Requiem in Pacem…


25 years ago today…
The Challenger blew up on launch at 79 seconds, 9 nm high.

We lost seven good people, trying their best to improve our lives.

Take a moment and remember please…

Comments

Requiem in Pacem… — 16 Comments

  1. I watched it happen from the other side of Florida. When it blew, I knew I was watching the ashes, and souls, of some good people who died doing something brave, and right.

    It still sucked.

  2. I was helping out a friend at his parents video store in Fl.We watched the whole thing unfold on tv.I was in shock.

  3. The same day this happened, the church attached to my elementary school burned down. I was five years old. I remember seeing the fire from the bus as we drove up, then were turned around to head home. I went to my babysitter’s, since my parents worked during the day, and she made sure we watched the liftoff.

    Then the explosion happened. That day is forever burned into my memory.

  4. I had just come home from work. AFN was showing live broadcasts of the Today show in Germany at the time. I can’t quite remember if I was watching the live launch or was catching the replay. But I remember sitting on the couch with my family with tears in my eyes.

  5. I wanted to stay home and watch the launch – so I watched lift-off, then I got into my car, turned it on, began to back out of the driveway (radio on) and it happened.

    I pulled my car back into the driveway, went back into the house and was horrified.

  6. That is why it is called “Rocket Science”. When it isn’t perfect, people die. We can all feel for those who died. Spare a thought for the people involved in the manufacturing and launching. I wouldn’t want to carry that load of guilt.

    We can’t have progress without risk. Unfortunately, sometimes amazing people get killed.

  7. I was sitting on the couch, watching the launch live in TV. I had a 32-ounce plastic cup of iced tea in my hands. When I saw the shuttle explode, I dropped the tea on the carpet.

  8. Thanks for remembering… I had the duty as the Ready Alert at NAS JAX. I watched it from my driveway, jumped in the truck and headed back in. 1 1/2 hours later we were in the downrange box, at 200 feet looking for survivors, and hoping against hope…

  9. I’m getting old…thought this happened when I was younger, before I moved here. I do remember we watched every launch on t.v. at school until this happened. I also remember a great number of folks claiming it was a racially motivated move on NASA’s part & couldn’t believe folks could be so narrow-minded and ignorant.

  10. I had just lost my job two days prior.
    That very day my 4 yr. old son had drainage tubes put in his ears and was cranky as we came home and turned on the TV to see the forked contrails…
    “Uh-oh. Something absolutely terrible has happened.”
    The rest of the day was spent trying to comfort my son while listening to the description of events that lead to an accident that never should have happened.

    One of the worst outcomes of this incident?
    We may now be TOO cautious.

  11. My wife, as many others had, applied for the “Teacher in Space” position – and one of my brothers was waiting to see if he’d been accepted as a mission specialist. My wife was home with the flu. The phone rang, a fellow teacher called to see how she was doing, “after what happened”. So I turned on the TV…
    OldeForce

  12. Snigs- Ignorance over reality… then, now and forever… sigh…

    GB- Not a good day, not at all.

    Olde- Yep, this one was spread far and wide quickly…

  13. I watched it happen from the other side of Florida. When it blew, I knew I was watching the ashes, and souls, of some good people who died doing something brave, and right. 2945abc45 0223