Remembering Christa

[sgt.null]

www.concordmonitor.com/Challenger

Christa McAuliffe was one of my teachers that year. law class. our class was there every step of the way as she applied for the nasa position. we were updated as she kept passing the exams and interviews - as other teachers were eliminated.

my best friend and i watched with many other students from the auditorium as the shuttle launcched.

she was a great teacher, a wonderful person, a great wife and mother.

and no words i can say can express the sorrow that we felt that day and still to this day.

so please take a moment today...

[Krazy Kat]

Although I hadn't followed the mission details in the run up to Jan 28, the shock of seeing those pictures on television was still very disturbing. My heart went out to all the astronauts that day.

Having had Christa McAuliffe for a teacher sarge, is also very thought provoking.

[High Lord Tolkien]

Nice post Sarge.
Sadly I was too much of a dick back then to give it much attention.
Other than her name I never read much about her or the process of ow she made it in.

[Savor Dam]

I was working in the NASA public affairs office that morning. Judy Resnick was an aquaintance (and totally outclassed me on the tennis court), as was Ellison Onizuka. Mike Smith was one of my brother-in-law's closest friends.

I've ranted on the Watch and elsewhere about how the Challenger explosion did not have to happen. The State of the Union Address that night -- and plans to have Reagan speak with McAuliffe during that speech -- was definitely a factor in bending the safety protocol. 'Nuff said...it is still pretty raw for me.

Thank you for starting the remembrance thread, Sarge!

[High Lord Tolkien]

abcnrinternal.com/audio/challenger_anniversary.mp3

[Zarathustra]

Wow, that's unbelievable that we have one of her students here on the Watch. Thanks for sharing this, Sarge. I've thought about it quite a bit over the years. The astronauts' end was not pleasant, not instantaneous. Knowing the details is very disturbing. It always makes me sad to think of such a hopeful event being turned into the opposite in a blink of an eye.

[sindatur]

Thanks for Sharing Sarge and Savor Dam, amazing stories.

I, too, think of the tragedy often, and bow my ehad in silence.

[sgt.null]

thank you everyone for sharing.

savor - ar eyou still employed in that field?

i have gone to nasa (about an hour away) and did the tour.

[Savor Dam]

Sadly, no -- my NASA days are about 15 years behind me. In the mid '90s when the President and the Congress were playing chicken with the budget, NASA got nervous and I was one of the many who got RIF'ed.

That was just the first of many occasions I've had to reinvent myself. As Ol' Blue Eyes sang back in the day "I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king..."

[sgt.null]

Sadly, no -- my NASA days are about 15 years behind me. In the mid '90s when the President and the Congress were playing chicken with the budget, NASA got nervous and I was one of the many who got RIF'ed.

That was just the first of many occasions I've had to reinvent myself. As Ol' Blue Eyes sang back in the day "I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king..."

where id you live around here? they are building everything up - not sure you would recognize it.

[Savor Dam]

Was never located at Johnson Space Center in Houston. My 13 years were at facilities in Ohio, California, and a very brief stint at the Cape.

[Lord Zombiac]

Wow, you were one of her students?
Such a tragic event that happened in my lifetime...
"touch the face of God..."
Love him or hate him, Reagan's words were immortal.

[JazFusion]

Growing up in Houston, we were always taught every year about the Challenger incident.

I've been to Space Center several times, and my dad knew an astronaut, so I got to see him in the big pool at NASA practicing astronaut stuff. It was pretty amazing.

I remember one year we took a field trip to Space Center in honor of the Challenger incident. We watched the footage of it blowing up. It was a very solemn day. I'll never forget it.

[Savor Dam]

LZ, yes, Ronald Wilson Reagan had the best wordsmiths around working for him. His speech at the memorial, even the remarks he made on short notice during the State of the Union address less than twelve hours after the explosion were spot-on in terms of what we all needed to hear.

Many political figures of the 20th century were great public speakers...without necessarily being otherwise admirable.

Ahem. It is probably clear I am still pretty bitter about the decision to bow to short-term publicity pressures and risk launching under conditions that were outside what the safety rules allowed. It certainly bit NASA in the butt, costing them seven astronauts, one of an already-limited fleet of shuttles, and a heck of a lot of prestige and momentum. Unfortunately, the "teflon-coated" administration that was a large factor in influencing that decision got off easy...

...just as they got off easy when their "We will never negotiate with terrorists" rhetoric conflicted with their actual behavior of selling weapons to Middle-East terrorist states in order to finance Central American terrorist states.

Yes, ali, I know...take it to the Tank!
(or to Doriendor Corishev, since it is ancient history to many who read about it now)
"What a drag it is, getting old...."

[Lord Zombiac]

I hear you, SD, but that sort of discussion belongs in the tank.
Reading JF's post reminds me of how much older I am than many people these days. She grew up hearing about the Challenger disaster-- I grew up with my dad parking outside of Cape Kennedy (or was it Canaveral back then?) watching Saturn V's blasting off to the moon!
It was only a month before my second birthday when we first went to the moon and I remember watching it on TV.
Quite possibly I'm the youngest person alive who remembers that historic event as it unfolded-- granted I didn't understand much of what I was seeing.
Point is I'm 43. I've already seen so many remarkable events in my lifetime.

[Lord Zombiac]

BTW, ever run the numerology on "Ronald Wilson Reagan"?
It's 666!

[Elfgirl]

wow...has it been so long?

Hail Crista - you made it to the stars.

[sgt.null]

wow...has it been so long?

\.

oy - i suddenly feel old.