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1.28.2011
Shuttle Disaster: 25 Years Later
Not sure about the caption, but I had never seen this video before.
Twenty-five years ago today, I was sitting at my desk in law school with KRLD on the radio. The broadcast of the Challenger's launch was going to be broadcast but the station was late getting to it. Once they did, the first words I heard were Christopher Glenn (of Saturday Morning "In The News" fame) say, "Something is definitely wrong here."
I've had people dispute my account*, but I ran to the TV to get the news and none of the networks had cut in yet. It was the weirdest feeling, in that pre-Internet age, to know that any second I would see a "Breaking News" banner across the screen.
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* Some people have said that the launch was broadcast live on the networks. I just don't think that's right. Then again, it's been 25 years.
Edit: It might have been on CNN but I didn't have cable. Was it on ABC, CBS or NBC live?
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If I remember correctly, the networks were broadcasting live because of the Christa McAuliffe story. The networks were broadcasting so that school kids across the country could see the shuttle launch for the first "Teacher in Space."
And I was wrong.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11031097/ns/technology_and_science-space/
I remember seeing it live because I was one of those kids in school.
I've never seen that video before. There was a never-before-seen home video of the launch released about this time last year, but it was from a pretty good distance away. If I remember correctly, CNN was the only network that carried the launch live.
Yes, it was shown live on TV. I remember that TV viewers knew something was wrong before everyone on the ground did. I just sat down and cried because the teacher was on it.
I was in 10th grade - 5th period. The entire class was supposed to be watching it, but they were goofing off. The teacher was like a female version of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off- talked the same. When I saw the explosion, I stood up and pointed and said it just blew up. Most of the class continued bs'ing with each otehr, and the teacher said, "No. It's supposed to look like that..."
She finally figured it out.
It was a bummer of a day.
2:50...So I guess the other people that got all blowed up did not matter to you, just the teacher? Nice!
http://m.9news.com/topstory/article?a=178219&f=585
The link is for KUSA photojournalist Manny Sotelo's legendary Nat. SOT piece about the Challenger disaster. Reporter Gary Shapiro had the good sense to stay out of the way.
I hope the link works. I posted from iPhone.
I was watching live in the Student Center my senior year of college. Sorry, BG, but it was live! I just remember standing there in disbelief!
31 years ago today, my Dad was killed in an automobile accident. 25 years ago today, my Daughter was born. Bitter-sweet memories.
i was at home taking care of my baby girl... she was 5 months old... i was feeding her and watching the shuttle event... i think it was on CBS... it took a minute before i realized what i had just seen....
"For one thing, most of the major TV networks did not broadcast the launch live. For another, the launch occurred on a Tuesday at 11:39 a.m., eastern time, when most people across the country were at work."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/pictures/110127-challenger-disaster-space-shuttle-25th-anniversary-myths-science-nasa/?now=2011-01-27-00:01#/challenger-disaster-myths-everyone-watched-tv_31733_600x450.jpg
I really thought that shuttle launches had become so 'routine' at that time that the regular networks didn't broadcast it. I was at work in a big office building & we had trouble finding coverage on tv after some co-workers heard about the explosion on the radio. I was living in NH, the next town over from where Christa lived, and she had taught in our town, so it was a big deal and a horrible tragedy.
I watched the broadcast live in my Theatre History class in 10th grade. The school wanted us to see the first teacher in space. It was unreal, to watch that type of devastation live.
I was at the admissions counter at Weatherford College, and saw it on their tiny TV that was behind the counter. A sand day!
25 years ago I was gettin mo pooty than fo Chinese restaurants.
I was in a conference room ay Rocketdyne Corp. in Canoga Park, Ca, where I was working at the time. The company engineered and manufactured the Space Shuttle main engines, the liquid fuel rockets. When it lifted off there was a big cheer but the room quickly went silent. The first thing I remember hearing was an engineer saying "God, I hope that wasn't ours".
I was a sophomore or junior in high school and I remember hearing Tony Tipping saying something about the "shuttle blowing up" between classes and between getting my ass kicked by the seniors.
Of course, you all know who Tony Tipping is...
Walked down to the main lobby in MCL at TWU. Saw it on tv don't know if it was live. Just remember thinking this is one of those moments that I'll know where I was 50 years from now. So its been 25 ...
I was a 5th grader, living in Las Vegas at the time and my entire class was watching the launch.
I was at Richardson Medical Center doing clinicals for xray. We all stopped to watch it on the TV in the ER, and stood in disbelief when we realized something was terribly wrong. Tears flowed. The astronauts and the teacher..all gone in an instant. So sad. Someone made a comment that we would all remember where we were that day just like people did when Kennedy was shot. He was right. Unfortunately, I also have 2 other days that came after forever etched in my mind: April 18, 1993 and Sept, 11, 2001.
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