30 years ago today

[RizzoTheRat]

I remember watching the first few shuttle launches as a kid, but 5 years in to the programme they were interesting but not a global media event like the first few.  Hence I wasn't watching the Challenger launch, but I remember us all packing in to the TV room at school (I was 13) to watch the news later that day, and the absolute shock everyone felt.  Space flight had seemed relatively safe to those of us who knew little about, NASA hadn't lost anyone since Apollo 1.

RIP you brave pioneers

[Bill Phil]

Very sad. But despite that, space travel is safer than many other things people do here on Earth.

[RizzoTheRat]

18 dead on missions, plus 13 in training out of what, 600ish people who've been to space?  That's 5%, climbing Everest is only 2% in comparison.

However space travel did get a lot safer because of the Challenger incident. 

It just doesn't seem like 30 years ago I watching it on telly.

[Holyvision]

Was sad not to see something about this posted on the top/front of the KSP forums for the day.  Lived around Houston (webster) at the time, can remember hearing it but not knowing what it had been until later. It's a pretty cool testament to how far the program(s) have come since then and what they have accomplished. But it was a very sad day. 

 

[Bill Phil]

7 hours ago, RizzoTheRat said:

18 dead on missions, plus 13 in training out of what, 600ish people who've been to space?  That's 5%, climbing Everest is only 2% in comparison.

However space travel did get a lot safer because of the Challenger incident. 

It just doesn't seem like 30 years ago I watching it on telly

7 hours ago, RizzoTheRat said:

18 dead on missions, plus 13 in training out of what, 600ish people who've been to space?  That's 5%, climbing Everest is only 2% in comparison.

However space travel did get a lot safer because of the Challenger incident. 

It just doesn't seem like 30 years ago I watching it on telly.

For having explosions beneath you, that's enormously safe.

But you're not necessarily looking at it in the right way. For the distance traveled, it has extremely low rates of death. But they typically travel extreme distances. 

[Cydonian Monk]

I don't remember the launch. We watched it in school no doubt, but I have no memory of it. I vividly remember the lead-up and the noise the Teacher in Space program made; meeting folks associated with the program including Jon McBride (our hometown astronaut) and Barbara Morgan (McAuliffe's alternate), and I certainly remember the aftermath.... And my uncle trying to explain the engineering behind what happened to me and my cousins using a lighter and my die-cast shuttle toys. Just whatever neurons in my brain are responsible for remembering the launch have long since been reassigned. 

Which is probably for the best. The lessons I learned from the accident, the ones that have shaped my choices as a person and in my profession, are more valuable than any specific memory of a few photons emitted from a phosphorous screen. 

[razark]

We didn't watch the launch at our school.  I remember one of the other teachers running into the room and saying "The space shuttle blew up over the ocean."  I remember seeing the footage seemingly endlessly after I got home.  I remember my father working long hours, and having to provide drawings to help identify the equipment he had been responsible for.

Ellison Onizuka was a family friend, who my father knew quite well.  His daughter was in 5th grade at the school we attended, and he coached the soccer team she and my sister played on.

[fredinno]

17 hours ago, Bill Phil said:

Very sad. But despite that, space travel is safer than many other things people do here on Earth.

And is the most safe form of exploration so far.

[Nothalogh]

The following words, of some anonymous hero on the internet, seem apt. 

 

The Farer's sacrament

In ages past we looked above and gazed upon the stars,
And wondered if a man could live on Luna or on Mars.
Today men fly that starry night and bless'd are we who know,
The hallowed names and faces of the men who made it so.

[Yuri] might not be, some say, the first into the Black,
But none deny the truth that he's [The First] to make it back.
We look to good old Yuri as the patron of our race,
Humanity's protector in this vast and outer space.

[Neil] knew it was his duty to use NASA's mighty boon,
And take [The Giant] leap on man's behalf up to the Moon.
Now colonists and settlers look to Neil for peace of mind,
On having made the choice to leave their homeworld far behind.

[Buzz] was a mighty pilot and just may have been the best,
But more, he was [The Dreamer] seeing far beyond the rest.
With name dear to the hearts of anyone who's grabbed the helm,
We thank Buzz for the future he foresaw our starry realm.

[Michael] chose himself a role that most men could not take,
Crewed his command module [Loner] for Eleven's mission's sake.
When a 'farer's flying solo and his ship is far from home,
He can trust that Michael's with him and he's never quite alone.

[John] may have never gone to space but hallowed is his name,
Without his [Steely Eye] Apollo would've died in flames.
His brilliant troubleshooting saved Man's place among the stars,
Now 'farers pray to Johnny as our helpful friend afar.

[Jim] took the role of captain on Thirteen's unlucky flight,
And without him as [The Leader] they'd been lost unto the night.
We oft think of Jim's example when we're facing matters grave,
For he taught us: to be calm, to be resourceful, to be brave.

[Georgy, Vladislav and Vicktor] earned their solemn, holy place,
And will always be [Remembered] as the first to die in space.
When our fellows go to join them they would tell us not to cry,
But to drink a shot and know they're in that bright and starry sky.

[Laika] was a mongrel, who had more than shown her worth,
As [The Loyal] friend of man who proved that we could leave the Earth.
Now the shipboard pets and critters that we choose to share our days,
Are all guarded and protected under Laika's watchful gaze.

Whenever we break atmosphere, we call out to two more,
And beg their benediction on that vast dark ocean's shore.
Whose crews did burn like novae where the Earth's blue fades to black,
To [Challenger] when setting out, [Columbia] when back.

We lift a glass to those who laid our path into the sky,
A solemn prayer in thanks before into the black we fly.
We ask you to watch over us wherever we are sent,
And offer up our voices in a 'Farers Sacrament.