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zfehr

Challenger crew, R.I.P. -- Janurary 28th, 1986

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I was sitting in front of the TV wondering why NASA hadn't announced the booster separation and why the boosters weren't diverging smoothly the way they usually do. While it wasn't immediately obvious (when the tank disintegrated) exactly what had happened, it WAS immediately obvious (from the sudden vapor cloud and careening boosters) the launch was NOT progressing normally. For a SHORT period there I hoped the orbiter would be visible gliding out of the cloud. Unidentified debris was clearly visible on the TV falling into the ocean a few minutes later. I don't recall NASA verifying it, but I suspect the falling crew compartment was one of the visible pieces.I feared the shuttle program would be completely canceled.

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my freshman year of college. i was brushing my teeth and watching the launch on TV. like already stated i waited to see if the orbiter would come out of the clouds for a landing ...i didn't have a car at the time (cars for college students were a rare thing back then) and i walked across town (pullman, WA) to a orthodontist appointment listening to the news on my 'walkman' radio. lots of folks didn't go to class that day as we were glued to the TV (CNN mostly).as my last name is close the that of the mission commanders i still get people asking me is i am related (i'm not). my mom was a teacher at scobee's high school (auburn, WA) ... it is a small world.--


D. Scobie, feelThere support forum moderator: https://forum.simflight.com/forum/169-feelthere-support-forums/

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I was plowing snow when the news broke on the radio.Dave F.

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Guest V4DIV-CVN-70

Naval Air Station Millington TN. AME "A" School (US Navy) in the barracks break room with about 20 other sailors watching the launch. We were all in aviation training classes of some kind and we had planned to watch the shuttle even if late for muster. I remember it so clearly. I can picture the old TV on a 60's style stand with most of us standing and watching. It go very quite We all must have had a tear. Man what a day.........NEVER FORGET! They are HEROS!

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Guest fullstoplanding

I worked for NASA and was on the midnight-shift covering the launch. Some time during that morning I called out to see if the launch had been scrubbed or gotten off on time so that I wouldn't have to go back out to the Center again that midnight. You never were sure if a launch had gone or been scrubbed for a 24 or 48-hour hold. Jerry, at our the console, answered the phone and was crying. She told me what happened. When I hung up, I cried. I turned on the television and stayed up the rest of the day. It was on all the TV channels. --Roger

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I was in the Air Force at a meeting with some other staff officers when the Colonel's secretary stuck her head into the room and said that the Shuttle had exploded. I was struct dumb. I don't remember if the meeting broke up or kept going, but I remember being home later that day and watching the news and the grief. Oh yes, I remember saying under my breath at that meeting, "There goes our space program."


Dan Downs KCRP

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I was in middle school, in class. Some of the students were watching the launch live in the library, but I was fortunate enough to not be one of them. Some of the kids in the library were in shock. I can't imagine how younger ones would have handled something like that.People also forget about the re-entry disaster of a few years ago, too.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian


Rhett

7800X3D ♣ 32 GB G.Skill TridentZ  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB 

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Standing in our office parking lot watching the tragedy unfold. A co-worker was taking pictures and continued through most of the sequence. Your gut knows what's happening but your heart is arguing in desperation. Leon

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Beale AFB, Control Tower. We heard about it from Sacramento Approach. They called over the shout line and said something like, "Beale Tower, Sacramento...the shuttle just exploded." We asked them to say again, they did and from then on till at least the end of the shift, we had a radio in the tower, and a tv on the stairs (could not have one in the tower by regulation).I'll never forget.bt

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Guest Grahame Myers

Here in Germany the news broke sometime in the early evening. My wife and I were at the home of a guy that sold second-hand TV's, as our old one had died the day before.This guys parlour was full with about 15 or 20 different TV's, and he'd tuned them all to the same channel, so that the pictures of the disaster filled the whole room.It was a really surreal experience, and it's etched on my mind forever.regardsGrahame

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I was home with the flu. My secretary called and said "Tom, turn on the TV and be prepared for a call to come in". I turned on the TV, watched for about 10 minutes, took a shower, got dressed and made my way to the office, knowing full well that a call would come. The call did; from the U.S. Government. Within a short period (less than 24 hours if memory serves) we mobilized underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's), the underwater short and long baseline acoustic navigation systems for the sonars and the ROV's, the crews that would man the systems, and put them on aircraft provided by the USAF and sent them to Florida.We also supplied high resolution side scan sonar to survey the debris field.The long and short? It was one of the most depressing and heart renching SAR's (rescues and then recoveries) that any of us had been called to participate in. We had plenty of airborne disasters to "cut our teeth on". But...Nothing steels you for something like Challenger, no matter how hardened you become.

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I was working at my office in San Diego, a patient who was known for his sense of humor walked in and started talking about the Space Shuttle blowing up. I thought he was joking until I heard the news later on the radio going to lunch... I was in a state of disbelief aka California!


Dr Zane Gard

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Private Pilot ASEL since 1986 IFR 2010

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