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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 120
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 1
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I remember this day well. I was a freshman in high school, and nobody was showing it in classrooms when it occurred. I think that was a memory more for younger kids.
I heard about it in my religion class where my teacher chirpily said, "How weird, and at lunch I was saying to people, wouldn't it be weird if something happened to the space shuttle?" Thanks.
I do remember that, by then, with the exception of this one, space shuttle liftoffs had reached a point where a liftoff was no longer a news break.
Edited by Edward Aycock on 28 January 2026 at 2:19pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | 2
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It is a defining trait of the American mentality that sooner or later we grow bored with everything.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31859
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | 3
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I have very distinct memories of this, as well. We were home from school on
a snow day and we all watched the liftoff. After it made it to the sky I got up
and started down the steps for the basement. Then I heard my mom exclaim
“oh no!” So I rushed back up the stairs to see the debris falling from the
sky.
I remember having the thought that we had just seen actual people die and
that was something very new to me.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8334
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | 4
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People allowed themselves to think space flight was
mundane.
We have pretty much got there yet again.
Space flight.
Mundane.
Never.
It was such a shock.
As was Columbia.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 3:23pm | IP Logged | 5
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Measured against flight time and distance, NASA has a staggeringly high safety rate. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the failures, no matter how few.
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Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5188
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | 6
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We were living in the Bahamas from 1984 - 1990, and I remember the headmaster of the primary school I was at in 1986 was taking our class that day and, as a novelty, brought a TV set in to class for a group of 7 year olds to watch the launch (maybe it is me having rose tinted glasses, but I did think we were a very mature bunch of 7 year olds).
It is a memory I still have to this day of the Challenger exploding, and the headmaster Derek Smith freezing in shock before he ran over and switched the TV off after what seemed an eternity.
Edited by Greg McPhee on 28 January 2026 at 5:16pm
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Peter Hicks
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Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 5:46pm | IP Logged | 7
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Before Challenger, astronauts were told that the risk of a deadly malfunction was approximately 1 in 10,000. After Columbia, NASA shuttle technical staff submitted their own confidential estimates. The average was 1 in 75.
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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 120
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | 8
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It was terrible as the camera was right on Christa McAuliffe's parents as it happened and they clearly weren't comprehending what had occurred in the initial moments.
But I also felt badly that the six other astronauts were underreported on as thought it was only McAuliffe who had died.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 7:04pm | IP Logged | 9
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Briefly, Shooter decided he was going to arrange for a Marvel artist to go up on the shuttle. He chose me.No way he could ever have pulled it off, of course, but if he had, based on the timing, it would have been Challenger.
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William Roberge
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 7:52pm | IP Logged | 10
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I had her as a teacher (social studies) back in 1985. She was a great teacher and I remember just being numb for days after it happened.
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Brian ONeill
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| Posted: 28 January 2026 at 8:47pm | IP Logged | 11
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This was the first shuttle launch that was not covered live by the (then) 'Big 3' networks. CNN showed it all, and many stations, including some network affiliates, carried the feed.
Many who were in school at the time remember watching it in class, or in an assembly. I was a 6th grader in California, and the school day had barely started when the principal hurried into the room, with a grim expression, handed our teacher a note, and left without a word.
Our teacher was also a bit too 'chirpy', and the tone of her voice as she told us what happened seemed less like 'breaking tragic news', and more like she was sorry they'd run out of ice cream in the cafeteria. She turned on the TV(which we only watched when it rained and couldn't go out), and, on what I think was the only channel it could get...in black and white...Dan Rather told us about it.
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