Author Topic: 73 Seconds After Launch  (Read 1564 times)

Offline kevykev56

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1391
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2006, 07:49:47 PM »
One of my teachers came very close to being selected for the trip. She however was sent home due to medical reasons. Our school was one of those that had the in school live/or not feed.  I was in her class watching when the accident happend, I also remember that day like it was yesterday. Mrs. Jeter was understandably distrought. Things like this make you realise how short life is....20 years...wow.
RHIN0 Retired C.O. Sick Puppies Squadron

Offline RAIDER14

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2554
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #16 on: January 28, 2006, 09:40:41 PM »


What was each members position in the Shuttle?

Offline majic

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1538
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2006, 10:07:33 PM »
Check out the NASA link above, the flash presentation gives a brief bio on all the astronauts.

Offline RAIDER14

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2554
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2006, 10:21:40 PM »
I think the orbiter may have survived the explosion and the crew died when the orbiter impacted the water

Offline gear

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 838
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2006, 10:24:39 PM »
Seven angels spread their wings,
took their places, hovered, watched.
Eleven children wept by
wisteria not in bloom,
lilacs not in flower. There
is no purple, there are no
tears. "O, Angels of the loom,

weave my mother back into
the warp of time, slow the drift
of hadrons to trace again
my father's face, for there is
no purple, but too many,
many tears." Leaving relics
of flesh, a bit of bone for

the mourning world to dissect
with precision, bury with
pomp, they danced off ecstatic,
one perfect Bang, electron
to electron, dispersed in
the cool wind. At zero, plus
seventy four, marking time,

having slowed down to speed up,
eyeing the peace of space, blue,
deep, the white bullet, tagged
by destiny to explore
polar regions of the sun,
shattered. Whizzing atoms shot
fragmented past facets of

emptiness searing human
images across the clear,
icy void, the nothingness
of free Bubbles of silence.
"O, astronaut, astronaut,
hide yourself so cleverly
among moons that you cannot

be found. Become the marching
universe, become every
particle of it. Let those
who look for you not find you.
O, astronaut, astronaut,
scatter your molecules, merge
with the quarks, be our vanguard.

Send us out, at our choosing,
to explode among stars."

Offline Pooh21

  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3145
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #20 on: January 28, 2006, 10:30:08 PM »
wow 20 years I was in first grade. We had it all set up to watch in class, when for some reason it wouldnt show, every school channel was some stupid show on how to say hello in every language, starting with spanish. Later on the bus ride home, my buddies and I were playing with our transformers, one of my friends new ones was a space ship, and this kid across the aisle said, The space shuttle blew up, We said no it didnt shut up. He would not stop saying it over and over. So finally fed up I told him this new transformer did it. he still would not stop lying about the space shuttle blowing up, so I beat him silly for it.

got of the bus walked in the front door, and my mom and little bro were crying and the news was on..

Every year this time I feel sorta bad about kicking that kids butt.
Bis endlich der Fiend am Boden liegt.
Bis Bishland bis Bishland bis Bishland wird besiegt!

Offline Nefarious

  • Aces High CM Staff
  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 15858
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #21 on: January 28, 2006, 11:47:22 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Gunslinger
I was 8 at the time and we were watching it live at school.  I remember my teacher totally freaking out afterwords.


I didnt see it live. But I do remember it happening. I was 5, a few weeks shy of 6 years old. My 6th grade science teacher, a few years later, won the Christa Mcauliffe award.
There must also be a flyable computer available for Nefarious to do FSO. So he doesn't keep talking about it for eight and a half hours on Friday night!

Offline StarOfAfrica2

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 5162
      • http://www.vf-17.org
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2006, 11:58:26 PM »
I can still remember sitting in the classroom watching this.  We got out of a Trig test that day to sit and watch the launch.  I swear it took several minutes to sink in, although it really must have only been seconds.  Just staring at those solid boosters flyin off in crazy directions.  The teacher turned it off, and a few minutes later they announced on the PA that there had been an accident and all the astronauts had been lost.

I'd just been to the space center in Florida a couple years before and seen another launch while on summer vacation.  I had a "how to fly the space shuttle" manual, and a game for my Atari 2600 that was supposed to simulate launching in a space shuttle, docking with a space station, and landing again.  Graphics stunk but it was fun and I was a Space Shuttle junkie.  

Day of Remembrance.  Apollo I, Challenger, Columbia.  People who died fighting one of the few battles that get us to work together instead of fighting each other.

Apollo I:  Gus Grissom; Ed White; Roger Chaffee

Challenger:  Francis Scobee; Michael Smith; Judith Resnik; Ellison Onizuka; Ron McNair; Greg Jarvis; Christa McAuliffe

Columbia:  Rick Husband; William McCool; Michael Anderson; Ilan Ramon; Kalpana Chawla; David Brown; Laruel Salton Clark

<>
« Last Edit: January 29, 2006, 12:04:52 AM by StarOfAfrica2 »

Offline StarOfAfrica2

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 5162
      • http://www.vf-17.org
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #23 on: January 29, 2006, 12:11:01 AM »
Check out the video they have setup for each.  Very moving.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/dor_front/

And as a final thought, this excerpt from President Reagan's speech that night, which took the place of his State of the Union address.

Quote
There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

« Last Edit: January 29, 2006, 12:15:25 AM by StarOfAfrica2 »

Offline Sixpence

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 5265
      • http://www.onpoi.net/ah/index.php
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #24 on: January 29, 2006, 12:41:50 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Eagler
I saw the smoke trail from tampa - was in my truck on the way back to the office and thought it was the strangest looking launch trail I had ever seen

walked into the breakroom at the office to fnd everyone watching the tv .....


I woke up in sarasota that morning. The foreman and I had been left behind the night before to finish up a wallpaper job. The rest of the crew had gone home to St. Pete. I remember stepping outside and seeing the gulf waters. I was windy and the water was all white caps and had that dark greenish color when a storm is near. It was the coldest I had ever felt down there, I think 29 degrees, and it chilled you to the bone.

We finished up and started home, as we got to the top of the skyway bridge, I saw the pillar of cloud rising in the distance, it's just as awesome everytime you see it. About 3/4 of the way up, it split into two pillars. My foreman said "that can't be the shuttle, it doesn't do that", and I say "of course it is, what else can it be, it's supposed to launch now, maybe the booster rockets disengaged early". We didn't have the radio on and didn't think to turn it on. Never once did it cross our minds that something went wrong.

As we got across the bridge we stopped at a gas station/convenient store, we noticed the place was full of people inside. My foreman went in to get gas, he came rushing out, "it blew up!". There was a tv in the station and everyone was crowded around it watching the news flash. I stepped outside the van and looked up at the pillar of cloud still lingering, it was surreal.

I was young, I thought I was born to change the world, cure diseases, explore new frontiers, make the world a better place, all that. And scientists trying to do that were my heroes. With every launch flew my hopes and dreams. One of my favorite songs was "countdown" by Rush. I always found it very inspirational.

It also struck me as very ironic, to watch one tragedy from the site of another. The skyway bridge was two spans at one time, but during a foggy morning, the bridge was struck by a passing ship, and one span collapsed. Several vehicles drove off in the fog falling 150 feet to the water. The remaining span had two lanes, so they made a north and south bound lane while the new bridge was being built. I happened to witness the launch while crossing the top of that span.

It was long ago, but the pictures of watching the launch from the bridge and looking at the pillar of cloud at the gas station are still very vivid in my memory. I'll never forget that day.
"My grandaddy always told me, "There are three things that'll put a good man down: Losin' a good woman, eatin' bad possum, or eatin' good possum."" - Holden McGroin

(and I still say he wasn't trying to spell possum!)

Offline Yeager

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10167
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #25 on: January 29, 2006, 02:23:07 AM »
Back in those days I was still living at home, playing full time in a band...staying up late, sleeping in late.  Dad also tended to stay up late and sleep in as well.

So there we were, all crapped out.  Except mom.  SHe had a job.

.......mom was at work that morning and her youngest son and husband were still crapped out from the previous evenings festivities.  

I remember hearing the phone ring early that morning, then dad coming to the door and knocking, he opens up the door and says "your mom called, the space shuttle challenger just exploded after lift off!.  so there we both were,  Father and son, standing in front of the morning TV news show in our underwear watching the space shuttle blow up.  Blow up it did, in spectacular fashion, over and over and over again.  And again and again and again...all day long we watched that space shuttle blow up.

Space Shuttle Challenger, what a fantastic crew you were.  you have my eternal gratitude, my love and my everlasting respect.

Please visit this page and allow yourself some time to pay respect:

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/dor_front/index.html

Go to the "day of rememberance flash" and please take the time to honor these people.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2006, 02:25:51 AM by Yeager »
"If someone flips you the bird and you don't know it, does it still count?" - SLIMpkns

Offline Sandman

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17620
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #26 on: January 29, 2006, 02:30:01 AM »
sand

Offline Yeager

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10167
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #27 on: January 29, 2006, 02:45:12 AM »
sandman.  Thanks for pissing bright yellow streams of noxious poison all over the day of remembrance.

Most people who care to pay tribute already have that crap figured out, but indeed, having folks like you guarantee the wretched details of doubt and regret is a debt few can argue against.
"If someone flips you the bird and you don't know it, does it still count?" - SLIMpkns

Offline Sandman

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17620
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #28 on: January 29, 2006, 03:02:47 AM »
Suit yourself.
sand

Offline Yeager

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10167
73 Seconds After Launch
« Reply #29 on: January 29, 2006, 03:06:29 AM »
like I need your permission?

bugger off.
"If someone flips you the bird and you don't know it, does it still count?" - SLIMpkns