I was home sick from high school. Not sick-sick, really; but I had a cold or something and was on the couch, watching TV. Being a space nut (of course), I was looking forward to seeing a shuttle launch; being me, I had gotten distracted from the actual launch until just after it started and so tuned in just after the explosion. It took me a couple of minutes to process. I remember my mother asking me* if there was any chance that the astronauts could have jettisoned safely. I had to explain to her that it… wasn’t likely. One of the first really adult conversations that I ever had with my parents, really, and it frankly sucked.
That was a rough day. It’d have been even rougher if I had realized at the time that the Challenger explosion was going to result in the eventual end of our manned space program. But that’s a well-chewed bone at this point.
RIP.
Moe Lane
*Mom’s a smart woman, but she’s not a space nut.