Remembering the Space Shuttle

[TheSaint]

I came so close to seeing a shuttle launch! My sub was pulled into Port Canaveral (which is about 13 miles away from LC39). We were scheduled to get underway at noon, the launch was at about 8:00am, so everyone was going to muster on the pier to watch it. But we still needed to start up the engineroom, and I was one of he folks who drew a short straw. So, while everyone else was up on the pier watching the shuttle launch I was down starting up engineroom upper level.

One of my brother's high school friends took a trip to spend a week at Disney World with her fiance, and one of the highlights was that they were going to drive out to see a shuttle launch while they were there. Unfortunately, the launch they went to see was STS-51-L, and she wound up witnessing the Challenger disaster.

[Nibb31]

I will most likely never see an rocket launch, because I live so far away from every possible launch site in the world

Tallinn is actually only 900 km from Plesetsk. Not that far.

[Red Iron Crown]

I remember the exact time and place where I heard about the Challenger disaster. It's one of those generation defining moments, like the Kennedy assassination, the Moon landing, or the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[xcorps]

I remember the exact time and place where I heard about the Challenger disaster. It's one of those generation defining moments, like the Kennedy assassination, the Moon landing, or the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Same here. We were in class, and they basically shut the school down and rolled in TV's to every classroom. I was in Room 14, Math, Liberty Jr. High School, Orlando Florida. I don't remember the teacher's name, any other child's name, but I remember the TV being plugged in and a picture of the shuttle blowing up coming on immediately. There wasn't a peep in the room. We didn't change classes until school let out that day.

[AlternNocturn]

The Shuttle was dangerous, over-priced, and was a step down from Apollo but Jebdammit the bloody thing was an icon and an inspiration and I miss it a lot.

EDIT: In 2011, I went to a NASASocial (or NASATweetup as it was called at the time) to watch the launch of Curiosity. One of the activities on the list was a visit to the VAB, where the Shuttle Discovery was being held. It was far bigger than I imagined and it nearly brought a tear to my eye. Then last May, I got to see Atlantis at the KSC Visitor Center. Both times I saw it, I couldn't believe such a craft could exist. It was huge and awe-inspiring.

Edited June 25, 2014 by AlternNocturn

[Thomas988]

I hope maybe I can see the SLS's first launch in 2017 (that's the year, right?).

[TheSaint]

Same here. We were in class, and they basically shut the school down and rolled in TV's to every classroom. I was in Room 14, Math, Liberty Jr. High School, Orlando Florida. I don't remember the teacher's name, any other child's name, but I remember the TV being plugged in and a picture of the shuttle blowing up coming on immediately. There wasn't a peep in the room. We didn't change classes until school let out that day.

I remember sitting in a classroom with a bunch of my friends (who were also space geeks) waiting for class to start. One of the cheerleaders came in and said, "The space shuttle blew up!" We had a bit of a laugh-up-our-sleeves moment and said, "Don't you mean to say the space shuttle 'blasted off'?" She said, "No, it blew up!" We all went down the hall and joined the crowd outside the teacher's lounge trying to get a look at the TV. They sent us all home at lunchtime, I remember being glued to the television all afternoon.

My calculus teacher was one of the finalists for the Teacher In Space program. They flew her to JSC for interviews and a flight physical, and she met all of the other candidates, including Christa McAuliffe. She kept a picture of the Challenger crew framed in black on one of her bulletin boards for several years after the accident.