January 28, 1986

73 seconds after take off Challenger exploded. Killing all 7 aboard.
Francis “Dick” Scobee,  Michael Smith, Christa McAuliffe,  Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Gregory Jarvis. RIP

I had just come from college and was loading up to go fish at Fork. Saw it on tv live.

You?

In High School

1st grade. Remember it well.

working bulk fuel storage at Carswell.

sophomore in high school

Working in my garden.

4th grade...we wrote letters to the families if I recall

NTC San Diego

At work, I did not hear about it until after I got off that afternoon.

Senior in college. Had just pulled into the parking lot for class.

4th grade. PE coach told us as we walked down the hall.

World Geography, 9th grade. A guy know for being full of s*** came into class and told everyone. We did not believe him.

Working a second shift job at Rockwell International. Watched it live, that afternoon went to work where a few parts for he shuttles were made (mostly communications parts)

Picking up air tool parts in Grand Prairie with a customer from Mexico City.
The counter guy had a TV on and told us about it.

My mom was 6 months prego with me.

4th Grade. We watched it happen.

Out to lunch with my wife. Saw it live on the TV.

Almost 30 years young, no clue what I was doing that exact moment

I was...well not sure where I was at, I wasn't here.

Just graduated TAMU in Dec........was already in Libya I think.

Can’t even remember what I had for breakfast. But it was a very shocking event to the country.

Sitting in the NCO club in Gelnhousen FRG

just got home from work at foundry, walked inta trailer & it was showing it on tv.
R.I.P.

7th grade. We were watching it live.

Last full semester at UT Dallas. Had been in class, when I walked in the house they were showing loops of it happening on the news.

Watched it live with my golf instructor (PE class at SFA), showed up early to see it. Shook us both up and he sent me home for the morning.
Sad irony the other shuttle came apart over east Texas and showered parts over the area.

I was a junior in High School and was in art class.

Don't remember the class, but we were watching it live.

In college walking home from class.

Bidding a job with one of my employes in Fort Worth.

I was working on a job site in Valley Ranch and went to a 7-11 in the area. The clerk had a TV on behind the counter and several of us were standing in line watching the launch.

In the snack bar in my second year in college. Remember just being stunned...growing up on the east coast of Florida, launches were nothing new to me...but this was WAY different. Will always be one of those times that you remember exactly when and where you were when it happened. Only a few of those in my life...Challenger was the first. Also remember every second of the 9/11... gut wrenching...

Was sitting in college physics class when we got the news; teacher put the chalk down, then sat down - and we all sat there quietly & gut-wrenched for the rest of class - not a word from anyone.

Watched it live at work. For some reason, Texas Instruments (Lubbock) had a big screen TV in the employee cafeteria for the lift off.

Painful memories from both Challenger and Columbia tragedies. On a personal note I was at the STS-31 Discovery mission that launched Hubble. It was the first flight following Challenger. My children’s grandmother is an ivy league scholar. One of her books, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA (1996) was the inaugural winner of the Rachel Carson Prize and received nominations for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Blue Moon

I was at north island San Diego getting my knee looked at.

Everything stopped.

Senior in college - in chapel at the time - got back to my apartment afterwards and one of my roommates was watching and caught me up on the details.

I was working for an Aerospace engineering firm designing countermeasures for some of the military satellites that the shuttles were deploying while in space. Every conference room had a TV with employees huddled around watching each of the launches ... everyone was in total shock when it blew up following launch that day. Not much was said the remainder of that day at work.

I was skipping school and saw it live on tv. I was about 13

Coming out of the tool trailer working construction on the (back then) new Lovelace Hospital in Albuquerque. I only heard of it, didn't see it on TV, but remember the vision very well of a bright sunny day and somewhat warm.

At work in Plano. Co-worker told me what had just happened.

Was 40mi offshore fishing in the gulf....didn’t hear about it till we got back to dock the next day

I was eating a breakfast burrito in the cafeteria at Richland College and watched it live. One of those events where you remember exactly what you were doing