Space Shuttle Challenger - 30 Years Ago Today

[Principled Man]

Francis “Dick” Scobee

Mike Smith

Ellison “El” Onizuka

Judith “Judy/JR” Resnik

Ronald “Ron” McNair

Gregory “Greg” Jarvis

Christa McAuliffe

 

http://media.clickondetroit.com/photo/2016/01/28/spaceshuttlechallenger30_1453981424333_1949286_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg

[Blue J]

I was thinking about this in my first waking moments this morning...just because I was thinking about what the date is today, and I remembered the Challenger in association with it.

 

This is one of those tragic events that I remember exactly where I was when it happened.

 

RIP

[Principled Man]

I was at work when it happened. Spent all night watching the footage and news shows discussing it. The next day at work, I asked the Boss if we could lower the American Flag outside and keep it at half-mast for a week. Lo and behold, he actually agreed! One of the few things the management staff did right...... :ebert:

[Relayer2112]

I had just come home from taking an exam at college and my grandmother was crying. She told me that something had happened to the shuttle and I watched the coverage for the rest of the day.

[kamrahai]

I remember I was sitting at a red light when the news broke on my radio...RIP heroes

[blueschica]

I worked somewhere where everyone kept a radio on ( Cleveland- WMMS of course :) ) so we heard about it that way. There was a little bar/restaurant place next to our office, so we all ran over there to see the film of the Challenger taking off on TV and that little puff of smoke. Such a sad story. RIP Challenger crew.

[Blue J]

I was on a skiing vacation at a place called Schuss Mountain, in Michigan (lower peninsula but far up north, around Traverse City)...and the rest of my family had gone in off the slopes and into the lodge, for some lunch; I was the last one to make it in there. And when I came in, everybody was watching on a big screen TV...it had already happened. I wondered why everybody's was so rapt on the TV screen...and my step father said, "The space shuttle blew up."

 

My response was, "Did anybody get hurt?" (In my defense, I was a bubble-brained 12 year-old).

 

He said, "No, they're not hurt; they're all dead. The whole space shuttle...exploded." There was emphasis on that last word.

 

And then, right after that, I saw the footage. It was horrifying.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Blue J

[Rod in Toronto]

That actually made the news almost instantly in Brazil, in a time when there wasn't even a shadow of the internet.

[Crimsonmistymemory]

I was less than 3 miles away from the launch pad that cold January day working ar Canaveral Air Force Base very near static test road which is pretty much the closest the general public can get to the launch pad. It was very near lunch time and being a resident of the space coast my attitude was almost well you seen one shuttle launch you seen'em all!! Then when i saw the boosters peel off in different directions I knew disaster had struck!!! I'll never forget that day as long as I live. That day ruined my dreams of my future as I was about to have an interviue with Martin Marietta to launch my career in the space industry and work full time on the Cape. One practically had to be born in the place to even get considered. I was already working for a company that was prefabricating weldments for launch pads. The space scene shut down for over to years. there was no work unless I wanted to earn $7 an hour. My wife(to be) uncle offered me a well paying job at the shipyard in Tampa. We relocated by the time the space scene was back kids my 1st daughter was born and things were way scaled back. They never got back to where they were then the Columbia disaster basicly ushered in the end of the shuttle program. Edited January 29, 2016 by Crimsonmistymemory

[Xanadu]

Was sitting in my algebra class my first year of high school when the news hit. I remember the classroom had a TV on a cart and my teacher turned it on so we could watch it on the news. It still makes me sad thinking back on it, no matter how much time passes.

[Mystic Rythm]

Was in a microprocessor class in college. Heard about it when on break. I remember it far more than the most recent shuttle disaster that was lost in re-entry about 10 (?) years ago.

Sad day indeed.

[Tom Sawyer]

it started out to be one of the best days of my life up until this tragedy occurred - then it became one of my worse days up until. God speed

[Ancient Ways]

I was on the road driving from pinellas county to hillsborough county when it happened. Unfortunately had a very clear view of it in real time but was unaware of exactly what happened until I got to a tv.

[OldRUSHfan]

Horror + http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j223/OldRUSHfan/Geezers/geezer.gif

[Blue J]

Was in a microprocessor class in college. Heard about it when on break. I remember it far more than the most recent shuttle disaster that was lost in re-entry about 10 (?) years ago.

Sad day indeed.

 

The second one was the Columbia, in 2003. When it broke apart, I think that's what effectively killed the shuttle program. :(

[workingcinderellaman]

I was living in Temuco Chile at the time. We were eating lunch in a typical Chilean home in the middle of the summer and they always had the TV on. The broadcast of the afternoon latin variety show was interrupted by the "Informe Especial" graphic and everyone froze, worrying that a military coup had occurred in Santiago. It cuts to a guy behind a news desk and he says, "El Transporte "Challenger" exploto sobre Miami." (The space shuttle Challenger has exploded over Miami) He repeats it again and then it goes back to the regularly scheduled program. Everyone looked at me as if I had lost my best friend in the accident. I was actually pretty devastated because I loved the space program. There was no explanation and so I had to wait a few weeks to hear what had happened from my parents. The image in my mind was filled with debris falling from the sky over downtown Miami and I was wondering what the space shuttle was doing over Miami.

 

Very sad. It didn't need to happen, but launching a four and a half million pound rocket filled with explosive fuel is very dangerous in the best conditions.

[workingcinderellaman]

Was in a microprocessor class in college. Heard about it when on break. I remember it far more than the most recent shuttle disaster that was lost in re-entry about 10 (?) years ago.

Sad day indeed.

 

The second one was the Columbia, in 2003. When it broke apart, I think that's what effectively killed the shuttle program. :(

It was definitely a nail in the coffin, but I think the program was probably over with or without Columbia.

[workingcinderellaman]

This is perhaps the future of the U.S. space industry. This test is scheduled for next month with a possible mission in 2018.

 

 

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QM-1 Static Ground Test of SLS Five-Segment Solid Rocket Motor

On Mar. 11, NASA and Orbital ATK will conduct the first qualification ground test of the five-segment rocket motor that will be used for initial thrust for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System, which will enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.

What

: Horizontal ground test firing of QM-1 motor

When

: Wednesday, Mar. 11, 9:30 a.m. MDT

Where

: Orbital ATK facility in Promontory, Utah

A public viewing area is available along State Road 83 North approximately 20 miles west of Corinne, Utah (see map – follow directions to Promontory). The gate to the public viewing area opens at 7 a.m. Mar. 11. Overflow parking is available if needed.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Test Objectives/Background:

• 
  
  • A total of 103 design objectives will be measured through more than 534 instrumentation channels.
    
  • QM-1 is a "hot motor" test. The motor will be heated to 90 degrees F to measure solid rocket motor performance at high temperature, as well as to demonstrate the motor meets applicable ballistic requirements.
    
  • Other objectives include data gathering on vital motor upgrades such as the new insulation and liner and the redesigned nozzle which increase the robustness of the design.
    
  • When fired, the motor will produce a maximum thrust of 3.6 million pounds, or 22 million horsepower.
    
  • A public viewing area is available along State Road 83 North approximately 20 miles west of Corinne, Utah.
    

[workingcinderellaman]

ATK used to be Morton Thiokol which made the solid fuel boosters that powered the shuttle and which were responsible for the Challenger disaster.

[Blue J]

I almost took a job with ATK, before they became Orbital ATK (but the nature of the business was the same).

[blueschica]

Actually went up to ATK in Promontory the year we lived in Salt Lake, to see the shells of burnt out rocket boosters from other tests that they had on display. It's amazing how big they are in real life- which looks dumb as I write it; of course they would be big, they are sending things a huge distance! :)