Where were you when the Challenger blew up?

[trimman83]

My Dad worked for NASA for the shuttle program...so I was there at the outside launch watching area. The sound was deafening when it exploded and the entire area went dead silent. What seemed like an eternity the next sound were sirens of officials coming to take the families away, then crying, screaming and panic. I was only 9 but I will never forget it for the rest of the my life.

You win(or Lose)The things nightmares are made of.

 

[jbombelli]

My Dad worked for NASA for the shuttle program...so I was there at the outside launch watching area. The sound was deafening when it exploded and the entire area went dead silent. What seemed like an eternity the next sound were sirens of officials coming to take the families away, then crying, screaming and panic. I was only 9 but I will never forget it for the rest of the my life.

My dad worked for Rockwell International in the 70s as a project manager. On the shuttle program.

Small world.

 

[lrdudley]

Driving south on I-95 at West Palm Beach. Saw it explode in my rear view mirror.

 

[lordjackel]

My dad worked for Rockwell International in the 70s as a project manager. On the shuttle program.

Small world.

Very small...right after this event he quit NASA and went to Rockwell on the B1 and B2 Bomber programs (with Boeing now) he was the electrical tech writer supervisor. Great time as a kid as I have flown in both planes.

 

[Skullglide]

3rd grade we were very excited. It was a very somber day afterward.

 

[rhino]

I was in a safety management class in college.

Ironic that they launched when it was outside the safety design specs. The cost for the one day delay was $3,000,000 and NASA had lots of press and VIP's they didn't want to let down.....

I don't know if I was cutting class or what (junior in college at that time), but I was lying in bed watching "Scrabble" because a very attractive girl from my neighborhood as a kid was supposed to be on that day. I never got to see her win because the broadcast was interrupted when all of the networks reported the explosion. It was a bad day.

On a related note, the following summer I was working at a factory and they hired a new engineer who lost his job during the massive layoffs at Morton Thiokol after they (wrongly in my opinion) were blamed for the failure. He was one of the engineers who designed the food serving system on the shuttles. He must have been desperate for a job at that point to take a job there.

 

[russc2542]

I was a little over a year old... given my dad's interest in sci-fi and that looking at pics/video of it has always given me some feeling of deja-vu or familiarity, I would guess I was watching it on TV too.

My dad worked for Rockwell International in the 70s as a project manager. On the shuttle program.

Small world.

Very small...right after this event he quit NASA and went to Rockwell on the B1 and B2 Bomber programs (with Boeing now) he was the electrical tech writer supervisor. Great time as a kid as I have flown in both planes.

Even smaller, my uncle recently retired from Rockwell-Collins doing electrical and radio work including gov't projects.

 

[Dybber]

Elementary school. We watched it live on a small tv on a cart.

 

[63PGP]

Surfing in Newport Beach, CA.

 

[AllenM]

At work in Las Vegas

 

[Dirty Steve]

Standing in a lounge at college between classes and watched the whole thing. The only word anyone said when it blew up was F*U%!!!. Everyone sat or stood their in complete stunned silence.

Dirty Steve

 

[indy durtdigger]

In the 5th grade. They brought tvs into the classrooms so we could watch it since there was a school teacher on board. Still remember Mrs. Douglass running to it and spinning the thing so we couldn't see and all the teachers gathereing and watching it in stunned silence.

 

[88E30M50]

I was in college getting my A&P license. A bunch of us went to lunch at the cafeteria and were watching it when it blew up.

 

[ultra...good]

Funny story about that actually. Was in the 5th grade, in school at the time. It was a catholic school and one of our religion classes was taught by a nun. She always said "I challenge you to do this, I challenge you to do that" as a means of motivation. But, she over did it and of course, her nickname became "The Challenger". So, the day the shuttle blew up was just a normal day like any. We were not watching the launch on TV, but when it happened, the principal came over the PA system to announce that the Challenger had exploded and that we should all turn on our TV's to watch the news. Every kid in that class was looking at each other all confused as we thought our religion teacher had just exploded. No kidding, it was epic. It was like a sigh of relief when we found out it was just the shuttle that had exploded, not our teacher.

Don't know how I forgot about that, but thanks for the reminder!!

 

[Magneto]

I was sitting in 7th grade reading class at Floyd Central Junior High when they came over the intercom and told us. Very somber day after that. I didn't actually see the explosion until I got home that day.

 

[Lil Bob]

In the US Navy stationed overseas in Sicily.

 

[Plaidkat1911]

I was watching it on TV when it happened.

 

[1775usmarine]

Heard it from inside the womb.

 

[LizR]

I was at school. Second or third grade. They rolled in the big TV strapped to the cart so we could all watch it.

 

[DadSmith]

Was watching live in classroom.