40 years ago today, the space shuttle shuttle Challenger exploded...

[KGIII]

I finished plowing some snow (we got about 18" up here on the mountain), and I decided to watch some videos on YouTube.

There was a mention of rockets, which made me decide to look up when the Challenger accident happened.

By sheer dumb luck, today marks the 40th anniversary of that accident. The weird thing was that the prompt that made me look had nothing directly to do with space. They were talking about the V2 rockets from WWII. That got me thinking about the Challenger. By shear dumb-luck, that was exactly 40 years ago.

The date was January 28, 1986...

Today is January 28, 2026...

It was right about 11:30 when I looked it up...

The Challenger exploded at 11:38 (in my time zone)...

I don't know what the odds are of that happening, but they happened. Then again, a 'one-in-a-million' event happens globally about 8,000 times each day. So, there's that.

I still remember where I was when I heard the news. I suspect that's true for many people. There are a number of events that are like that, where I know where I was when I learned about it. This is one of those events.

The people who died were:

Francis R. Scobee (Commander)
Michael J. Smith (Pilot)
Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist)
Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist)
Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist)
Gregory Jarvis (Payload Specialist)
Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist)

Of the 7 people who died, McAuliffe is the most remembered. She was not an astronaut by training, but a part of a program to help make space more interesting than it had been. They gave her some training, and she eagerly took the chance. She was an elementary school teacher from New Hampshire.

No, I did not remember all of those names. I had to look them up. I only remembered two of the names. Also, my favorite physicist of all time (Richard Feynman) was involved in the investigation. It's not easy to be my favorite physicist, as the list is pretty long. But he's definitely my favorite. Stupid cancer!

Anyhow, it was surreal when I noticed that it was exactly 40 years ago and almost exactly the same time. That's a pretty weird coincidence.

Who here remembers where they were when they heard the news?

I was watching it live while doing nothing in a break room. It was time to head to the chow hall, but I held back to watch the launch. I was in Norfolk, Virginia, and still enlisted. I stuck my head into the hallway (after a minute or two to make sure that I'd seen what I thought I saw) and yelled that people had better come watch this. Those who could came and watched the live TV. Some went to tell others. It was a 'pretty big deal'.

Where we you when you heard the news?

 

[The Duck]

Yes I remember that very well I was in a store and was watching the lift off and saw it explode.

These disasters happen many years apart although check out the actual day and month each happened.

Interesting.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Challenger-disaster

Apollo 1 tragedy: The fatal fire and its aftermath

On Jan. 27, 1967, a fire swept through the Apollo 1 Command Module during a launch rehearsal test, killing the three astronauts inside.

www.astronomy.com

 

[KGIII]

These disasters happen many years apart although check out the actual day and month each happened.

It'd be an even greater coincidence if they were on the exact same day. But, well, these rare events do happen.

I was pretty surprised when I noticed that it was 40 years ago today. That was not something I knew or planned for. I almost didn't notice, but one of the results was in bold text. That drew my eye to it.

 

[The Duck]

Yeah I remember both of them and a few other space mishaps.

I was way into the space race it was part of my time I grew up in.

I even remember the speech about landing on the moon before anyone else that one of our presidents gave.

Don't want to say any names as that may be considered political.

 

[kc1di]

I can remember it was in a class and teacher told us and turned on the TV
Bye the way Dave we got 18" of snow in this last storm. still digging out

 

[Mike-BTU]

I still remember where I was when I heard the news. I suspect that's true for many people. There are a number of events that are like that, where I know where I was when I learned about it. This is one of those events.

That's exactly what I was thinking when I read the title of your post. Yup! It's like a short video clip played in my mind, of my boss telling us that, with surroundings and all.

Same for when JFK was assassinated. 6th grade class. Even the principal's words as she announced it over the intercom and dismissed the students.

I do not have a photographic memory. Somehow, our brains just sear certain events into our brains.

 

[The Duck]

Same for when JFK was assassinated. 6th grade class. Even the principal's words as she announced it over the intercom and dismissed the students.

Yeah I remember all of that stuff it's easy to do when you are part of that time.

I do not have a photographic memory. Somehow, our brains just sear certain events in our brains.

That's because stuff like that stops what we are presently doing and our attention is tuned to it.

 

[KGIII]

Don't want to say any names as that may be considered political.

I'd not consider that political. It's a statement of fact to attribute it that to JFK.

"We choose to go to the Moon... and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,"

I do not recall that speech. I was too young. However, I was near my mother when she got a telephone call from a neighbor, telling her that he'd been shot and to turn on the television.

Bye the way Dave we got 18" of snow in this last storm. still digging out

If you were closer, I'd come plow you out for the low cost of nothing. Heck, I'd even sand it for you.

We got about 18" up here on the mountain, but they got not much more than a foot in the village.

Same for when JFK was assassinated. 6th grade class.

As I'm a touch older, I was not in school at the time.

We can also (most of us, at least) remember where we were when 9/11 happened.

These things aren't limited to the US. Other people in other countries remember these same things (and some of their own dramatic cultural moments).

As for 9/11, I was on a military base, doing something. They escorted my employee and me off the base. It was a full six months before we could get back on the base. This made them liable for the contract not being completed on time. They paid the penalties without complaint. I can't really go into details, but I can assure you that it's far more mundane than you might be picturing. In fact, the information we worked with could have been just FOUO. Ah, well...

 

[theLegionWithin]

I remember watching the Challenger launch and explosion on TV as a child.

for 9/11 - I was on a road trip with the destination of the east coast, I had been planning on visiting Smithsonian museums and all of those famous government buildings but I'd only made it to Michigan. ended up going south instead of east. probably for the best, really.

 

[deb_user]

I was a helicopter pilot flying offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[kc1di]

I was a helicopter pilot flying offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

was a UH-1 crew chief for a bit in the 60's & 70's

 

[deb_user]

I flew UH-1s in the Army. That was the only skill the Army gave me that was useful in civilian life.

 

[kc1di]

I later on was transfered to Radio ops. But still held the uh1 crew chief as a seconday and also work on fixed wings for a bit.
was at Ft. Rucker in 1969.

 

[deb_user]

I didn't get to Rucker until '72. I was a little behind the times.