Where has the time gone?

[sonicss31]

39 years ago today.

 

[Done-it-again]

I was 7 and remember this. Very sad.

 

[Rennsport]

Was in high school - just finished a speach/english class when I heard the news. Very sad and will always remember that day.

 

[2Driver]

I was working in the office at McCulloch when it came across the radio.
Everyone was numb listing to the commentary.

Later, Alan McDonald the whistle blower that blew it wide open was one of my manager's FIL.

 

[napanutt]

Our kid was 2 months old. I was working in the kitchen at a hospital. I was doing supply deliveries to the various units and saw them showing it on the TV’s.

 

[poncho]

I was a manager of a Sears Surplus store, every morning with a cup of coffee I would turn on TV's, displays etc. Had a pretty robust group of retired guys that would watch the 20 minute workout every morning and mainly look for tool deals.
We as a group stared at the TV's for what felt like eternity in stunned silence.

 

[RichL]

39 years ago today. View attachment 1473525 View attachment 1473526

Just reflected this thought "somewhere else" before I saw this thread.

 

[Bobby V]

I was a 4th year apprentice working at a new Pennys warehouse job site in Buena Park, CA.

 

[Ziggy]

It was shortly before my 1st marriage ended.

 

[FreeBird236]

I was working at Fedco and about 200 Televisions were all tuned to it, sad day.

 

[rivrrts429]

I was 7 years old and remember it well. Was a very sad day that started with so much hope and excitement. It’s one of the few things that I remember at that age.

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

That was a say day

 

[81Sprint]

I was 10, watched it live in school

 

[Familyties]

I was doing a couple of projects at TRW satellite bay and bought these hats'

 

[CommanderLee]

I was 11 and remember it well.

 

[Hypnautic]

I was 10 at the time and remember two things.
First was student at Fairmont Private School in Anaheim and we watched takeoff live. It was the first thing we did that day. Teacher got a call and turned it off about 2-3 minutes after. But later they had TV's setup in auditorium so we could all watch. Looking back, one thing I dont remember having--counselors. or therapists to help us deal with the questions like they do today. We watched the new, asked questions to teachers/AP then went back out to play?

Second, that summer I moved back to Hawaii. Visiting my Grandfathers grave in Punchbowl on Fathers Day there were still large amount of flowers left at Ellison Onizuka's grave. He was buried on my birthday that year--just weeks before Fathers Day. The flowers overflowed the roped off area. Piled at least 2 ' in some areas. Tour busses filled with tourists, mostly Japanese lined the streets.

Mom ended up working at McAuliffe Middle School in LosAl.

 

[Cobalt232]

I was skiing that day at Sunlight in Colorado with my college roommate. A lift operator told everyone, then they wrote it on their shack chalkboard.

 

[fat rat]

I was in Spain, we were the alternate landing strip. We had a 15,000 foot runway . We had just help the NASA crew with special runway lights.

 

[jesco]

I was in 8th grade, remember it well. There was a few classes watching the launch that day.... My in laws moved from Yorba Linda to Laguna Niguel in 1993ish... one of their neighbors was a pretty well off guy, had lots of toys, hot rods, a boat in Dana Point, always going on nice vacations and had retired and in his mid to late 50s. My FIL later found out he worked in aerospace and the Challenger shuttle deal was originally blamed on him. He was fired for it and was put through a few years of hell before fully exonerated.... was PAID out for defamation, loss of income, all kinds of stuff.

 

[rivermobster]

I remember watching it and thinking...

This has to be fake, right???

Really sad.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

I’m one who got to watch as part of a school showing it to students.

Years later I learned valuable lessons from the aftermath and the investigation. For starters, when engineers beg management not to do something, bad shit is gonna happen next. Sure engineers are wanting to play it safe, but seriously, go ahead when the temp was outsidee of established mission parameters?

NASA lost a lot of credibility when they put show over safety and following procedures.

 

[Cdog]

I was at Seaside elementary in Torrance watching it live. 3rd grade maybe? Everyone wanted to be an astronaut up until that event.

 

[4Waters]

I was 9, we went to Florida that summer for vacation and went to Kennedy Space Ctr

 

[petie6464]

I was testing a set of prototype cylinder heads for a car manufactures race team and had it on a small TV next to the Flow Bench, I remember just saying:

- F♤♤♤ That's not good..