MoonHowler

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’

Thank you.

President Ronald Reagan – January 28, 1986

6 Thoughts to “The Challenger: 25 years ago today”

  1. Posting as Pinko
    January 28, 2011 at 8:13 pm

    I was sitting in journalism class when the principal made the announcement. I don’t think the school had ever been so silent.

  2. Cindy B
    January 28, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    I listened a wonderful piece, a remembrance of Ronald McNair by his older brother, this morning on NPR:

    http://www.npr.org/2011/01/28/133275198/astronauts-brother-recalls-a-man-who-dreamed-big

  3. Lafayette
    January 28, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    I was in the library at good ole Stonewall Jackson Senior High School to watch Challenger. I still remember the eerie silence. I will always remember that day. It was the 9/11 of our day.

  4. Censored bybvbl
    January 28, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    I was at home when a neighbor who was part of a news crew called to ask me to babysit his children because he’s been called in to work.

  5. Slowpoke Rodriguez
    January 29, 2011 at 11:38 am

    Oddly enough, I just happened to be in front of a Television when this happened. In the Multimedia room in my high school library. Remember it well.

  6. Cargosquid
    January 30, 2011 at 3:02 pm

    I was watching the launch while in the dining hall in Diego Garcia. Stunned silence is the most accurate description for the entire room, followed by “HOLY …………..!!!!”

    My mother worked with 3 engineers that were investigating the cause. In a nutshell, each engineer found a reason for the explosion in his discipline, but the consensus was the failure of the “O” ring and the puncture of the fuel tank due to repeated expansion and contraction against a hard point due to the emptying and re-filling of the main tank. All the video monitors on one side of the launch pad failed. No recordings. The files and tapes from the “investigation” were bundled into boxes and dumped in a hallway, where they sat, until the investigation commenced.

    One odd thing….during every launch, the USSR had a spy trawler recording intel off of our coast. Just before launch…the trawler, this time, exited the area at high speed and got out of the launch area. Perhaps the Russians were familiar with the dangers of the difficulties that were were having……

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