Do You Remember Where You Were When You Heard Of The Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy?

On January 28, 1986, the entire Nation watched in shocked disbelief when just 73 seconds after liftoff, the space shuttle Challenger exploded. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who would have been the first civilian in space. She was going to work on the crew as a payload specialist.

The other six crew members were payload specialist Gregory Jarvis, mission specialist Judith A. Resnik, mission commander Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, mission specialist Ronald E. McNair, pilot Mike J. Smith and mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka.

The shuttle took off just before noon from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Americans watched from the ground below and on television around the Country. Many of them were schoolchildren, who were excited to see Christa McAuliffe as NASA’s first teacher chosen for space.

It was later determined that two rubber O-rings which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy prompted NASA to temporarily suspend all shuttle missions.

That night, President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people:

We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers. ~President Ronald Reagan.

In addressing the schoolchildren, he added:

The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted. It belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. ~President Ronald Reagan

I remember everything about that day. I was one who was watching it on television as it happened. At first, I didn’t realize that the shuttle had exploded. And I don’t think the announcers knew either. They didn’t know what to say. It was such a tragedy. The whole Nation mourned.

Do you remember where you were when you heard of this tragedy?

Sending you blessings of love and light from Sterrett, Alabama!
Charity

Source: ABC.com; History.com

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