20th Anniversary Of The Challenger Disaster

[General_Failure]

Why not? Stillupfront can do it.

[EJ72]

I was off work that day, and a woman I was seeing was on her way to my apartment with her daughter. She got there about 10 minutes after the video ran. She asked me what was wrong when she saw my face, and I just pointed to the TV. Her response was "I guess Someone doesn't want us up there."

[Reidme]

I was watching it on CNN .... I don't think that it was on regular TV Live until it exploded. I remember all the bad jokes about spending their vacations all over Florida, and the horrible search for the cabin and their remains. It was a bad time. Mostly what I remember though was Ronald Regan's brief address to the country that day. However you feel about the man, he could certainly deliver a speech like he meant it.


"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

[To] the families of the seven: we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: ' Your dedication and professionalism have moved an impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it. '

There' s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, ""He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

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.'

Thank you. "

[PhillyPhreak54]

Ha. Then explain how I type things. Sperm don't have hands, dummy.

Your swimmer had a popped collar didn't he?

[MDS]

Ha. Then explain how I type things. Sperm don't have hands, dummy.

Your swimmer had a popped collar didn't he?

definatley. so did the load i shot all over my boxers two nights ago.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Hmm....let's see. I think I was in second or third grade. I remember the commotion in the classroom, when the teachers and principal were talking. They didn't tell us anything about it from what I remember. Later on I was sitting on the living room floor eating whatever the hell I ate then, and the news bulletin popped up, and showed the explotion and everything. The next day I remember we had a little ceremony outside the school because we had all sent letters to the Christa and the crew, done projects on space, the whole nine. Even for a young kid, I remember feeling profoundly sad watching it explode, still do evertime I see it on TV.

[Feva]

Remember like yesterday...

I was in the 4th grade and our class was assmembled with another class or two to watch the launch on TV.  I remember the teachers talking to us beforehand about how exciting a time this was and there were a lot of kids that said that they'd like to be astronauts when they grew up.  We were watching the liftoff and when it blew up, I remember my teacher screaming, "OH MY GOD!" while most us kids were just kinda confused by what we were seeing.  Another teacher hurried to the TV up front and turned it off.  After a little bit, they all came to the front and explained exactly what the whole thing meant.

Pretty wild...

[hbionic]

4th Grade Nia!

I was in 4th grade too.

How many others were in 4th grade at this time?

I remember my teacher, she was 6'4...she had a small head...

At the time...it seemed kind of cool in the sense that something exploded like that....but I knew it was a bad thing...now I think what a tragedy.

[rjs246]

My 4th grade teacher cried in class because the teacher that went up with them was killed. By the way, my 4th grade teacher was hot and needed my comfort, so the next week when she caught me staring at her crotch, I knew I had done my part to help her feel better.

[hbionic]

4th graders ruled!

[MDS]

My 4th grade teacher cried in class because the teacher that went up with them was killed. By the way, my 4th grade teacher was hot and needed my comfort, so the next week when she caught me staring at her crotch, I knew I had done my part to help her feel better.

This never actually happened.

[hbionic]

My 4th grade teacher cried in class because the teacher that went up with them was killed. By the way, my 4th grade teacher was hot and needed my comfort, so the next week when she caught me staring at her crotch, I knew I had done my part to help her feel better.

This never actually happened.

There's no way you're not the life of the party when you go out. I mean, you gotta!

[MDS]

Not really, no. I'm sure you're the center of attention at the Manhole, you dirty little queer.

[hbionic]

you dirty little queer.

Are you flirting with me collar-pop?

[Sgt PSN]

Dude, bonic is the Manhole.