Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
For those of you who were old enough to really understand Challenger (I have no memory of it), what were those initial moments like?
I saw a video on YouTube once of Christa McAuliffe's parents watching the shuttle, and as it exploded people clapped because they thought it was a normal part of the launch or rocket separation.
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I was in the Navy, on my ship, taking a nap at lunch when it happened. I would have been 20, I think. I remember heading up the stairs on the way back to my office, through another berthing compartment. There was a TV and a huge crowd of people were gathered around it. Nobody was talking, and all eyes were glued to the screen. Shuttle launch was on. I was about to ask what the big deal was when it blew up - they were reshowing it. Very sad day. I either wasn't born yet or wasn't old enough to remember any of NASA's early ****-ups, so it was new and not in a good way.