32 Years Ago Today

bayonetbrant · January 28, 2018, 10:02:58 AM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

Where were you?

I was at a friend's apartment in Heidelberg, Germany, munching on Burger King with my dad and another friend, on our way to a Mötley Crüe concert that evening, when their son (my brother's former classmate) came into the living room and told us that the Space Shuttle Challenger just exploded on takeoff.

mirth · January 28, 2018, 10:11:43 AM

Sitting in a study hall when the word came. The teacher turned on a TV and we all sat there in stunned disbelief.

mirth · January 28, 2018, 10:12:52 AM

https://twitter.com/NASAhistory/status/956519529097695234

bbmike · January 28, 2018, 10:53:45 AM

Driving home from a college class.

Staggerwing · January 28, 2018, 10:55:13 AM

I was wheeling a patient on a stretcher into a semi-private hospital room and the person in the other bed had the TV on the wall going with the breaking news report. That was the first I heard of it.

bayonetbrant · January 28, 2018, 10:55:38 AM

Quote from: bbmike on January 28, 2018, 10:53:45 AM
Driving home from a college class.

Damn, you're old! :hug:

Barthheart · January 28, 2018, 11:05:27 AM

Ancient Roman technology class in 3rd year University, when someone walks in and says "The shuttle blew up!" We didn't believe him until someone got a radio broadcast going. :(

BanzaiCat · January 28, 2018, 11:06:27 AM

11th grade World History class. Can't remember the lecture, and we were not watching the launch, but I do remember one of the other teachers coming in to say there was an "explosion on the Space Shuttle" when it launched. Nobody seemed all that concerned since he didn't sound like it was anything terrible, but then in the next class someone had a TV in there and we saw it.

bbmike · January 28, 2018, 11:11:34 AM

Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 28, 2018, 10:55:38 AM
Quote from: bbmike on January 28, 2018, 10:53:45 AM
Driving home from a college class.

Damn, you're old! :hug:

And this thread made me feel so!

JasonPratt · January 28, 2018, 11:26:10 AM

Quote from: mirth on January 28, 2018, 10:11:43 AM
Sitting in a study hall when the word came. The teacher turned on a TV and we all sat there in stunned disbelief.

Same.

Quote from: Barthheart on January 28, 2018, 11:05:27 AM
Ancient Roman technology class in 3rd year University, when someone walks in and says "The shuttle blew up!" We didn't believe him until someone got a radio broadcast going. :(

Interesting: because some years later I learned that a contributing factor to the explosion was the width of a horse's butt thanks to ancient Roman technology! (I mean, inadvertently of course. A lot of good came out of it, too. The butt-width also contributed to the Nazis losing World War 2, for example.)

trailrunner · January 28, 2018, 11:30:31 AM

I don't remember where I was specifically on that day, but in January 1986 I was still in grad school.

besilarius · January 28, 2018, 11:43:47 AM

The long gone, Little Soldier Hobby Shop in Alexandria, Va.
What I recall most vividly, though, is Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show that night.
He asked if NASA really meant, "Need Another Seven Astronauts."

bayonetbrant · January 28, 2018, 04:29:13 PM

Quote from: besilarius on January 28, 2018, 11:43:47 AM
What I recall most vividly, though, is Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show that night.
He asked if NASA really meant, "Need Another Seven Astronauts."

he seriously said that?

OJsDad · January 28, 2018, 04:30:13 PM

Don't remember which class I was in, but I was a junior in high school.

besilarius · January 28, 2018, 08:10:05 PM

The Alzheimer's is creeping along, but have a very vivid memory of his saying that.
Believe he got a lot of heat next day over the comment.