Monday, January 28, 2008

Challenger Explodes - 1986


In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, 74 seconds after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All seven astronauts on board were killed, including teacher Christa MacAuliffe, who was to have been the first U.S. civilian in space. Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the explosion on television.

You know how there are those events in your life that you will always remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when it happened? Well, the Challenger explosion was one of those moments for me. I was a junior in High School in Los Angeles, California and I was home sick from school. The launch was a huge deal because of the fact that it was going to be the first time a civilian would go into space, and I was watching it live in my family room. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as the shuttle exploded and broke into pieces. You could still hear radio transmissions coming from people at mission control with status reports as the pieces were falling to earth.

Leave a comment if there is an event you'll never forget.

Mr. C.

(Source: http://readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=406)
(Image courtesy of www.answers.com)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was face to face with a black bear in Montana and when Iwas face to face with a Moose in the backyard of my cabin.


Graham

Con said...

Wow, Graham! Can you tell us more about these encounters? You reminded me of a time when I was face to face with a rattlesnake - that's another one I'll never forget!

Mr. C.

Con said...

While I'm thinking of it, I'll also always remember where I was when I heard about former president Ronald Reagan getting shot in 1981. I was in the sixth grade, and I was in science class waiting for our teacher, Mr. Cagel, to come teach class. He was late (probably watching the news in the teacher's lounge), so the class was getting a little restless. Some kids were goofing around, etc. Finally, he came in and told us what had happened. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Mr. C.

Con said...

Another historic event I'll never forget was the first lunar landing mission on July 20, 1969. Well, technically I don't remember it since I was born on July 19th, 1969, but I've heard my parents tell the story so many times I feel like I remember it!

The Apollo 11, the name of the space ship, launched on July 16th. My mom checked into the hospital in New York City on the evening of July 18. She was put in a room with a t.v. (the only room in the maternity ward that had a t.v., as it turned out). She was sharing the room with another lady who was pregnant with twins.

All the doctors and nurses on the ward were constantly cramming into the room whenever they could to get updates on the moon landing. It was such a huge and historic event that my mom didn't mind at all.

The ending to the story is that the other lady went into labor just a few hours after the first man stepped on the moon. My mom heard later that she named her twin boys Neil and Buzz, after the Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin!

Anonymous said...

I was face to face with a bear in Wisconsin but i'm not for sure if it was a black bear.

Evan

Cindi L said...

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers came down. Josh was just 4 years old and his brother Jake was about 2 and we were home - watching one of the may kids programs as we got ready for our day. I just casually flipped through the channels before I turned the TV off just as the video clip showed the plane going into the first tower. Then they went live and I saw both towers fall. I was crying and even Josh - at 4 - knew that something monumental was happening. It makes me grateful that I don't live in a country where things like that happen all the time.

Cindi Laurent

Anonymous said...

My mom remembers being on her couch watching cartoons when the Kennedy was accinated and how all coverage was interfering with her cartoons.

Anna

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