The Challenger explosion happened on this day in 1986. I was a young teenager at the time and I remember the mission getting lots of pre-launch hype because of Christa McAuliffe being onboard, and lots of post-launch hype because of the explosion obviously. We discussed it in class and I remember sitting at home with the family watching Reagan give his tribute speech. One of the harshest revelations about the event was that the astronauts did not die in the explosion but upon the crew compartment impact with the ocean.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fa%2Fa8%2FChallenger_Photo_Montage.jpg&hash=576caa415232c28727e666517e845b4e1ec00f35)
Winter/spring of 1986 was a bit harsh. Challenger. Chernobyl. In Sweden the PM was assassinated.
This was the first humanity-altering event I remember as a little kid. Had a huge impact.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:39:37 PM
This was the first humanity-altering event I remember as a little kid. Had a huge impact.
:bleeding: :mad:
Quote from: The Brain on January 28, 2015, 05:40:19 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:39:37 PM
This was the first humanity-altering event I remember as a little kid. Had a huge impact.
:bleeding: :mad:
Sorry your PM wasn't on my radar when I was five. :P
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
I think one of the reasons it resonated was because Christa McAuliffe, just a regular jane non-astronaut was on board. So it was getting a lot more attention than maybe a regular launch would have. That resonated with a lot of people.
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
IIRC Nasa have recalculated the odds of disaster during the early shuttle missions and it was a one in nine, with the last ones it was still something like a one in 38 chance of disaster.
I don't know how exact these figures are, as I'm recalling what the astronaut Chris Hadfield said, I'd guess the figures are a combination of launch and re-entry risks, by far the most dangerous parts of a mission.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
Yeah if they'd been putting a a satellite system to monitor and improve the traffic flow on American interstate and urban roads, now that would have been a big deal.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
Columbia wasn't such a big deal?
I was a reminder that going into space is dangerous. Other than that not much of a lasting consequence.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:41:56 PM
Quote from: The Brain on January 28, 2015, 05:40:19 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:39:37 PM
This was the first humanity-altering event I remember as a little kid. Had a huge impact.
:bleeding: :mad:
Sorry your PM wasn't on my radar when I was five. :P
I thought you were older. I was four at the time. I remember looking out my bedroom window to see if I could see it.
Quote from: PRC on January 28, 2015, 05:47:08 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
I think one of the reasons it resonated was because Christa McAuliffe, just a regular jane non-astronaut was on board. So it was getting a lot more attention than maybe a regular launch would have. That resonated with a lot of people.
Another reason is that it was caught perfectly on tape as it happened, so it made it all the more dramatic, complete with the anchors stopping mid-sentence and mission control personnel sitting with their mouths agape. Back then we didn't have dash cams from Russia to watch disasters unfold many times a day.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:53:34 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
Columbia wasn't such a big deal?
No I don't think so. It sucked, but this one was...how do I say it. The adults around me thought it was huge, so I did too.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:53:34 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
Columbia wasn't such a big deal?
Breaking up on re-entry isn't quite the same.
I remember it very well. Was in reporting class, first year journalism school.
One of our teachers came running in with a dot-matrix printout we used for our "wire machine" (we got Canadian Press feeds).
"Holy shit," he said. "The space shuttle exploded."
I guess being in journalism school was kinda lucky, cause we were all allowed to crowd around TV sets and watch the news coverage.
I skipped school that day. I was "sick".
I think people really admired Reagan that day TBH. His speech was pretty good. Also happened with Bush on 9/11 and Clinton in Oklahoma City.
You know, I have this theory that extreme circumstances make ordinary people better.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 06:46:00 PM
I think people really admired Reagan that day TBH. His speech was pretty good.
Yeah, nobody did the flag-draped casket thing better than Reagan. Lord knows he had enough opportunities.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on January 28, 2015, 07:08:11 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 06:46:00 PM
I think people really admired Reagan that day TBH. His speech was pretty good.
Yeah, nobody did the flag-draped casket thing better than Reagan. Lord knows he had enough opportunities.
True. I dunno though. Sometimes events make people...better. Maybe no possible president at that time would have looked bad in that situation. But credit to the guy, he did a good job that day.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
The 'Teacher in Space' program was kind of a big deal. Millions of students, myself included, watched the launch (and explosion) live on TV. When it blew up, our teacher was like "uhhhh" and then after a moment or so started crying. Me and most of the other boys in the class started mocking her. :Embarrass:
Later in life, I found myself with a co-worker who used to teach with Christa McAuliffe. I naturally refrained from sharing that story with her.
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:53:34 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
Columbia wasn't such a big deal?
No. I think it wasn't because a) due to the Challenger disaster, we had become more cynical about our space program, b) society is more cynical in general now than it was in 1986, and c) IIRC it happened on a weekend morning while most people were still asleep and thus wasn't 'experienced' live like Challenger was.
Quote from: Caliga on January 28, 2015, 07:32:49 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
The 'Teacher in Space' program was kind of a big deal. Millions of students, myself included, watched the launch (and explosion) live on TV. When it blew up, our teacher was like "uhhhh" and then after a moment or so started crying. Me and most of the other boys in the class started mocking her. :Embarrass:
Later in life, I found myself with a co-worker who used to teach with Christa McAuliffe. I naturally refrained from sharing that story with her.
Nice empathy there, Ted Bundy.
When I was a kid, I used to buy the dreams that space was the future. I knew back then that gundams were unreal, but I really thought that some humans would move to the moon soon. Challenger didn't really change that. I just thought accidents were inevitable.
I think it took another 10 or 15 years before I realised that robots could explore Mars, and it wasn't necessary to send humans there.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 06:46:00 PM
You know, I have this theory that extreme circumstances make ordinary people better.
Sitting through Valhalla Rising made me a saintlike figure.
I wasn't even 3 months old at the time.
Quote from: Ed Anger on January 28, 2015, 07:36:57 PM
Nice empathy there, Ted Bundy.
Thanks! Yeah, she didn't need to know how I reacted when I was a little punk elementary school kid. :sleep:
Quote from: The Brain on January 29, 2015, 10:28:38 AM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 06:46:00 PM
You know, I have this theory that extreme circumstances make ordinary people better.
Sitting through Valhalla Rising made me a saintlike figure.
You didn't live through Valhalla Rising, you just watched it.
It is not the same.
Had you lived through the story told in that stupid movie, then it would have certainly change you for the better.
Quote from: Caliga on January 28, 2015, 07:32:49 PM
The 'Teacher in Space' program was kind of a big deal.
By the time the launch was getting near, we (my friends and I anyway) were pretty fatigued by the over-coverage of teacher angle. Our teachers wouldn't shut up about it, particularly my feminist English teacher who in retrospect kind of bore a resemblance to Ms. McAuliffe.
QuoteMillions of students, myself included, watched the launch (and explosion) live on TV. When it blew up, our teacher was like "uhhhh" and then after a moment or so started crying. Me and most of the other boys in the class started mocking her. :Embarrass:
IIRC the launch happened to coincide with our lunch period, so they were showing it on the TV in the library. My friends & I did our usual thing and ate our lunch in one of the hallways. Some kid we barely knew ran up & told us the space shuttle exploded which we assumed was a joke of some sort. But out of curiosity we headed to the library, making our own jokes about it along the way. Was a bit awkward when we walked into the library and everyone was either crying or in stunned disbelief.
Later that afternoon in English class, the teacher asked if any of us would like to donate money to a fund she was putting together to build a statue of Christa McAuliffe. Then I was in stunned disbelief.
We (at the company I worked for) watched the launch live because we had a bunch of shuttle nuts among the engineers there. My boss looked at the replay maybe three times, then explained exactly what had happened. He was correct in every detail (down to the cold not allowing the o-rings to re-seal). To this day I have never seen a more impressive display of "engineer think."
Quote from: derspiess on January 29, 2015, 11:23:47 AM
Quote from: Caliga on January 28, 2015, 07:32:49 PM
The 'Teacher in Space' program was kind of a big deal.
By the time the launch was getting near, we (my friends and I anyway) were pretty fatigued by the over-coverage of teacher angle. Our teachers wouldn't shut up about it, particularly my feminist English teacher who in retrospect kind of bore a resemblance to Ms. McAuliffe.
QuoteMillions of students, myself included, watched the launch (and explosion) live on TV. When it blew up, our teacher was like "uhhhh" and then after a moment or so started crying. Me and most of the other boys in the class started mocking her. :Embarrass:
IIRC the launch happened to coincide with our lunch period, so they were showing it on the TV in the library. My friends & I did our usual thing and ate our lunch in one of the hallways. Some kid we barely knew ran up & told us the space shuttle exploded which we assumed was a joke of some sort. But out of curiosity we headed to the library, making our own jokes about it along the way. Was a bit awkward when we walked into the library and everyone was either crying or in stunned disbelief.
Later that afternoon in English class, the teacher asked if any of us would like to donate money to a fund she was putting together to build a statue of Christa McAuliffe. Then I was in stunned disbelief.
Getting stunned by news is a healthy sign of a largely peacefull life.
The whole "I can't believe this is happening to me" because really bad things rarely happens to you.
The launch coincided with "children's TV" hour in the UK; I can't remember if they pre-empted what was on with breaking news or whether it was the lead story from "Newsround" now, all these years later, but it was certainly enough to leave one hell of an impression on a young mind. I can remember feeling utterly saddened and depressed. :(
I also remember thinking the explosion brought the image of a crab to mind; it still does. :Embarrass:
Quote from: Agelastus on January 29, 2015, 11:32:44 AM
The launch coincided with "children's TV" hour in the UK; I can't remember if they pre-empted what was on with breaking news or whether it was the lead story from "Newsround" now, all these years later, but it was certainly enough to leave one hell of an impression on a young mind. I can remember feeling utterly saddened and depressed. :(
I also remember thinking the explosion brought the image of a crab to mind; it still does. :Embarrass:
It was definitely the lead story on Newsround. I know because I saw the bulletin. What I didn't know until recently was that it was only 15 or so minutes after the explosion when it aired on the progamme (I'd always thought it was a few hours earlier). Which considering this was the era before 24 news and the internet etc was pretty impressive.
Quote from: DGuller on January 28, 2015, 06:03:15 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:53:34 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 28, 2015, 05:47:20 PM
School was cancelled. So big deal. People took it seriously at the time.
Columbia wasn't such a big deal?
Breaking up on re-entry isn't quite the same.
It's never easy, I know.
Quote from: PRC on January 28, 2015, 05:47:08 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on January 28, 2015, 05:43:35 PM
I still don't understand why it was such a huge deal though. Certainly sad, but I don't see the long term consequences.
I think one of the reasons it resonated was because Christa McAuliffe, just a regular jane non-astronaut was on board. So it was getting a lot more attention than maybe a regular launch would have. That resonated with a lot of people.
Agreed on that. Plus disasters in space usually seem to have more impact on more peope, I think due to the nature of space exploration being seen as more a human endeavor to benefit all.