This Day in History : Challenger Explosion

Where were you 28 years ago today?  I (Julie) was in my kindergarten classroom and, just like millions of other kids in the United States, I was watching the launching of the Challenger spaceship which was to carry a teacher, Christa McAuliffe, into space.  73 seconds later the shuttle exploded, and all on board were lost. 

Even more tragically, later research would determine that the cause of the explosion was a faulty O-ring, a very small rubber seal, that had gotten too stiff to function properly in the cold temperatures of that day.  

I was very young when this happened, but I remember as I learned more about it, realizing the horror of the families watching with pride, only to have their pride turn to heartbreak and sorrow. 

 

In his statement that evening President Ronald Reagan said "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"