25 Years ago today

25 years ago today, the NASA shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all 7 crew members aboard. Grim anniversary.

4th grade. Sitting in class and one of the 3rd grade teachers came in, very upset, and just said, "It blew up." The rest of the day was spent in the cafeteria watching news coverage.

3rd grade...Watching it live in the library. A lot of the kids had no clue what was happening. Very memorable day, sadly.

I was watching Jeopordy when the news cut into programming. It hit me harder than such like news events, as my daughter and grandmother were both at the launch site. It is astounding to consider that all this was caused by a small frozen piece of the assembly.

I dont remember if I was in 3rd or 4th grade... probly 3rd. I just remember that it didnt make much sense that the space shuttle didnt get into space. All the smoke and flames at blast off sort of lulled me into thinking the crash and explosion were normal for a few stunned seconds... until they explained what it meant... it was very, very sad. In all the years since, I have mourned the lost glory of our space program. I dont think those brave astronauts would have wanted us to all but give up on manned spaceflights....

I'm old. 11th grade. AP chem class.