25 years ago today

[MusicMan]

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.

[Mr. Happy]

I'll never forget that day. I was clerking for a judge who was on the bench when it happened. I walked in the private door and just blurted out the bad news in open court. I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't get in trouble for it.

I also sadly heard my first Challenger joke later that afternoon.

[Fredia]

i was sitting holding my newborn in my arms and cried. It was unreal

[Bench]

I also sadly heard my first Challenger joke later that afternoon.

Which one?

[sporadic]

Which one?

I laughed at this.  FUCK. YOU.

[chuck]

I laughed at this.  FUCK. YOU.

I laughed at THIS. And I feel pretty insulated, so there.

[Ron Brand]

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the space program. I wrote to NASA as a little kid until I was 12, I think, and got all the packets of cool stuff they'd send out. Photos, mission background stuff, tons of it which is all gone now but was fantastic to get as a boy. My uncle served on the Iwo Jima that retrieved Apollo 13 and I got photos and a cancelled envelope from that mission. I loved the space program, still do.

In 1986 I was in the middle of a pretty embarrassing story involving a guy who worked for me which was fanned by a jackass columnist and made worldwide news for a few days. My grief and concern over the Challenger disaster will always be linked with my father's sage observation that my story was now not going to be on the front page any more. I wish that it wasn't so. I feel ashamed that I have any connection at all with that day other than a national grief over the tragedy.

[Mr. Happy]

Which one?

Do you really want to know, or are you fucking with me as usual?

[subnuclear]

My dad, who worked on the fueling systems for the Saturn V and Space shuttle, is always amazed that one of the man missions didn't blow up sooner. Not a lot of safety testing went on during the space race.

[MusicMan]

My dad, who worked on the fueling systems for the Saturn V and Space shuttle, is always amazed that one of the man missions didn't blow up sooner. Not a lot of safety testing went on during the space race.

So we're not counting Apollo 1?

[subnuclear]

So we're not counting Apollo 1?

He was referring to in-flight explosions. All of the things have happened to the Space Shuttle program could have happened to the Saturn V. But yes, even basic things like overly oxygenated cockpits catching fire with no escape hatch were the kind of things they overlooked.

[94CougarGrad]

I was a sophomore in high school and heard the news from my 4th-period English teacher, who'd applied to the Teacher in Space program.

My now-husband was a high school freshman at Clear Lake and knew all of the astronauts and their families. He saw one of the daughters, in hysterics, being escorted down the hall by two teachers and immediately left class to find his mom, who was volunteering at the school that day, to confirm the news. After school, he and his mom went to Charlie Bolden's house, where his mom fended off the numerous reporters, who were invading the lawn and harassing Gen. Charlie's kids, until Gen. Charlie and Mrs. Jackie got home. As sad as we were in Texas City, our connections to the space program were not nearly as intertwined. Clear Lake was a very sad place for a long time.