This might be a bit America-centric but I thought it might be an interesting conversation.
Where were you when the space shuttle Challenger exploded over Florida, 20 years ago today? I was a junior in high school, and sitting in English III class when the principal came to our door and called our teacher, Mrs. Ray, out into the hall. She rushed back in, and told us the shuttle had just exploded. We were all shocked, and just as we started asking questions, we were all asked to go into the library. Our entire high school (about 250 kids total) met in the library and watched the events of that day unfold on television. It was so heartbreaking. I'm glad to remember the crew today and hope you will share your "where were you" stories with us. :)
I remember it clearly. I was driving out of Chelmsford (which is in Essex, England) along the old section of the A12, before the new bypass was built. It came on the radio and I knew then that I'd probably always remember the moment.
wow I remember that I was in elementary school watching it and when it exploded the teacher did not say anything she just wheeled the tv out of the room.
I'm in Canada but I remember where I was.....I was in 2nd year university and we had monitors in the hallways in the main university building, they usually just showed scrolling text (university announcements, etc). But they set them up to show news coverage of the event.
I was having lunch at a Dairy Queen restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. They were playing a radio over the PA. A voice came over the music and said something like the space shuttle exploded, now more music. Like he was doing the weather or something. So low key, I did not believe it until I saw pictures later.
Was it really 20 years ago? I was in High school at the time. I remember it was a really cold and clear day. I was atop the Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee cutting class with some friends of mine. The dike is a few hundred miles from Cape Kennedy so we were able to see the exhaust trails from the rocket boosters clearly. We were enjoying the sight and we noticed the “bulge” in the exhaust trail. Something wasn’t right. The radio was on and a few minutes later the DJ said the space shuttle blew up.
I was at work, running a test in the chem. lab. At the time, I worked in a 400,000 square foot facility employing nearly 1000 people. Everyone and everything stopped, and we all gathered around television sets in various places to watch the news coverage. An event that I will never forget.
in the elementary school library - watching the launch on television. i remember the teacher sort of freaking out, and not knowing how to handle the situation. the rest of the day was spent watching the reports, and discussing the tragedy. i was twelve - must have been 6th grade... ughmm
Shreveport, LA.... I was driving eastbound on Bert Kouns approaching Mansfield Rd. when it came on the radio. I remember thinking at the time that this would be like the JFK assassination, something that people would always remember exactly where they were when it happened.
I, like a lot of others, watched it in school. I was in 5th grade and we had an assembly. I remember scrambling to sit in the front row with my best friend, and several teachers started crying.
I was in my basement, fixing it up to be a family room. We already had a television there, so while I was working, I had the news on and was watching the news broadcast of the Space Shuttle Launch. I was in total shock as I saw it explode, LIVE on TV. It was just too much to comprehend at the time. Whenever I see the rebroadcast, I can see "explosion patterns" in my mind, as clear as if it just happened yesterday.
I was at home sick by myself watching tv. I didn't even know they were launching a shuttle until they interupted my cartoons with the breaking news story. I remember being upset by it and being all alone.
I was in college, laying on my bed in my dorm room between classes. Watching the launch. For me its a flashbulb memory. I remember it clearly like it was yesterday.
Wow, 20 years already. I was 10 at the time and was in my 5th grade Home Ec. class where we were spending the period watching the space shuttle...so we did see it blow up. It was awful.
