Jan. 28, 1986

[Dr Mordrid]

20 years ago Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.

I was waiting my turn to work on a kid in the pediatrics wing by standing outside the patient TV room. This room was full of kids and their parents watching the launch. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life watching those kids realize what had happened to their heros, and was all because some jackass administrators had ignored the engineers and the Astronaut Office.



Dr. Mordrid

[Claymonkey]

sadly that return to bad beaucracy keeps happening at NASA. "The foam isn't suppose to fall off, but it always does and nothing ever happens."

[Jessterw]

I remember watching the launch while at school (I would have been 7) and how emotional the disaster was. I'm not sure what it was like elsewhere in the country, but shuttle launches were always a big deal in Florida. Sadly, I don't recall seeing another launch shown in the classroom in the years following.

Incidentally, I went to Space Camp a few times around then and the turnout never seemed to wane. I wonder how it is now.

[gt40]

I was in 3rd year University,
the only thing more emotional was watching the towers go down while having breakfast in Las Vegas .

[KRSESQ]

I didn't even have the tv on that morning. My friend Steve called me and said, "are you watching the launch?" I said no and he said "The space shuttle just fell out of the sky!" I thought perhaps the orbiter had done an abort-to-launch-site. Turned on the tv and barely made it to work that evening. Still have the videotape I rolled on some of the coverage, including part of the Little House On The Prairie rerun our local station ran after the President's speech.

When Columbia came down Steve called me again with the same news: "The space shuttle just fell out of the sky!" I guess I can count on him to keep me informed on the latest space disaster.

Kevin

[Sasq]

I was 10ish. Always used to watch the sat linkup of the launches from home - back then, we used to get them live in Oz too.

Apart from knowing something clearly went wrong, the other vivid memory I have, is its one of the few times the censors never got to the 'beep' button

[KvHagedorn]

I remember the day it happened.. I was shopping for speakers and saw it all on a very nice TV in the stereo shop. It's pretty sad about the continuing incompetence there.. things went pretty well during Mercury-Gemini-Apollo while they still had all their German rocket engineers that wouldn't take shit from bureaucrats. When you can stand up to Hitler and say "this won't work, we must do it this way instead," what are a bunch of American paper-pushers?

[Dr Mordrid]

things went pretty well during Mercury-Gemini-Apollo while they still had all their German rocket engineers that wouldn't take shit from bureaucrats.

Not actually, there were some pretty damned close calls during the 60's as well as Apollo 1 burning on the pad w/3 astronauts aboard.

Problem with the shuttle is that it wasn't a good design from the get go; too complex, sidesaddle mounted (bad w/foam on the tank), no passive escape system and it's dangerous to launch cargo and crew together.

Four strikes and you're really out.

Now...a dedicated spaceplane for crew only mounted on the top of the booster and with a better heat management system could be OK.... ie: Kliper or the HL-20 resurrection called Dream Chaser, but only for short orbital or ISS crew replacement missions. For anything else capsules are better.

Dr. Mordrid

[rugger]

Devils advocate

20 years ago Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.

I was waiting my turn to work on a kid in the pediatrics wing by standing outside the patient TV room. This room was full of kids and their parents watching the launch. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life watching those kids realize what had happened to their heros, and was all because some jackass administrators had ignored the engineers and the Astronaut Office.



Dr. Mordrid

I know its immensly unpopular to ever make light of astronaut deaths, or the WTC attacks, or any other high profile disaster.

BUT, doesn't it ever feel like you are being lead around by the media. In a country where 40000 people die every year in traffic accidents, they go absolutely crazy over whatever deaths the news publicize. There are dozens of other examples of causes of death that claim thousands upon thousands of lives annually that the media seem to only give glancing coverage over. All this while people obsess about a few people dieing in some obscure accident that happened year ago.

I know I am stepping on toes here, and I am not really after a flamewar, I just want people to question the news and what it tells them, and ask themselves what is really important in their lives.

[Dr Mordrid]

Guess losing JFK, Bobby and Martin didn't matter much either.

Sorry I mentioned it

Dr. Mordrid

[rugger]

Guess losing JFK, Bobby and Martin didn't matter much either.

Sorry I mentioned it

Dr. Mordrid

heh, thats for you to decide for youself .... Not for me or the media to impose. As long as you ask yourself that question, and not let other people dictate your feelings for you.

I guess my input wasn't really required .... so feel free to ignore it.

[KvHagedorn]

I know its immensly unpopular to ever make light of astronaut deaths, or the WTC attacks, or any other high profile disaster.

BUT, doesn't it ever feel like you are being lead around by the media. In a country where 40000 people die every year in traffic accidents, they go absolutely crazy over whatever deaths the news publicize. There are dozens of other examples of causes of death that claim thousands upon thousands of lives annually that the media seem to only give glancing coverage over. All this while people obsess about a few people dieing in some obscure accident that happened year ago.

I know I am stepping on toes here, and I am not really after a flamewar, I just want people to question the news and what it tells them, and ask themselves what is really important in their lives.

Yes, every life is of equal worth.. and on an individual basis it is certainly as tragic, if not more tragic, when some 18yo kid dies in a car crash the summer after graduation (it happens a lot, since this is a serious party period.) But this is why these things matter: Those people on the shuttle were a symbol.. a symbol of the hopes, dreams, aspirations, and general positive feelings we all have about ourselves. It's not seven individuals dying that we mourn so much as a very good part of the whole of all of us.