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frodosdream t1_ivv6c6t wrote

Better version reported by NBC.

>The shuttle broke apart just 73 seconds into its flight on Jan. 28, 1986. It disintegrated 46,000 feet above the ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

>The mission, called STS-51L, was commanded by Francis R. “Dick” Scobee and piloted by Michael J. Smith. Other astronauts included Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Gregory B. Jarvis, and S. Christa McAuliffe, a high school social studies teacher in Concord, New Hampshire. She had been selected as the primary candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Project in July 1985.

The explosion traumatized an entire generation of kids around the country watching the launch live from their school rooms in support of the "Teacher in Space Project."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/piece-challenger-space-shuttle-discovered-bottom-atlantic-floridas-coa-rcna56653?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

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Kinetic_Strike t1_ivw2een wrote

Was one of the elementary kids. We were West Coast though, so we didn't have it on live, I think we were planning to watch the first broadcast from the shuttle they had set up. A handful of us stayed inside for recess, our teacher was turning on the TV to see what was going on. That's when we found out.

Fast forward a decade and half, and I watched the pieces of Columbia falling through the sky from a breakroom at work. Drove home in a daze listening to the news.

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howitzer86 t1_ivwq9a9 wrote

Columbia. Ooof.

I was riding in the car with my parents and realized all the flags we were passing were half-staff. Turning to the news on TV was the first thing I did when we made it home.

I watched a lot of reporting on that... but one thing I don't remember from back then is the cabin video. I don't know if they didn't have it yet, or if they chose to wait to release it, but it exists. Reentry burned the film up, so it ends before anything bad happens. It is still eerie as fuck.

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drrhrrdrr t1_ivy7k4u wrote

I heard a boom and the plates in my kitchen rattled. Looked outside and there was a streak across the southern sky that crisp winter morning...

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nkdby t1_ivx65o1 wrote

I was also on the West Coast. We watched it live in our classroom on the old metal av rolling stand with a gigantic tv strapped to the top. I was in the young astronauts club at the time. It didn't really occur to us that we had watched people die until after the broadcast was interrupted and the news came on. I think that was the beginning of the end for NASA.

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MUPIL090310 t1_ivyu37q wrote

I have hazy recollection (I believe I was in first grade??) and now basically knowing that as a kid I was not realizing and comprehending fully what I was seeing. Like the blast off happened and then the explosion and the teacher turning off the tv. And I remember just thinking - what was that??? What just happened?

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BLRNerd t1_ivxx6xs wrote

I remember watching the memorial for the Colombia disaster in 4th Grade, right at the height of post 9/11.

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oldgeek123 t1_ivw6m1u wrote

I was one of those kids. I remember that SO clearly.

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SidFinch99 t1_ivwl23t wrote

I was confused, didn't understand what was going on, the Teachers had this confused look on their faces, one reached over real fast and turned the TV off, then we had to go back to class and not really understanding what just happened, I was kind of bummed because I thought we would miss more regular class time for what we were being brought to the library to watch.

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LukeMayeshothand t1_ivwq8ur wrote

Yeah I remember watching in the common area of my elementary school. My 3rd grade teacher was crying and I guess it made a pretty big impact on me considering I vividly remember it .

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ReflexPoint t1_ivwkx8q wrote

I was in 4th grade. Christa McAuliffe. I will never forget that name.

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SoSoUnhelpful t1_ivwvf3g wrote

For those that witnessed it, you remember exactly what you were doing like it was yesterday. It is one of a handful of defining national memories from our generation. Our innocence was shattered.

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3PoundHummingbird t1_ivx5ou5 wrote

I got out of school early that day. I was in a total daze after watching it happen, and remember going to the playground across the street from my house that was always super busy. I was the only one there. I remember it being a very strange and lonely time on those swings, processing what had happened.

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chicago_bunny t1_ivwuv5w wrote

I was 12 years old and didn't go to school that day because I was sick. My mom dropped me off at grandma's house. We were watching her programs, and they interrupted some game show hosted by Chuck Woolery to show the launch. I remember the confusion of the reporters who weren't sure what to make of the unexpected cloud of smoke they saw after the launch. Oof.

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kurbycar32 t1_ivy6m5t wrote

The teacher's spot on the shuttle was almost Big Bird from Sesame Street. Yes, millions of kids almost watched Big Bird go down with Challenger but the suit wasn't going to fit in the shuttle and NASA ultimately sent a teacher instead.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/nasa-confirms-talks-fly-big-bird-doomed-shuttle-challenger-n353521

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twistedweenis t1_ivz23c3 wrote

Oh I remember. Fifth grade and all of us were old enough to know exactly what happened. My teacher just turned the TV off and sat there for a long moment. :'(

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fsr1967 t1_ivxs0t1 wrote

I was a Freshman in college. I'd just finished lunch and was in the bathroom. The dorm janitor, Manny, came in and said, "So, do you think they'll find any of them alive up there?" (he was a little slow). Confused, I asked what he was talking about. "The space shuttle - it exploded."

I don't think my feet hit the floor between the bathroom and my dorm room, where I turned on my little black and white TV and sat in front of it for the next few hours, skipping classes and watching the coverage.

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[deleted] t1_ivvoeud wrote

[deleted]

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sundogmooinpuppy t1_ivvtl3d wrote

Talk about callous: I was one of those kids and someone came up with the joke…. “ Do you know why they served Coke on the Space Shuttle…..?”

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Reep1611 t1_ivw2ech wrote

Because it was completely uncalled for, extremely rude and adds nothing to the discussion while also being off topic?

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