Jan. 28, 1986: I was a high school student standing in the hallway just outside the gym. As I recall, I was with a few classmates. I think we were waiting for the class dismissal bell. Then the principal's voice came over the PA system, and he announced the shuttle explosion (later investigation showed that there was no detonation or explosion in the way we commonly understand, but the huge fireball certainly looked like an explosion).
That was 40 years ago today.
The Space Shuttle Challenger was engulfed in a cloud of fire just 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, intended to be the first teacher in space. Other astronauts killed were Francis "Dick" Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair and Gregory B. Jarvis.
Remember the pioneers!
"For the Gods do not give lightly of the powers They have made,
And with Challenger and seven once again the price is paid,
A nation watched her falling, but a world could only cry,
As they passed from us to glory riding fire in the sky."
(Fire In The Sky - Dr. Jordin Kare)
// NASA image via History.com: The five astronauts and two payload specialists of the STS 51-L crew in January of 1986: (left to right, starting in front row) astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee and Ronald E. McNair; and Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik.
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