20th Anniversary Of The Challenger Disaster

[DutchBird]

Due to timedifference I was in bed sleeping (I was 7 at the time). Either that morning or the next day there was a picture of the explosion (the Whit "ball" of smoke and the two trails of the booster-rockets) all over the frontpage of the newspaper. And later that night it was an item at the "jeugdjournaal" (kids news), with footage of the explosion.

[PhillyPhreak54]

While we're on the topic of shuttle explosions...when I was in Texas the Columbia blew up over central Texas. Even though it was up towards the Waco area (about 60 miles to the N) I heard the boom.

I was hungover and had woken up to take a leak. I heard the noise and brushed it off as artillery fire since we would hear that all the time being by Ft. Hood. About 15 minutes later I turned on the TV and saw that Columbia had blown up. My neighbor took a picture of the sky and you could see the smoke.

And of course you had the dumb rednecks in east Texas picking up pieces that weren't evenm cold yet and selling them on eBay. After the authorities said to not touch the stuff or you'd go to jail. Dumbasses.

[LBIggle]

i have a question.  why is it this is nationally remembered every year but other disasters where way more people are killed in way worst ways?  7 people strap themselves to a rocket with tons of flamable materials in it to shoot into space faster then a speeding bullet.  everyone acts suprised when they blow up.

[Geowhizzer]

While we're on the topic of shuttle explosions...when I was in Texas the Columbia blew up over central Texas. Even though it was up towards the Waco area (about 60 miles to the N) I heard the boom.

I was hungover and had woken up to take a leak. I heard the noise and brushed it off as artillery fire since we would hear that all the time being by Ft. Hood. About 15 minutes later I turned on the TV and saw that Columbia had blown up. My neighbor took a picture of the sky and you could see the smoke.

And of course you had the dumb rednecks in east Texas picking up pieces that weren't evenm cold yet and selling them on eBay. After the authorities said to not touch the stuff or you'd go to jail. Dumbasses.

When I first heard about the Columbia on the radio, I thought they were talking about the Challenger, since it was around the same time of year.  When I realized it was the Columbia, I had a sick feeling of deja vu.

[Geowhizzer]

i have a question.  why is it this is nationally remembered every year but other disasters where way more people are killed in way worst ways?  7 people strap themselves to a rocket with tons of flamable materials in it to shoot into space faster then a speeding bullet.  everyone acts suprised when they blow up.

LBI,

I'm can't answer for anyone else, but for those my age (35) or older, the Space Shuttle was part of the national consciousness.  We were still in the middle of the Cold War, and were competing with the Russians in many areas, including space explorations.

By the early- to mid-1980s, the U.S.'s big investment, both financially and emotionally, was the Space Shuttle program.  The USSR had gone more into space stations.  By 1986, we had gotten complacent, believing that the Space Shuttle program was inherently safe after five years of totally successful launches.  Someone earlier said that he believed that the launch wasn't shown on broadcast TV, but I think it was because of Christie McAuliffe (see below), and therefore was seen by millions.  There was the surprise/"shock" factor.

On top of that, the first "civilian" was on the Challenger.  NASA was trying to get back into the national consciousness- was probably worried about losing funding- and held a nationwide search for a teacher to train with the astronauts and go into space.  Because of the gimmick, there was a lot more interest in this particular flight than there had been in several years.  Unfortunately, that flight was the one that exploded.

As to other disasters, here are a few that stick in my mind (off the top of a very tired 35-year-old mind at 6am):
- Three Mile Island (I don't even think anyone died on that one)
- Chernobyl
- Hurricane Andrew (personally involved, as it was my first summer in Naples and I had to evacuate).
- The Tsunami of 2004
- The Pan-Am flight in Scotland (a terrorist attack)
- The Marine bombing in Lebanon in (i believe) 1983/4
(I'm sure I'd remember more if it wasn't early Monday morning.)

Overall, I think that many remember the Challenger because of several factors:
1.  It was on live TV.
2.  It had gained a lot of publicity because of McAuliffe.
3.  Backdrop of the Cold War/ Space Race (yes, the tail end of both, but still true nonetheless)

As I said, I can't speak for anyone else, these are just the thoughts that popped in my head when I read your question.

[T_Section224]

i can't believe it's been 20 years, amazing, it seems like yesterday except for the fact that i was sitting in my 10th grade biology class when i got the news.

[Zanshin]

I was in ninth grade, in Spanish class, watching it on TV.  And my teacher was not crotch-staring worthy, which made the event even worse.  It's a little sickening, however, how quickly 20 years can go by; and it's not like the years are slowing down as they pass.

[Sgt PSN]

It's a little sickening, however, how quickly 20 years can go by; and it's not like the years are slowing down as they pass.

Very true.  The good thing though is that at least we can all tell how much of that time is spent here. 

[rjs246]

I wish I was staring at her crotch right now.

[Sgt PSN]

I wish I was staring at her crotch right now.

[LBIggle]

im sure the teacher on board and the interest in this particular flight has a lot to do with the over hype.  i mean 6 miners just suffocated over a period of 4 days or so.  do you think anyone will remember this on its anniversary?  i'm not trying to be a fleshpop, or unsentimental, but as some of the smartest people in the world, they knew what they were doing, and they took the risks.  worst things have happened.  i wasn't old enough to remember this, but watching columbia hardly made me shed a tear.  does it suck? sure.  am i going to mourn over some l junkies? nah.

[hbionic]

LBI....I seem to have a first class seat on this flight to hell that everyone always puts me on.

No, I think about that as well. Why this one and not that one. I think Geowhizzer made a good point. For some but not all. It sucks...but there seems to be alot of sucky things going on all around the world.

There should be like some mourning category for disasters/accidents.

Like either by # of people killed or

costs of structure/machine/vehicle/etc. it costs that was damaged or

# of millions of dollars spent on ammo (bombs, missiles, bullets, etc.) to destroy ______ that included 'collateral damage'

or

How cool the explosion/crash was or

anything else you can think of.

The process should go through a judging system including one white, black, latino, asian and other male and female virgins. From that point, gauging the level of lock-butt they get when first hearing this news and averaging out the lbs. per square inch that the anal sphincter exudes per person will then determine what level of death schock each incident had and thus is compared to a chart on one of the office walls and is then discussed amongst the higher ups and then they let the public know whether it is 'Anniversary' worthy or not.

Or something similar to that.

[Geowhizzer]

im sure the teacher on board and the interest in this particular flight has a lot to do with the over hype.  i mean 6 miners just suffocated over a period of 4 days or so.  do you think anyone will remember this on its anniversary?  i'm not trying to be a fleshpop, or unsentimental, but as some of the smartest people in the world, they knew what they were doing, and they took the risks.  worst things have happened.  i wasn't old enough to remember this, but watching columbia hardly made me shed a tear.  does it suck? sure.  am i going to mourn over some l junkies? nah.

Eh, I shed a tear for the coal miners, too.  I'm a old softie at heart.

[rjs246]

Can you imagine if those dead coal miners had died in a space-coal mine on the moon? We'd have a brand new national holiday!

[Zanshin]

Can you imagine if those dead coal miners had died in a space-coal mine on the moon? We'd have a brand new national holiday!

Okay, I chuckled...I admit it.