Replies: 13
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110%er [6403]
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RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 1:19 PM
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36 years ago today
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Orange Blooded [2328]
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??????
Jan 28, 2022, 1:23 PM
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I remember that day and it was horrible ??????
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Orange Blooded [2328]
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??????
Jan 28, 2022, 1:23 PM
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I remember that day and it was horrible ??????
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110%er [8913]
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I was living in SW Fla at the time
Jan 28, 2022, 1:32 PM
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and was on my way back to class (high school) from lunch. I didn't see it live, in the sky, but I had friends who did and my dad did as well. I don't think anyone associated it with a shuttle launch. From the west coast, it didn't look that spectacular for day launches. But this confused everyone when one contrail (as it looked like) broke off into multiple contrails. I had drama class after lunch and we had a TV in there we'd use to watch VHS tapes of our rehearsals so we turned on the local network news to see what was going on. We all saw slack-jawed around the TV as we watched.
We'd been lulled into believing that space travel was now routine and as safe as any form of transportation, but we were obviously wrong.
A very sad day, indeed. Also prompted one of Reagan's best speeches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa7icmqgsow
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Hall of Famer [24336]
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Ron McNair.... The pride of Lake city, SC***
Jan 28, 2022, 1:50 PM
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110%er [5306]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 2:28 PM
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I remember it was being broadcast in my classroom in grade school. The teachers screamed in horror and began sobbing. All of us kids didn't quite understand exactly what was going on but I just remember we all started crying because all the adults were too.
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All-Conference [400]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 3:58 PM
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I was also watching in school (6th grade to be exact). I remember the teacher turning the TV off and just sitting at her desk in shock. Didn't say anything for about ten minutes, just looked out the window. Then said, "Class, do you know what just happened"?
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Legend [17669]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 3:50 PM
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Growing up on the east coast of Florida, I remember seeing the flume in the sky after it happened.
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Commissioner [916]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 4:22 PM
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We were watching it live in history class because of Christa McAuliffe. First silence and then gasps. One student broke the silence asking "What just happened?" History teacher said without looking at anyone, "Godspeed, I pray the lord is with you." He was weeping and walked out of the class without saying another thing. Very, very sad day, I will never forget it.
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CU Medallion [63621]
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Sobering thoughts on this day, for sure.
Jan 28, 2022, 4:42 PM
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Just like during the later Apollo missions, America had become "complacent" about shuttle flights. Especially after Apollo 13 avoided ultimate disaster by somehow getting the astronauts home safely, I think we had gotten "cocky" about our space abilities. January 28, 1986 changed all that, literally in an instant.
We all thought the lessons from it had been learned well. Then, another event that will mark its anniversary just days from now, the Columbia shuttle disaster happened on February 1, 2003. It is cruelly ironic that these events bookended times during a mission, one on takeoff, and one early on in the landing.
Columbia was doomed by bits of foam insulation that broke loose, and impacted a critical area of the shuttles heat tile covered wing. This area then burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere, leading to a total breakup of the wing, and ultimately, the whole shuttle.
The sad truth that NASA has to face every day, is that there was prior evidence of BOTH these issues from previous shuttle missions. The solid rocket booster sections had shown problems with the o-rings that sealed the sections together on early missions. Burn through on a section of the rocket booster destroying the hydrogen fuel tank like a blowtorch is what doomed Challenger. Foam debris coming loose had also been noted on previous missions, and was KNOWN from the ground on the Columbia mission, but attempts to get NASA to use high resolution cameras to inspect the wing that ultimately failed, were either ignored or rebuffed.
With the advent of private companies now sending vehicles into space, it is just an unfortunate matter of time before the next loss of human life happens. The vacuum of space is totally unforgiving, and re-entry into earth's atmosphere FROM space is just about the closest to H-ell on earth as will ever be seen.
RIP to ALL astronauts who have lost their lives taking man's first baby steps to the stars. May we learn your lessons well, and take them all to heart going forward.
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Letterman [273]
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Re: Sobering thoughts on this day, for sure.
Jan 28, 2022, 10:06 PM
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Just like during the later Apollo missions, America had become "complacent" about shuttle flights. Especially after Apollo 13 avoided ultimate disaster by somehow getting the astronauts home safely, I think we had gotten "cocky" about our space abilities. January 28, 1986 changed all that, literally in an instant.
We all thought the lessons from it had been learned well. Then, another event that will mark its anniversary just days from now, the Columbia shuttle disaster happened on February 1, 2003. It is cruelly ironic that these events bookended times during a mission, one on takeoff, and one early on in the landing.
Columbia was doomed by bits of foam insulation that broke loose, and impacted a critical area of the shuttles heat tile covered wing. This area then burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere, leading to a total breakup of the wing, and ultimately, the whole shuttle.
The sad truth that NASA has to face every day, is that there was prior evidence of BOTH these issues from previous shuttle missions. The solid rocket booster sections had shown problems with the o-rings that sealed the sections together on early missions. Burn through on a section of the rocket booster destroying the hydrogen fuel tank like a blowtorch is what doomed Challenger. Foam debris coming loose had also been noted on previous missions, and was KNOWN from the ground on the Columbia mission, but attempts to get NASA to use high resolution cameras to inspect the wing that ultimately failed, were either ignored or rebuffed.
With the advent of private companies now sending vehicles into space, it is just an unfortunate matter of time before the next loss of human life happens. The vacuum of space is totally unforgiving, and re-entry into earth's atmosphere FROM space is just about the closest to H-ell on earth as will ever be seen.
RIP to ALL astronauts who have lost their lives taking man's first baby steps to the stars. May we learn your lessons well, and take them all to heart going forward.
Growing up, the shuttle program was huge to me. I would watch all the news coverage of the launches, and special missions. So when I heard about a teacher in space, I thought that was awesome. And it could relate with kids like me. Then I heard that the shuttle blew up during launch. It sucked the life out out of NASA. Out of us all. It took time to recover.
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Walk-On [142]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 28, 2022, 10:42 PM
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I was in F Annex Just got back from Harcombe and flipped on the tv. Sat there in silence, not believing it was real. Things like this didn’t happen to America.
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Orange Blooded [2390]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 29, 2022, 12:25 AM
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I was teaching at the time. Heard it while in school.
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All-In [30949]
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Re: RIP Ron McNair and Challenger Crew...
Jan 29, 2022, 3:00 AM
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2nd saddest day that I can remember behind 9-11. Heartbreaking.
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Replies: 13
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