A Sad Day in NASA's History

jordon412

33 Year Old Railfan
First off, I'd like to explain the connection between Trainz and NASA. As we know, there are several versions of Trainz designed for mobile devices, including the iPhone. An interesting fact about the iPhone is that that camera that you use to take selfies, videos and pictures was developed by NASA. Therefore:
Trainz mobile apps -> iPhone -> iPhone camera -> NASA. Like a chain, there is something in common that links each one to each other.
And now, on to what this thread is about.

Today, thirty years ago, one of NASA's accidents occurred: The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster.
I wasn't around at that time; In fact, I was just a passing thought in my parents' minds. However, I've seen several shows about it and it I've found it shocking the accident and the decisions that led up to the accident. One thing that I do know, is that we should not let their names disappear thru the annals of time. They, like all astronauts, should be remembered for their bravery to reach for the stars. Let us never forget their bravery and their sacrifice in our goal of reaching to the havens to understand what lays beyond our world.
To the families of the crew of Challenger, we will never forget you, and your family members who perished today, thirty years ago.
 
Yes, it was very a real jolt. We had become very blasé about space travel, that accident brought back to light how dangerous space travel is, even without the bureaucratic incompetence that caused the disaster. To see it again, with Columbia drove the point home even further. My wife was in High School at the time in Cocoa Beach Fla and witnessed it live.

I've been around almost as long as our space program, I remember the triumphs, the moon landings and the tragedies: the Apollo 1 fire where 3 astronauts died on the launch pad right through the 2 shuttle disasters
 
Yes, it was one of moments that you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. I was at work in Parsippany, NJ in front of an old IBM green screen terminal. A co-worker looked over the cubicle wall and told me it happened.
 
Yeah, I remember this like it was yesterday ... Jan .... damn super cold in NYC, on a very blue sky ... was half a day high school for test .... I got home, turn on pc, and saw the shuttle pre took take off around 1-ish ... I say, Cool, and sat down to watch while I ate a slice of pizza that I bought since my mother and father was working ... I was home alone... And suddenly, it exploded .... Seriously, it was on NBC, and I first I thought it was a joke, or something .... caught me off guard.

Wow -- so surreal!

Ish
 
I was taking a spelling test in 2nd grade when the teacher rolled in the tv and put on the news. Let's just say it was a LONG social studies discussion for the rest of class.
 
I was working a night shift job back then and woke up a little while before the launch. I was watching it while having my coffee and it floored me. What struck me was the calmness of the flight controller on TV who was no doubt surrounded by sheer pandemonium.
 
I was listening to the radio with the door of my truck open while digging up a broken cable TV line when I heard the news. I think it surprised everyone.

Jack
 
I remember my wife coming in from work (it was late afternoon here in Britain) and telling me that she had heard on the car radio that something had happened to the space shuttle, so we switched on the TV to see the broadcast. While we obviously felt for all the astronauts we felt especially for the teacher Christa McAuliffe and wondered if she realised just how dangerous it really was. We felt, perhaps wrongly, that she had been lured into a state of false complacency by NASA and the political establishment. We were both College Lecturers so perhaps felt more empathy to her.
 
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