into two contrails. We assumed that was how all space shuttle launches were.

My father took several more pictures of the curious two pronged plume, and after it appeared the plume had stopped rising, we got back in the car and began driving, excited at seeing our first space shuttle launch.

My mother decided to switch on the radio. On was a news bulletin.

"The space shuttle has exploded."

My mom gasped.

My father would note that he saw that two pronged cloud of death as far north as the St. John's River in Jacksonville, and how haunting it was, that reminder of death.

We pulled into a McDonalds to have lunch. The entire dining room was silent, in shock. I remember hearing another child remark to his mother as to why the shuttle exploded.

I was 6 years old, but I knew about life and death. I knew those 7 astronauts had perished. On cartoons that I watched, when a character exploded, all you saw was their face covered in soot, which they then shook off and went back to business. I knew that wasn't real. I knew that wasn't actually the case for those on the space shuttle that day.

Yet something in my six year old mind wanted that to be real. That the astronauts were safe. That they hadn't died, that they were found safely and could return back to their familes. It was a conscious denial on my part, not to dwell on that grim fact, to pretend what I knew wasn't real. But what's a six year old to do?

The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986 was undoubtedly the most notable moment I ever witnessed in person. It would be interesting how I would have reacted if I witnessed it as an adult. But part of me thinks I might have reacted the same way, that I would have hoped--against reality--that those 7 brave souls were safe and sound.

[Desertrose]

1. My son was 8...he was home - because of a snow day I think....

It was a very sad day....he still talks about that awful sight. I think he feels about the same way you do,Tommy.

Thanks for posting.....Challenger will be forever remembered and the brave souls who went down with her.

:(

eta...I can't imagine the horror of watching that unfold live. :hug:

[Nordmadr]

2. We were in class and a ripple just went through the school with the news.

It was on in the library. I was watching it, with nothing short of shock and disbelief. I was 12.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I was in high school and saw it on happen on the TV in the Physics room. We were

all in shock. :(

[monmouth]

4. I remember the camera often going to the the McAuliffs (sp?) and

the disbelief in their faces. God awful.

[tabatha]

5. A very traumatic day.

Good writing, btw.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. I was in school in FLA. They turned on the TV in all the classrooms, something that was kind of rare

to do in those days, to watch the news coverage.

[Horse with no Name]

7. I was driving to a job interview in Waco, TX

I remember pulling over.

It was one of the most shocking moments of history in my young life at that point in time.
I still can easily visualize the astronauts and Christa McAuliffe in their orange jumpsuits smiling and waving for the cameras as they boarded the shuttle. It was haunting.

[Xithras]

8. I was in my school auditorium, and we were watching the launch on TV

A big part of the reason that Challenger is burned into so many of my generations minds was Christa McAuliffe. She was to be the first teacher in space, and NASA had planned a series of live broadcasts from orbit where she would be teaching kids around the world about physics, life in space, etc. For the first time in history, schoolkids were going to be able to ask an astronaut a question while they were still in space.

NASA had been pushing the program for many months, and Christa McAuliffe herself had appeared on quite a few TV shows to promote it. Because of the publicity, millions of schoolkids in thousands of schools across the country were tuned in to watch her launch. Instead, we watched her die. For many of us, it was our first real first-hand experience with death. She was a teacher, just like the ones we dealt with every day in class, and she was killed on live television, right in front of us.

I can never forget that moment. Some kid had started chanting "Go, Go, Go, Go..." right after the shuttle cleared the tower, and by a minute in every kid in the auditorium was chanting it. The teachers were trying to shush us because they couldn't hear the commentators anymore, but we were having fun and ignored them.

And then POOF. It was gone. And in a heartbeat the entire auditorium went from cheering kids to dead silence. One of the fifth grade teachers who was familiar with the space program realized within moments what had just happened and bolted across the auditorium to try and turn the TV off before WE realized what we'd just seen, but he was too late. Half the kids in that auditorium walked out with tears streaming down their faces, and the principal ultimately let us all go home early that day with a note to our parents, urging them to talk to us about what happened. That note was printed on half sheet, baby blue paper with little pink and white speckles in it. For some reason, even after all of these years, I can still remember every detail from that day, from the looks on my teachers faces to the texture of the paper on the note I took home.

[EOTE]

9. 25 years ago today, I too was a 6 year old in Florida.

I don't recall that day nearly as well as you do, though. I remember an incredible sinking feeling in my heart and the thought that heroes weren't supposed to die, not like that.

[ceile]

10. I was 10. They made us watch the aftermath on tv.

I was slightly traumatized. Who shows 10 year olds television footage of astronauts blowing up?

[davsand]

11. I was working the lunch shift at the Moose Club.

Nobody liked working the lunch shift because the bar was so slow and tips were small. I was the bar manager and I'd cover it myself so I could save payroll and still keep my bartenders happy. More often than not, I'd go help with tables or make rounds with the coffee pots just to do it. We had a pretty regular lunch following--lots of business guys--and everybody knew each other. Very mellow.

The day the Challenger exploded I was struck by the number of guys that ordinarily were fairly jocular who were just stone faced. They'd come in, sit at a table that faced the TV, and they all just sat and watched the coverage of the disaster. There was none of the usual banter and table hopping, it was a lot like a funeral atmosphere. I saw more than one guy wipe his eyes, and more than one unfinished lunch. People were horribly impacted by that tragedy, and they talked about it with each other. I remember thinking at the time that maybe or country really was a lot more unified than I'd ever realized.



Laura

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. I remember that day too.

It was a cloudless day. It was as if the skies had cleared so that everyone in Florida could witness that disaster.

[kickysnana]

13. My bigger shock was the fact that they had no rescue plan.

Granted that there was probably no need but sometimes things don't go the way the guys in the labs and engineering sections go the way they think it will happen. It blew my mind that there was no rescue plan.